Blink of an Eye

#20 - Gateway to Hope   It may have been easier if Pete had not shared with Louise the dark reality he had been carrying “Why Archer and not me?” “It should have been me and not Archer”. Brutal thoughts. But real thoughts. These thoughts at one end hanging in an almost stagnant state of exhausted optimism countered with a friend’s hope-filled experience of Archer, “He started squeezing my hand and...

#19 - The New North Star   Scared and confused, Louise is still hopeful, until she is told “It was just a spasm,” by a nurse who once again callously dismisses her observation of her paralyzed son she was intensely watching over. Just a spasm? Did the hospital consider the impact of those words on Archer? You’ll hear about the terror from one of Archer’s rescuers and how it really was on the beach...

#18 - Healing Trauma Guidebook: He Talked with God   Blink of an Eye is the story of a mom who receives the phone call that will change the rest of her — and her family’s — life. In this episode, you will hear a highlight from Louise's storytelling as these events dramatically, and rapidly unfolded in Episode 1: The Call, and a message for you to consider if faced with a traumatic event, as Louise...

#17 - In the Foxhole   Our egos and fear can overwhelm us when we are deep in the foxhole on the front lines of trauma. It was life and death as Archer struggled to breathe, both lungs collapsed. Louise had to let go of some of her old ideas about what is “proper” and just let all the rawness come out as she instinctively felt she needed to circle her troops, her community, her friends. In the mid...

#16 - You Gotta Go Through It   Their pain and trauma is YOUR pain and trauma. This is how it can be when we watch a loved one suffering in any way. It may be simpler to wall off, bury it, or choose not to acknowledge it to lessen trauma’s grip. Oh, going that route can cause so much damage to your body, including your organs, and your ability to deal with future traumas. Nope, you can’t avoid it....

#15 - Soothing Texts -- What (Not) to Text   It’s not that we aren’t appreciative of the offer of help from others, but sometimes you just want to scream, “STOP ASKING ME QUESTIONS!” What about the innocent question, “Is there anything I can do to help?” and similar questions when we or our loved one is in an intensive care unit, or in the throws of early trauma. Caring people don’t realize the st...

#14 - What Not to Say   Louise saw the ashen look on her daughter’s face as they passed in the doorway. She was confused until she heard what the nurse had told Paula, Pete, and Archer, “It’s just swelling.” One sentence was a gut punch sucking the hope out of the room and maybe the life out of her son. Louise was in a hateful fury over the insensitivity of someone who was supposed to be looking o...

#13 - Some Things Stay the Same   Preparing visitors for what to expect when visiting your loved one in a trauma unit is critical. It’s stunning how quickly we see the new normal of machines, tubes, and life support, but it can be shocking to first-time and especially younger visitors. They may think they’ll be in the way, and they may be frightened, but the recovery of Archer is dependent on fami...

#12 - Holding it Together   Random strangers entering the room day and night, her family not allowed to all be together, and medical staff thinking she was crazy without saying so. Louise still managed to go into auto-pilot as a mediator and take notes of everything that was happening. Trouble was, she, in moments of her own trauma, couldn’t write her name or realize which of her five children was...

#11 - What to Say   Sometimes the unexpected - like a Color War - is the natural solution to ease into and ensure that life goes on after the delivery of bad news. At least that’s how it was for Louise and her family when they needed to tell their youngest son, Dutch, who was away at camp, what had happened to his big brother two days ago.   How much is too much bad news to share with your childre...

#10 - Pray for Archer   No one called to tell her. Returning to the hospital from the first time she’d left Archer’s side, a pitstop at home for a few hours’ sleep and a shower, Louise was shocked and enraged at the situation she walked into. Tubes like garden hoses now protruded from Archer’s chest. Within a matter of hours, her son had undergone two emergency surgeries, and no one had called her...

#9 - Archer’s Tree Weeps Too: She Knows   Sweet but painful visuals as Louise looked around the house where a lacrosse stick, a razor, even a tree reminded her of the past, how it was, and the now. This tree that Archer grew up with “Archer’s tree” as they called her was the only tree in the area with leaves falling. It was as if she knew what had happened to Archer. As Louise surveyed the house,...

#8 - The Whole Truth and Nothing But the Truth   Louise begged to know, “Will he get his hands back? He needs his hands because he’s an artist and a cook!” Truth is devastating and tough to swallow. The response was no different, “Not likely.” Sometimes people hold information that we are owed. They try to protect us by tucking it away until “the right time” or a better time to share it with us. T...

#7 - The Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda’s   I could’ve insisted he do something else. I should’ve taken the time to see him again. We could have prevented this. Right?  When our children experience trauma, we as parents are haunted, ripped apart, kept awake, and often paralyzed by notions of all we could’ve, should’ve, would’ve done. In this episode, Louise recalls Bill’s and her own such thoughts, which...

#6 - Prayer Warriors Unite!   If you hear of another person’s tragic news and think there is really nothing you can do, please reconsider. There is something you can do. Louise asks for prayer, your prayer. See what happens when Louise texts a few friends that her family is in trouble and to pray hard.  “Stay strong” or “Keep the faith” are good concepts, but see what happens when the heart is sti...

#5 - The Family Meeting   Pray hard… It’s an uncomfortable room. The chairs are heavy, the air is still, and all eyes are on Dr. Kris Radcliff. This was a family meeting no one would ever forget.  Louise knew that a Family Meeting with Archer’s surgeon was her family’s chance to be together to ask questions. Like most of their other Family Meetings, it was an opportunity to discuss the good, the b...

#4 - Tunnel Vision   Tunnel Vision can happen when we are in trauma. As part of a survival instinct, our brain locks us into tunnel vision to stay focused on what is most essential at that moment. We have blinders on to all around us, including those who are trying to help. It's nothing personal, we are in love survival mode. But, even in Tunnel Vision, we can be aware enough to see the angels put...

#3 - He Talked with God   In the chaotic moments and hours immediately following Archer’s spinal cord injury, a series of “standard operating procedures” leads to more questions than answers. Scrambling for real answers, Louise realizes among scattered startling questions, the possibility of harm caused by hospitals’ policies set up for routine and risk management rather than healing. “My preferen...

#2 - The Call   On a hot summer day in 2015, a prominent professional and mother of 5 receives the phone call that will change the rest of her — and her family’s — life.  One of her children, her son Archer, while at the beach, dove into the Atlantic Ocean for a quick, cooling swim as he’s done hundreds of times before. But this time, something went terribly wrong.  Join Louise for the powerful pi...

#1 - The Story Behind Blink of an Eye - an Overview   Welcome to Blink of an Eye. I'm Louise Phipps Senft, your host. Together, we will explore life stories of trauma, loss, awakenings, and epiphanies, beginning with my own story when I got the Call that one of my 5 children, Archer, then a 6’2” teenager, was in a catastrophic diving accident at the beach, shattering his neck, rendering him paraly...