The Wonderful World of the Mattox Family: Labor Day Weekend..

Well, to say I didn't have a busy Labor Day Weekend is a huge understatement! I got a call from my mom on Thursday, Sept 2 that she was in the hospital for a asthma attack. As she described her symptoms to me, I told her it wasn't a asthma attack and that they don't just admit you to the hospital for asthma attacks. I asked her if she needed me to come and she said she was fine and she would probably be out of the hospital the next afternoon. Well, the next morning, I get a call from my dad saying mom failed her stress test terribly and she was on her way up to get her heart catherized! So we canceled all of our schedules for the weekend and got in the car and drove down to Florida. I had no other choice, this was my momma and she needed me. So we drove 14 hrs to Orlando. We left our house at 330 in the afternoon Friday and got to Orlando at 430 a.m. (530 their time) just in time for me to hop in the shower and go to the hospital to see mom. We were so thankful that the ER doctor kept mom because she ended up having a 85% blockage in her main artery of her heart. The doctors called it a widowmaker. I asked daddy why and he said because that's what this type of blockage does, it creates widows. So on the way down, I scowered the internet for info on the widowmaker. The info I found said that if the person with the widowmaker blockage has a heart attack, they only have 5 minutes to get to the hospital or they would die. So of course, I freaked out!!! I realized how short life is and how close I came to loosing my best friend in this world. So when we got to the hospital, they had already taken her back to be prepped and we met the dr who was doing the procedure in the waiting room, by accident. He asked us if we had any questions and the only thing I could tell him was to "Just take care of my momma!!!" He chuckled and said he would. A hour later we were up in her room and she was fine. She made it through with flying colors! Thank you LORD!!! Our prayers were answered!! God saved my momma! She stayed in the hospital til Sunday afternoon then got to come home to a house full of grandchildren waiting on their nanny! My brother Stephen and his family came down the same time we did from Georgia. We figured the babies were the best medicine momma could have and they definitely did their job. Hayden was so excited to see his nanna. When we got to the house, he was awake and he searched the house for his nanna and was confused why she wasn't there. He hopped in his papa's lap and gave him his snuggles. When nanna came home from the hospital he did his happy dance. He was so gentle with her like he knew something was wrong. This was totally not like Hayden to be gentle. He normally squirms and wiggles around on your lap, but not this time. He very rarly left her side and when he did, he would come back and check in on her. He saw her big ol bruise from the catherization and told her "OUCH".
The last day we were there, mom wanted to get out of the house for fresh air. So we decided to take the 50 min drive to Daytona Beach and go eat dinner and then go to the ocean. You can't get much closer to God then being at the ocean. So we went and ate at a lil dive then off to the ocean. Below are pictures we took of Hayden playing in the ocean for the second time. He could be a beach bum. He loved it just as much the second time as he did the first. Mom was just in awe of how close she came to not seeing him playing in the ocean again. It really hit her how much she wanted to live! I am so thankful to have my mom and dad!
Lessons learned from this experience, NEVER, EVER take for granted the ones you love. None of us are guaranteed the next breath. Live in the moment and have NO REGRETS!