Posted by Tamar on December 28, 2005, at 17:33:25
In reply to Re: Thanks everyone » Tamar, posted by Susan47 on December 28, 2005, at 11:38:05
> What were the extent of her injuries? Head? Heart? Abdomen? Knees?What do the doctors say? What happened in the accident, Tamar?There were no witnesses; it happened on a country road. We think it was a head-on collision with both cars doing about 60. The other driver was dead at the scene and may have suffered a heart attack at the wheel and swerved into the path of my mother-in-law’s car; that’s the current theory anyway. I guess we’ll find out in due course.
My mother-in-law has multiple injuries. Fractures to tibia, patella, clavicle, sternum, and various bones in her ankles, spine, feet and hands. She had a pneumothorax but it seems to be healing and her lung is reinflating. No other organ damage. Superficial facial wounds but no life-threatening head or neck injuries. She has a winding line of staples across her forehead, stitches in her lips, and a nasty-looking cut on her eyelid that can’t have been bad enough to need stitches but looks sore. Her whole body is slightly swollen (oedema perhaps) and both legs are in plaster. She has had one operation on the fractured tibia and requires surgery on the patella and bones in her ankle, but they can’t do it until her red blood count improves. She’s been on adrenaline for her blood pressure and using a ventilator to help her breathing (although now she’s breathing almost entirely on her own). She lost a great deal of blood and was still receiving blood yesterday, but I don’t think she needed any today.
Doctors say her recovery will be very slow with occasional setbacks. Her condition remains stable. She isn’t making any big improvements, but she’s also not getting any worse. My brother-in-law saw the wrecked car today. He is a mechanic and has seen dozens of vehicles that were involved in fatal accidents. He said he’s never seen anything as awful as my mother-in-law’s car. We don’t know how she survived it.
I still can’t quite believe it. My mother-in-law is a very strong, capable woman. It’s very strange to see her lying sedated in a hospital bed. I hardly know what to say to her (not that she can hear me, but somehow I want to talk to her). I really adore her and I can’t imagine life without her, so she damn well has to pull through this!
Thanks so much to everyone who has replied to this thread. It’s such a relief to hear your good wishes.
Tamar
poster:Tamar
thread:592289
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20051225/msgs/592829.html