Wrecked

In a split second, I lost control.

My car hit a concrete wall barrier and then bounced off and hit the other wall on the passenger side.

Everything crumbled, crushed and flashed in front of my face.
I felt like my car had rolled over, but it hadn't.
The airbags deployed punching me in the face.
My eyes and brain couldn't comprehend all that happened in a matter of seconds.

I was about to merge onto a bridge just before it happened.
It was a cloudy, wet and just an all around crappy day.

I was on my way to my oncology appointment and talking to Klay on the phone letting him know where I was. He'd just gotten out of class and was going to meet me at my appointment. I was trying to decide whether or not to take Highway 635 from I-20 or take 75. For those of you who don't live in Texas, they are both crappy options which normally are traffic-filled and wreck-attracting highways.

I decided to go 635 and got on the bridge when my car hit leftover gravel from a winter storm. The roads were slick and my car already needed new tires, so they weren't exactly in the best shape.

I'm not making excuses for the wreck; I honestly felt like an idiot afterward. Luckily, the kids weren't with me and I was by myself.

After my car hit the left side of the concrete bridge wall and then ricocheted and hit the right side, it came to a stop. The car was now wedged against the right wall (on the shoulder of the bridge) and the passenger side was pressed right up against the wall.

I came in like a wrecking ball #likemiley

The car hissed and smoked at me. I knew the damage to my car had to be bad, but at the time I just felt how badly I was jerked and pushed around during the commotion.

Klay said I was talking and then he heard me scream when he a lot of banging around and then the phone went dead.

Once I was able to take in what had just happened, I found my phone in the floor board and called Klay back to let him know I was OK.

He was pretty freaked out and was already heading to where I just told him I was. He asked repeatedly if I was OK and I told him I thought I was, but I just cried.

"My nose is bleeding," I cried.

"Cass, just calm down. I'll be there soon. Is anyone stopping?"

It took nearly 20 cars to pass before a nice man pulled over to check on me, call the paramedics, and move pieces of my car out of the center of the bridge. He wanted me to stay in the car and told me to try to stay calm.

In the past 10 or 11 years I've been driving, I've never been in an accident. And that one was terrifying enough, I'll never want to experience anything like that again.

Thankfully no one was behind me, so it was just my vehicle that was messed up. It was just me. No one wrecked in to me, so no one else to blame I suppose, except for the roads and maybe my tires...

My platelets were low so if I would have been cut in any way, I would have been dangerously injured. The normal is anywhere above 140-150K--I was at 30,000.

After the paramedics got there, my friend's fiance who lives down the street from me got there, and Klay and my bro-in-law, I was KIND OF looked over by the paramedics.

My hat had been knocked off my head in all of the chaos, and the cop that came up to ask me for my license and insurance info didn't even ask if I was OK. He just asked me for that info and where I was going. Clearly he could see I was bald, and most likely had cancer, but he didn't bother to ask if I was alright or anything. Douche monkey.

Klay and I decided to just go to my appointment to still get checked out. The oncology doctor knows everything going on with me medically, obviously, so we thought that was our best option especially with the platelet sitch.

I wasn't seriously hurt, but I'm pretty bruised up. My bruises look worse than they are, but they are everywhere--my legs, ankle, arms, hips, back, under my eye and I even had a busted lip.

My 2006 Nissan Murano is totaled; she's a goner.

I've had that car for nine great years and it was an amazing car with a lot of memories.

It was my graduation present from my parents and was my first "new, new" car... EVER. I was so stoked. We even took "selfies" before they were cool and without using our phones. #ballastatus

It still opened it's trunk for me even though I got married in a dress that resembled a white restaurant napkin.

Klay and I had many arguments, serious and hilarious talks, and some not-so-great fights in that ride. But we also had some--ahem--great "making up" times in there too.

;)

It was the car that I had with me in Alaska. I repped those "TEXAS" plates in AK fro 3 1/2 years without 4WD or studded tires. #boom

We trekked 6,000 miles from Alaska, through Canada and all the way back to Texas in that ride with two weenie dogs and one other male weenie, aka the hubs.

It saw beautiful lakes in Canada, almost ran out of gas in the middle of no where, which would have left us stranded, and held on during a 14-hour drive to Vancouver... which landed us downtown at 2 a.m. frustrated, tired and in search of a hotel.

My white beauty traveled through the Redwood National Forest, the world's curviest street in San Fran, through the most beautiful beaches in Oregon, down to Buffy's High School and even Qualcomm stadium in San Diego.

It navigated through the crazy streets of Vegas, survived me almost peeing in it on the way to the Hoover Dam and even managed to not get any blood on it when Klay's nose started to bleed at the Grand Canyon.

It got "the boot" in NOLA all because we forgot to pay for parking on Day 2 (and we weren't too happy about it; see photo below).

We brought both our beautiful baby boys home from the hospital in that car.

Experienced Brody's second febrile seizure in it (that's a terrible memory).

The radio continued to play even though the car heard me try to sing like Whitney, rap like Eminem and rock out like Kings Of Leon.

It survived the snowy roads, -40 degree temps we experienced near Denali Park, and even managed to make it with no serious problems after being exposed to a volcanic explosion (more like an "ash explosion" in Alaska, but a little rain and gravel managed to take her out. Figures.