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frau kaleun
11-14-11, 12:11 AM
Oy, what a day.

So I wake up this morning, decide it's too early to be awake, and roll over again and go back to sleep.

Some time later, I'm not sure how long, I wake up and the phone is ringing. I look over and it's my brother-in-law and I figure he's calling to remind me that he's fixing a bunch of food for the "big game" today so I should stop by if I feel like it. I then realize he's calling from his cell phone which seems odd and I pick up and he tells me some guy just called him to tell him that my sister's been in a car accident - :o - and he's on his way to the scene which is a major intersection about 5 minutes from their house. He doesn't know anything more than that she got out of the car by herself and was walking around and conscious but naturally someone there is calling 911 for an ambulance.

So I tell him I'm getting dressed and to call me back, if I'm not there it's because I'm already on my way. He calls back a few minutes later to say she is really banged up and will need some stitches, the car is totalled, as is the car of the guy that hit her, and he has refused the services of the life squad but they are taking her to the nearest hospital which is actually right across the street from their house.

So I just go straight to the hospital and they've already got her back in a room by the time I get there. The doctor is already talking about sending her to a trauma center which my sister is saying she doesn't want to do but after a couple hours of tests and x-rays and whatnot, she ends up being sent to the trauma center of one of the Dayton hospitals about 40-50 miles north of here. Cuz she had a fracture in her pelvis plus a lot of swelling and bruising in that area, probably from the seat belt, and they're worried about internal bleeding and injuries and if that stuff starts it goes south in a big hurry and they are not a trauma center and she needs to be in one for observation until they are sure she is okay.

So more waiting for another ambulance to take her up there, and then we all get up there, and it's another 5 or so hours of poking and prodding and x-rays and blood being drawn and they finally get her officially admitted and in a room about 10 PM and even then they are still taking her to have another thing done because she had a really bad bruise come out right over the big artery in her neck so they wanted to make sure that was completely okay.

Anyway - she's got two pelvic fractures, one small one at the tailbone which they can't do anything about, it just has to heal on its own. The other is a small one that they don't think will require surgery. A nasty 2-3" laceration on her leg, really deep - so much tissue was destroyed by whatever punched through her leg that they couldn't even do sub-Q stitches because there wasn't enough healthy tissue below the surface to get the stitches through. Plus all the swelling and bruising around the point of impact. Plus her other ankle is all bruised and swollen, although she can move it okay and says it's not hurting. Plus all the swelling and bruising in the pelvic region, across her chest and collarbone and neck from the upper part of the seatbelt, plus both elbows are skinned up and one is all bruised with some swelling. Plus a knot on her forehead and two black eyes.

BUT SHE IS NOT DEAD, thank heavens, and nobody else is either, and that's the important thing.

Anyway my BIL stayed up there so I came back to their house to let the dog out and feed him and the cat, then realize that my BIL locked the gate to the fenced in part of their yard, so I can't just put the dog out, I have to *walk* the little SOB. Which to him does not mean a jaunt down the street and back to go pee and maybe do a poop, it means I'M GOING WALKIES :woot: even though it's 11 PM, he's a dog, what does he care?

So he does his business and I come to a corner and go one way to head back to the house, he goes another to continue his walk, and I feel him pull on the leash and then hear a strange "fwoooshmp" noise and all of a sudden I am holding a leash with no dog on the other end because the little bastid has managed to pull his head through and out of his collar and is now merrily making his way down the street in the other direction. In the dark. At 11 PM. :stare:

And I'm thinking DOG DO NOT DO THIS, I CANNOT LOSE MY SISTER'S DOG WHEN SHE IS IN THE FREAKING HOSPITAL!!!!

Fortunately he's a good doggie and altho he wouldn't turn and come back when I called, it's not like he was trying to run away from me so I just had to walk a little faster than him without making it obvious and finally caught up with him about two blocks later when he stopped to water someone's shrubbery.

Got the collar back on him and made sure it was a bit tighter and after his little adventure he came straight back home like a good boy but I have to tell you I DID NOT NEED THAT ADVENTURE today of all days. :nope:

So now I have to go back out there and do it over again in the morning before work, at which I will be late because I am just now eating dinner and heaven knows when I will get to sleep, plus: WALKIES!

I just hope there's a key to the lock on the fence somewhere in the house and my BIL calls me back with the info.

So anyway how was *your* Sunday? :doh:

U570
11-14-11, 12:30 AM
Well, that was... eventful to say the least :-?, and yes, lets hope that doesn't happen again.
hope your sis gets better

Sailor Steve
11-14-11, 12:40 AM
Wow! I can understand why you had to get that out of your system! At least, as you say, your sister survived if a little worse for wear.

Good luck with tomorrow. :-? :sunny:

Oh, and my Sunday was a nice relaxing break between days in the studio.

Torplexed
11-14-11, 12:42 AM
BUT SHE IS NOT DEAD, thank heavens, and nobody else is either, and that's the important thing.

Whew! Indeed! :yeah: Hope she makes a full recovery and you can all laugh off the errant dog part of the story some day.

The saving glory of cats. They don't need walkies. :D

magic452
11-14-11, 12:46 AM
Sounds like you sis got pretty banged up hope she will be OK.
Give her our best wishes.
Dog walkies aren't my thing either, that's why I had a cat.

Magic

Madox58
11-14-11, 12:51 AM
when he stopped to water someone's shrubbery

:haha:
You said shrubbery (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UbtcmjfKa8).

CaptainHaplo
11-14-11, 01:26 AM
Speedy healing to your sis - and I know of a few animimals (yes - spelled that way on purpose) that you can take walking for me at 11 next time you want to remember the adventure fondly....

Just sayin. :rotfl2:

MothBalls
11-14-11, 01:31 AM
I'm glad to hear she's OK.

I wonder how many lectures you're going to give her about refusing treatment?

Falkirion
11-14-11, 02:32 AM
Best wishes to your sister for a speedy recovery. Not a pleasant day at all. Feel better soon Frau, we're always about if you need to talk

Herr-Berbunch
11-14-11, 03:10 AM
Thanks for sharing, glad she's ok-ish.

My Sunday was better than your Sunday, saw a seal being born. :yeah:

Anyone coming clubbing?

Reece
11-14-11, 05:36 AM
Talk about getting up on the wrong side of bed, looks like a sicky and a sleep in in tomorrow morning,:yep: maybe!!:doh:

Penguin
11-14-11, 06:07 AM
Best wishes to your sis and a quick recovery!

Maybe it's time to lend her the "Das Boot" series for the time in the hospital, never too late to get addicted to submarines :DL

Oh, my Sunday was uneventfull - except for Windows 7 killing my user profile -> recovery attempts didn't work -> new installation :-?
It's a known bug since several Windows generations. The important data was all backed up, but it's still a paita to set up everything new. till yesterday I was a fan of W7...:stare:

Jimbuna
11-14-11, 06:47 AM
Pleased your sister is going to recover :sunny:

Dogs...don't you just love em :DL

My Sunday was nothing like as eventful as yours....enjoy your next WALKIES :O:

Oberon
11-14-11, 08:53 AM
Egads FK, what a day! Glad your sister will mend though, sounds like quite the wreck.

Had my dog do a similar thing once whilst I was distracted trying to get the other dogs ball down from a roof, she slipped out of her harness and buggered off, thankfully I am faster than her and I was able to scoop her up and reattach the harness. Cheeky thing.

Osmium Steele
11-14-11, 08:57 AM
Glad she's on the road to recovery, Frau.

Here's to a speedy one! :Kaleun_Cheers:

frau kaleun
11-14-11, 10:02 AM
Thanks for all the good wishes.

My BIL called this morning to say things were going well and he had gotten some sleep and was going to come home from the hospital first thing to shower and change and check on the critters, so I did not have to go walk the dog again this morning.

But of course when they finally got my voice mails last night they called me at *3:30 AM* to let me know there was a key to the lock on the fence and where it was etc. Um guys when I said "call me in the morning if there's a key somewhere" that is NOT what I meant. :haha:

So I got about 2 hours of sleep and got woke up again and had to get back to sleep after that. Got up around 8 and was getting dressed when my BIL called, got to work a little after 9 which is a lot sooner than I thought I would. I will just have to go let the dog out this evening unless I hear otherwise before then.

Anyway - my sister is in good spirits and they are saying now she will not need any surgery, and they are already working the physical therapy stuff to get her mobile again. She can get up now with assistance but she will not be able to bear any weight on one side for a bit so probably crutches or a walker. I don't think they will release her today, the nurses think she will probably be there at least a couple of days.

mookiemookie
11-14-11, 10:08 AM
Another reminder to always wear your seatbelt. If her injuries were that bad with the seatbelt, imagine how bad she'd be without it!

Glad to hear everyone will be alright.

Sailor Steve
11-14-11, 01:56 PM
If her injuries were that bad with the seatbelt, imagine how bad she'd be without it!
Too true. I was in an accident several years ago. The seatbelt arguably saved my life, but it also left me with bruised ribs that made it hard to get into and out of bed for a couple of weeks. The airbag burned the skin on both forearms, causing me to wear bandages for awhile as well.

Frau K, I'm hoping your sister recovers without too much trouble, but I can guarantee she's going to hate life for awhile. I'm glad it's only pain, and not worse.

mookiemookie
11-14-11, 02:02 PM
Too true. I was in an accident several years ago. The seatbelt arguably saved my life, but it also left me with bruised ribs that made it hard to get into and out of bed for a couple of weeks.

Exact same thing happened to me. I was amazed at how much you use your ribs and the surrounding muscles...never realized it until they were all bruised up and I felt everything they did when I moved around.

RickC Sniper
11-14-11, 02:58 PM
It was painful just reading this.......and exhausting.

Glad your sister is ok.

kranz
11-14-11, 03:03 PM
Well, good that she's "ok".
A dose of black humor: that will teach her how (not)to drive.

So anyway how was *your* Sunday? :doh:
I managed to sell my car.

papa_smurf
11-14-11, 03:04 PM
Glad to hear all is okay.

kranz
11-14-11, 03:10 PM
It was painful just reading this.......and exhausting.

qft. When I was reading it, the story of FK's mother came to my mind, so I thought: she would be either in a terminal state or...but hey, she wore sealbelts, right? :03:

Reece
11-14-11, 05:04 PM
That's good news FK, things should get back to normal!!;)

Jimbuna
11-14-11, 07:07 PM
Good news indeed :sunny:

frau kaleun
11-14-11, 09:07 PM
Finally was able to talk to my BIL again this evening, don't know if it's a universal phenomenon but here at least trying to send or answer a call on a cell phone inside a hospital is generally an exercise in frustration so it's a long process of leaving messages until somebody can take a phone outside the building and check their voice mail and return calls.

Anyway, they are still saying there will be no need for surgery, the one fracture that they were concerned about did not go all the way through the pelvis (whatever that means) and she is allowed to put a little weight on that side and gradually increase it and the more she moves around the better it is in the long run. They are expecting to release her tomorrow if nothing changes for the worse between now and then. :yeah:

Takeda Shingen
11-14-11, 09:09 PM
Sorry I'm late to the thread, but I am glad that things have turned out better than expected. You and your loved ones will be in my thoughts.

Sailor Steve
11-14-11, 09:09 PM
Good news indeed. :sunny:

kraznyi_oktjabr
11-15-11, 03:36 AM
Glad to hear your sister didn't get hurt any worse. In my opinion your sister needs few lectures with subject "Why refusing treatment is bad idea?".

My grandpa was involved in car crash several years ago and he got all his ribs from left side, knee, wrist broken and fractured neck and several soft tissue traumas. He is now permanently disabled and needs either walker or wheelchair for moving and his arm doesn't work normally anymore.

He used to visit our farm (which he originally built in 1950s) helping in fields. Now as he can't do that he turned backyard of his rowhouse to his personal field groving potatoes, carrots etc. :D

frau kaleun
11-15-11, 06:26 PM
Well, she didn't refuse treatment, she just didn't want to go to a trauma center, which is understandable in the first few minutes in the ER when you're still full of adrenalin and don't realize the extent to which you may actually be injured. They told her to start thinking about the possibility which she really didn't want to do at that point. But it's not like she had to be talked into it after they finally came to the conclusion that it was the safest option.

Anyway, I just talked to her and she is now back home. They upgraded her after further review of the pelvic fracture and she's allowed to put 50% weight on that side so she can get around on her own okay with a walker for the time being.

kraznyi_oktjabr
11-15-11, 06:38 PM
Well, she didn't refuse treatment, she just didn't want to go to a trauma center, which is understandable in the first few minutes in the ER when you're still full of adrenalin and don't realize the extent to which you may actually be injured. They told her to start thinking about the possibility which she really didn't want to do at that point. But it's not like she had to be talked into it after they finally came to the conclusion that it was the safest option.Ahh... Somehow misunderstood your post.

Anyway, I just talked to her and she is now back home. They upgraded her after further review of the pelvic fracture and she's allowed to put 50% weight on that side so she can get around on her own okay with a walker for the time being.Nice to hear. May I ask do she need to use strong painkillers?

frau kaleun
11-15-11, 06:56 PM
She didn't have any in the first (local) ER because what pain she had was bearable and she didn't want to *not* feel something if it started to hurt in a spot where it wasn't already hurting. But they put a neck brace on her and put her on a backboard for the ride to the trauma center and being on the board was excruciating so they did give her something then but nothing after that until yesterday, I think, by which time she'd been completely evaluated, poked, prodded, scanned, x-rayed, and ultrasounded to the point where it was unlikely there was any potential source of pain that they hadn't already documented.

I'm sure they sent her home with a scrip for something similar, she says it dulls the pain but doesn't make it go away completely which is probably preferable as it wouldn't do to push herself too hard just because nothing is hurting at all at any particular moment. A little reminder that the body still has some healing to do is always a good thing. She needs to be mobile to help that along but not so much so that it does more harm than good.

MothBalls
11-15-11, 07:05 PM
Glad to hear things worked out. Considering how bad it could have been, I would be thankful it wasn't worse than it was. I wish her a speedy recovery.

The important thing in a crisis situation is having level headed friends and family to help you through it. It sounds like you were that person for them, they're lucky to have you.

August
11-15-11, 07:26 PM
Glad to hear things worked out. Considering how bad it could have been, I would be thankful it wasn't worse than it was. I wish her a speedy recovery.

The important thing in a crisis situation is having level headed friends and family to help you through it. It sounds like you were that person for them, they're lucky to have you.


Hear hear. You are a good sister FK.

frau kaleun
11-15-11, 07:57 PM
Glad to hear things worked out. Considering how bad it could have been, I would be thankful it wasn't worse than it was. I wish her a speedy recovery.

The garage that towed the car said it probably saved her life. Too old for airbags - an '87 Cougar LS - but a fairly big, heavy, solid chunk of automobile. She almost drove their little pickup that morning and thank heavens she didn't because it surely wouldn't have held up as well as the Cougar did, all things considered.

The important thing in a crisis situation is having level headed friends and family to help you through it. It sounds like you were that person for them, they're lucky to have you.

Hear hear. You are a good sister FK.

Shucks, you do what you gotta do, especially the little peripheral things that still need to get done even in a crisis even if all it is, is walking the dog and feeding the cat so it's one less thing for somebody else to worry about.

I'm just happy she's home, honestly I would've been happy enough if they'd just sent her back to the local hospital. I didn't like my BIL having to spend almost an hour on the highway each way getting back and forth to where she was, especially since he was spending the nights on a foldout chair in her room. I know he wasn't getting enough sleep and probably not eating enough either.

Anyway - she sounded really good and is just happy that things didn't turn out much worse, as are we all. :DL

joea
11-16-11, 06:25 AM
Anyway - she sounded really good and is just happy that things didn't turn out much worse, as are we all. :DL

As I am also, sounds like a very scary experience.

TheSatyr
11-18-11, 01:43 PM
I recently went through a similar kind of situation. Back in August my Uncle had back surgery to remove a bad disc. Well,the Dr. screwed up and accidentally clipped my Uncle's bowels or intestines or whatever,causing him to come down with Staph,E-Coli and God knows what else.

The infections led to abcesses and every thing got so bad that at one point they gave him 2 days to live. After spending 2 and a half months in the hospital he finally came home and now because of all this he will have to take anti-biotics for the rest of his life to keep the infections from recurring. And since all that time in the hospital atrophied his muscles he is also going to have to do PT for quite a while.

All this because some loser of a Dr. screwed up a relatively simple back operation...sigh.

Platapus
11-18-11, 02:38 PM
All this because some loser of a Dr. screwed up a relatively simple back operation...sigh.


Do you know what they call the guy who graduated at the bottom of his class in med school after having to repeat courses?


Doctor.:o

vienna
11-18-11, 03:04 PM
Do you know what they call the guy who graduated at the bottom of his class in med school after having to repeat courses?


Doctor.:o


True situation in all fields; that's why I seldom put my whole faith in that fancy wallpaer one sees in many offices. One former boss of mine did impress me, though; he is an Industrial Psychologist, a PhD, published in several renowned and important journals, and has been a college professor. The first time I walked into his office, I noticed on the wall opposite his desk was a large collection of framed diplomas, certificates, citations, and other accomplishments. Dead center, in a place of honor in the midst of all this was a certification from a major automotive company (I'm not sure, but I seem to remember it was from Ford) certifying him as a master mechanic. I didn't ask him directly about it, but I found out later from another employee, who was a long time friend of the Dr. that, early in his academic life, he had worked his way through college as a mechanic and he not only was proud of the certification, he kept it a prominent place as a reminder of where he came from and the hard work he did to get where he was in his career. I have much respect for people like that...