Wednesday, May 23, 2012

T-boned. Seriously?

Today on my way to physical therapy, the transport van I was riding in was t-boned by a brainless idiot who apparently failed to notice our enormous white vehicle's presence on this sunny day, on a street with no trees or other visual obstructions.  We were traveling between 30-40mph and were knocked completely out of the lane we tried to swerve into in our attempt to avoid the menace blindly plowing into the lane we had previously occupied.  The impact, which occurred on my right side, destroyed the double doors on the side through which I enter and exit the vehicle, broke some kind of brackets on my power chair, smashed out the glass on my left (coating me in broken shards and tiny flakes), bent the headrest, and gave me seat belt burns across my throat because my body slid downward and forward until the shoulder belt arrested my motion at the neck.   I got to see them use the jaws of life to open up the side of the van, where luckily the wheelchair lift ramp still functioned so I could get out of the vehicle.

Setting aside how mind-boggling it is that anyone could manage not to see us and drive straight into the side of our vehicle, I'd just like to ask, WHAT THE CRAP?!  Why on earth did this happen??  How could it be that every time things start to go right something else goes wrong??   Tomorrow my husband will have to take my power chair down to the supplier and hand it over for repairs, which, being funded by automobile insurance, will take who knows how long to sort out.  I'll be stuck back in my manual chair, which is not nearly as comfortable for multiple-hour use and also involves me or my caregiver expending tremendous energy in propelling me around.  I had x-rays done to make sure my spinal fusion rods and pins were holding together properly, and they looked okay, but there's no way to tell if muscle and or nerve damage in my back may yet cause swelling or weakness or other problems that hinder my recovery. 

The friction burns on my throat are starting to blister and ooze.  Time to call the home health nurse.

Looks like I'll be spending the evening wearing a gauze scarf.  And maybe take a hydrocodone.  Say yay.

3 comments:

  1. Before I knew you were in a transport vehicle, I was relaying the fact that you were in an accident & my kids asked if your children were in the vehicle with you. We are praying for you. Lorraine

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  2. It is just so hard to understand that so many times YOU do things right, working hard to regain lost ground!...then things totally outside of your control conspire to set you back. It's just too awful for words! That neck burn sounds much worse than I first imagined! Hope some gentle cool compresses might help to soothe it and that it heals quickly. Striving to find the positive if at all possible and right now I have to say that if that idiot had to be in your sphere today, than I am so thankful that you were in that particular vehicle and not being driven by family in your own vehicle, which could not have withstood the impact as well. And, I am so very thankful that you were not seriously injured, that the belts worked to keep you as stable as possible, and that the doors were strong enough to keep the idiot's car from literally entering yours. My prayer for you is that your pain quickly diminishes, and that you are NOT set back in your continuing progress. So sorry we cannot really do anything to help you feel better! All we can do is love you with all our hearts!!!

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  3. So sorry about this. Man, that must have been frightening and I too am glad you were not more seriously injured. Got your adrenaline going, I'll bet! We continue to pray for you!
    Geri

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