CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Jen and Mario Reid got engaged last December and planned a wedding for May 16, 2020, for roughly 175 guests. But not long after sending out their formal invitations in March, the pandemic hit and everyone went into a lockdown of sorts.
The couple decided to proceed with marrying, just adjusting to follow health guidelines.
"We were trying to figure out what to do," Jen Reid said. "We ended up having a small ceremony on May 16th with about 15 people in my friend's yard."
They had planned at that point to have their reception on September 12, 2020, hoping by then the coronavirus would be gone.
"We wanted both families to be able to gather and have dancing," Jen added.
In late June, not long after rescheduling their reception portion of their wedding, Jen started having serious headaches.
"I went in to see my primary care doctor, and they ran a bunch of tests," Jen said.
The doctors determined she had intracranial hypertension, which means that the pressure of the fluid that surrounds the brain (cerebrospinal fluid or CSF) is too high.
This was the cause of Jen's headaches.
Jen said when she was diagnosed, a doctor told her one of the veins that drain the blood from her brain was narrow.
She was then scheduled to have a procedure to alleviate this pressure on her brain on September 10 — two days before they were previously scheduled to have their second chance at a reception.
Jen went through with the procedure at Novant Presbyterian in Charlotte. It took a few hours, but everything went smoothly.
That night, Jen and Mario were able to be together in the Neuro-ICU.
"He was able to come until about midnight and we watched football," Jen said. "It was sort of like...you know, here we are. Not about to have our wedding reception, but we are able to be together and be married."
Jen couldn't stop raving about the team of nurses that got her through that first 24 hours. She was able to go home the next day.
"Carol was my first nurse, then Abby then Lauren," she said. "I remember Carol putting peanut butter on my crackers for me. They were all just so incredibly sweet. I am just thinking about how grateful I was for them."
Together they take everything one day at a time knowing everyone is going through something, but life will get better.
The newlyweds are now planning, for a third time, their reception hopefully for May 2021.
