THE ACCIDENT

As many of you may have heard, I was involved in a car accident in Malibu a little over a week ago. Though THE ACCIDENT itself was far from FABULOUS, the love and support from my family, friends, myspace friends and blog readers has been FABULOUS! I wanted to thank you all for your kind words and support.

It was scary to see the pictures on the Internet and the video on TMZ (It looked really bad!), but I wanted to let you all know that I’m doing fine and just very grateful that everyone involved is OK as well. Here is what happened:

My friend Caroline invited me to a party at the Boost Mobile House in Malibu for the premiere party of the movie, House Bunny where she was DJing. She said she would bring me a bathing suit from her new line. You know, I love a good party (a beach party is the BEST)! And with free stuff too, how could I refuse?

After lunch, my friend Samantha and I drove down the Pacific Coast Highway to the party. It was way further than I thought (past Zuma) and with traffic it seemed to take forever. But we finally arrived, parked in the lot across the street and were shuttled by van over to the party.

The Boost Mobile House is an amazing palatial mansion with a huge yard, basketball courts and a pool over looking the ocean. They had tents set up giving free makeovers and piles of free tank tops, flip-flops and beauty products. It could have been a lot of fun, but there weren’t a lot of people there (guess, its too far to drive from Hollywood), so it was kind of boring. Sam and I dipped our feet in the pool, rocked out to Caroline’s tunes, ate the most yummy Mac & Cheese with bacon and made the most of it (I mean, we had just driven over and hour to get here).

Eventually, we decided that it would be more fun to head to Manhattan Beach where our friend Kim was playing in the 6-man volleyball tournament. We collected some free stuff (Garnier Fructisse face lotions, makeup remover wipes, under eye rollers, hair products and our new Caroline D’amore bathing suits which are so sexy) and headed out.

We took the shuttle back to the parking area and hopped back in my car. We buckled up (It’s safe its easy and it’s the law) and pulled out. I thought first about making a right turn going north and then doing a u-turn to head back south, but as I looked both ways I saw that there was no one coming, so I pulled out. A red car flew towards us from behind a big green bushy outcropping on the edge of the road. It happened so fast, yet it seemed almost to be in slow motion. The moment I saw the car (people drive SO fast on the PCH), I knew we were going to get hit. I screamed as I slammed on the gas. I could see the other driver’s face, as it got closer to my side of the car. Sam and I braced ourselves for the impact.

They hit us hard. We flew up onto two wheels and by some grace of God we did not flip. As we slammed back down to the ground, I couldn’t stop screaming. I touched my legs and arms and thankfully they were all attached. Sam was fine too and tried to calm me enough so that I would stop the car, which was still rolling. The brake was pushed under the crumpled side of the car, so I pulled the hand brake and we were able to climb out of the door on Sam’s side. The other driver was walking around and his girlfriend was complaining of chest pains from the airbags, but both were alive and doing OK.

Soon the ambulances came and put everyone in neck braces as a precaution. The police arrived next and began taking statements. The police officer yelled and shined a light in my eyes (He was so mean. Isn’t it supposed to be innocent until proven guilty?). I had NOT been drinking and so he finally left me alone. I called my mom, sister and brothers and told them what happened, that I was ok and to meet me at the hospital. The EMTs strapped Sam and I onto backboards and shuffled us into the ambulance. I never saw those TMZ cameras, but I later saw the video. TMZ never seems to miss a beat. They are everywhere.

Sam and I arrived at the hospital and were brought into exam rooms. My mom, my sister Tracee, my brothers Ross and Evan, my Uncle Chico and my cousins Zen and Kai where all there already (My family is seriously supportive). Tracee and Evan sat with Sam in her room till her parents arrived and mom waited with me.

The doctor examined me, x-rayed my chest (My ribs hurt, but they we’re not broken) and CT scanned my head (I had a huge bump on the top and side). With a slight concussion and a bunch of bruises, I was finally sent home. Sam had whiplash, but was looking good too. I returned to my mom’s house for the night, so she could keep and eye on me.

Sunday, I returned home feeling surprisingly fine. I cleaned the house (my way of dealing with stress) and watched a lot of TV. Monday morning, I woke with the spins and nausea. Tracee came by to take me to lunch and I was stumbling and severely dizzy, so she brought me back to the hospital. After hours and hours sitting and waiting to see the doctor (I watched the whole Teen Choice Awards on TV), they finally told me this was normal post concussive behavior. They gave me medication for the nausea and sent me on my way.

Being dizzy sucks! My body was feeling fine (all better) but when you’re dizzy and can’t walk straight, you don’t make it too far off the couch. Friday, I went to follow up with a neurologist who found out why I’m dizzy. Something called BPPV! Basically, everyone has calcium deposits in their inner ear. When you have head trauma (or if you are old or sometimes for no good reason at all) they can become dislodged from their compartments. They are heavy and as they move around in the fluid in you inner ear, they mess with the neurons and send messages to your brain that are confusing (giving you vertigo or dizziness). They can eventually find their way back to their compartments on their own, but you can also see a balance disorder therapist and he can fix it in one visit. That’s just what I did!

The doctor rolled me around for a good 35 minutes trying to get the calcium deposits back into their compartments. It’s like that game that kids play where you roll the little silver ball around and try to get it into the slot. All this movement made me extremely nauseas and dizzy, but then I was cured. I left feeling a little yucky with a headache, but the next day… ALL BETTER!

I feel so fortunate to be fine after such a scary ordeal, but most of all I am grateful for all the love and support. My family and friends are FABULOUS!