Now that we know he's not going to die..

Had a nice few days in Napa, a really nice birthday on Friday, and topped off the weekend with a small BBQ at our house. Just my kids and their families and their father who was visiting from Tennessee. People were starting to leave and Jenni, Jeff and I were in the kitchen talking when Eamon comes in and says, "Mama, feel my hands." They were very cold and he told us that he was playing with Deydushka (Ed) and the ice from the coolers. Then he said with a little laugh, "We were throwing ice at each other and Deydushka got ice in his neck." Ha, ha - the kids probably threw an ice cube at him and it hit his neck. No biggie. So we went back to our conversation and Eamon went back outside.

A few minutes later Ed came in looking very gray. He said that he had fallen down. I asked, "Are you hurt.?" He said his neck hurt. I, of course, asked, "How did your neck get hurt if you fell on the grass?" I mean, that's an honest question, right?? He said he was holding the cooler and that's what hit him in the neck. Then we went in to take a couple of Tylenol and rest for a minute. The kids left and Ed and I finished cleaning up and sat down to watch Lost (yes, we started and we're addicted and we our half way through season 2). As we sat there, he could feel his throat swelling a bit, he was having a little difficulty swallowing. And his voice was starting to get raspy. I stupidly suggested he might want to go to Urgent Care or something. He totally rejected that idea. After eating some ice cream, his throat felt better. Ah, the wonders of fat-free, no-sugar-added Black Cherry Chocolaty Chip Frozen Yogurt. But the voice was still fading. He's never had laryngitis so he was pretty freaked out. The whole incident knocked the steam out of him. Plus Ed does NOT like to have anything wrong with him and is sure everything is a near-death experience.

Yesterday at the office he tried to stay off the phone as much as possible (being a real estate broker, this isn't a good plan), and tried to tell an abbreviated version of the story to everyone who came in or called and wondered about the voice thing. Of course, people keep asking questions even knowing that it's difficult for him to answer. We left early so he could come home and rest. And watch a few more episodes of Lost. And eat more ice cream.

By last night he was feeling better. Most of the swelling was gone, he could swallow just fine, and his voice was almost back. That's when he told me the whole story.

Apparently what REALLY happened is this - he was emptying the two coolers that we had outside. With the first one he and the kids were playing with the ice and tossing it at each other. Then he emptied it out. With the second cooler he decided to "get them" and began chasing them with the cooler open ready to toss the ice. They ran from him laughing, he stepped on the grass. His foot slid out from under him and he started to go down. He was still holding the cooler in a death grip so couldn't brace himself and as he was falling, he's thinking, "This is NOT gonna be good!" And it wasn't. The cooler hit the ground and Ed hit the cooler. With his neck. For a minute he just stayed there on his knees on the grass - neck on cooler. Trying to catch his breath. The kids thought this was a hoot and began tossing ice cubes at him. They thought he was playing with them, but when he didn't respond to their antics, Eamon got bored and came in the house to tell us about the "ice in the neck." Now, had we known that it was the entire cooler, we might have gone outside to see if he was okay!

He's going to the doctor today just to be sure he didn't do any permanent damage. And he's rethinking his play time activities with the grandkids.

So, that was the culmination of our week. Attack by a cooler.