******
here's the version of the story i mailed out to random peeps last week... it's hard to type with 7 fingers, so it's likely the only one there'll be... at least until the splint comes off. most of the people who got this email were medical folks, so if anything needs explaining, let me know.
******
i was spending the month of december in the chicago area doing my ob/gyn rotation, living with my best friend from college. it was supposed to be a great time.
it was dec 5th and i'd had an exciting day at the hospital. i was on my way home and couldn't wait to share the stories of the day. it was almost 7:30pm, i was 3 blocks from home. the night was dry, and so were the roads. it was freezing out. the car in front of me swerved and was immediately replaced with headlights. my skid marks were only 6 ft long. we hit almost directly head-on. if he'd been in anything larger than his cavelier, there's no doubt in my mind that i would not have lived through the accident. from what we heard he was drunk, and at this point, though he is still in the hospital, he was uninsured. my car spun and the passenger side rear of my car hit the car that was traveling behind me. that lady wasn't hurt. the crash was very fast. i ended in the ditch facing the opposite direction. my driver's side window had shattered and busted out, the windshield was in a million little pieces, but was still intact. my steering wheel was bent. my airbags had deployed. i could move all my fingers and toes, but my left thigh was jammed between the dash and the seat.
a stranger came up to the window to see if i was ok. they called the people i was staying with and my mom. the paramedics showed up, and one of the sat in the backseat with a blanket wrapped around us so we wouldn't get glass in our eyes as the others worked to free me from the wreckage. i was in so much pain. they eventually freed my leg, and pulled me out the driver's side door. i was taken to the nearest ER as a level 1 trauma for treatment.
my left hip was posteriorly dislocated, i had a broken right 5th metacarpal, a broken and dislocated right proximal phalynx of the great toe, a gash on my knee that required 8 staples, some other minor cuts and scrapes and a lot of bruises. i think i've found a new bruise everyday since the accident.
they reduced my hip under concious sedation, and two days later, i had pins placed in my hand and toe. i was discharged from the hospital on saturday dec 10, and was taken to a rehab facility for intense inpatient physical therapy. unfortunately, that place was not what i expected... they had gotten word that i had a traumatic brain injury, and were treating me as such. i was on a lot of morphine while i was in the hospital, and a lot of things are fuzzy... but i'm fairly certain that my brain was uninjured. i checked out of the rehab facility on monday dec 12, and got set up with in-home physical therapy.
i'm doing pretty well at this time. i have a walker, but haven't used it in almost a week. i'm getting better with my left hand and i can maneuver stairs. i'm in less pain everyday. i had to take three weeks of vacation, and i'll have to reschedule an OB rotation. i'll fly home (as previously planned) on christmas eve. i'll then do a 2 wk pathology rotation at st joe's in detroit (i was scheduled for an endocrine rotation, but the lack of the ability to drive or write, the DME said path would work better...). on jan 13 i'll fly back to the chicago area (previously planned) for a friend's wedding. afterwards, i'll stay in chicago on two more weeks of "vacation," during which time i'll have surgery to remove the pins, and have all of the follow-up appointments i'm supposed to have. i'll be cleared to drive after the pins are out, so i'll hopefully be able to get a car during those two weeks as well and afterwards i'll head back to detroit for another 4 weeks. i'm scheduled for anesthesia that month, but perhaps that will have to be changed. at that point, i should be pretty much back to normal and good to go.
things have been pretty stressful, but the friends i am living with are so helpful, and have really gone out of their way to get things done. they even rearranged their house, turning their formal dining room into a bedroom so that i could have a room downstairs. it'll be good to go home next week, and i'll be glad to get back on the other side of the stethoscope.******
the car
i'm going to be OK!
