UPDATE, SHORT VERSION AS OF THURSDAY, OCTOBER 8TH, 2009
Bub still healing, it's going slowly, had a bit of a scare re: blood pressure sky high, will track it at home with my blood pressure cuff and stuff. Doctor says would I do it, I feel grateful that she has confidence in my EMT skills to do this.
He'll be back to work modified (limited) duty Monday October 19th. I'm beginning to be stressed out but it's only temporary. Hey, he'd do the same for me in a heartbeat.
UPDATE, SHORT VERSION AS OF MONDAY, OCTOBER 5TH, 2009
Dealing with the medical profession is a PAIN IN THE ASS.
Had some altered abnormal breathing issues last week but we took care of them with some look/listen/feeling for certain types of breathing patterns and a LOT of sleepless Internet hours confirming what I thought it was.
Edema practially gone, went for arm/elbow x-rays today, he jokes that we won't need lights in the house anymore because he'll GLOW in the dark. I laugh when he says that while I'm slowly backing away from him, I don't want to glow, I repeat, I don't want to glow...
He's driving short distances, in less and less pain everyday, but the medical changes aren't the hardest ones for us...see the blog after this one.
UPDATE, LONG VERSION AS OF MONDAY, OCTOBER 5TH, 2009
Trying to get any sort of paperwork done through the medical profession is a pain. Forms that have to be filled out by the doctor have errors (such as a date that the doctor originally put onto the form was changed to another date by writing over the original date WITHOUT initially through it...like the State of California is ACTUALLY gonna accept that...NOT.)
Progress is still slow, steady and hopeful, although it's slower than we'd like or thought.
We are considering different bikes, including Harleys. He'd really like a Harley. Hey, whatever he wants, he will GET. I will swear to it.
The bruises are really going away quickly as are the scrapes and stuff. That Vitamin E oil really works good.
See the short version above for any of the medical stuff going on, EXCEPT I will say that the breathing problems he experienced at 1:30 AM on Thursday morning (a period of 10 seconds without breathing, then 5 quasi-gasping "trying to get air into his lungs"-type breaths was, I figured out, sleep apnea/dyspnea from laying on an almost supine position but slightly tilted to the left, towards the injured lung. The lung still has fluid in it, which we think was causing the alveolae to not get as much O2 as they needed. I was online from 2 AM until 4 AM making sure that was one of the higher percentage possibilities. He'll get another chest xray in a few more weeks.
It IS scary, hearing those breathing sounds from him that you've never heard before, putting your fingers near his nose and mouth and NOT feeling any breathing, then him taking those deep 'gimme oxygen!' breaths...
On to lighter things, now...
We went and got some stuff for my car (and there's a reason I'm mentioning this, stay with me, here), and we were chatting with the manager of the place. I was telling him about how I pity da' fool who rides behind me because they'd be killed by one of my plutonium atomic farts. Barry starts laughing and going, "ow, ow" because it hurts him to laugh, and I TOTALLY didn't even think about what I was saying when I told the manager, "Yeah, I've actually leveled whole city blocks with one of those suckers". Barry starts laughing again, in still more pain, and I STILL don't get it or see him laughing. The final blow was when I told that manager, "My farts are so bad that the South Coast Air Quality Management District (you know, the guys who regulate the smog and stuff) is on my ass about it". Barry's holding onto his torso trying not to have so much pain, he's laughing so much.
It's about as bad as me punching him in the shoulder or into his ribs. I should be more benevolent and caring towards him. Yeah, RIGHT.
He did mention that he really appreciates all the class-one triple AAA care he's been getting from me. That made me feel wonderful.
UPDATE, LONG VERSION AS OF TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2009
Barry's recovery going slowly but surely. (I know, don't call him 'shirley'). He's getting there, still can't drive, but mobility increasing little by little and pain lessening little by little.
You know, writing about all this stuff without being too detailed (like, you DO NOT want to see the bruises on his torso and arms!) is like therapy for me, plus I love all the medical stuff.
UPDATE, SHORT VERSION as of Saturday 09-26-09
Bub's taking each day at a time and he is little by little regaining mobility and the pain is also lessening as well as almost totally lessening the need for pain pills. He's shown an amazing recovery even though it's only been 2 weeks since the incident! Sneezing, coughing and laughing however cause sharp pains, but they go away and so there's no use in medicating something that's already happened.
· We will be getting out at times and will keep those of you who follow this blog aware of his ‘guest appearances’! We're still on for that place on October 1st that Johney Harper mentioned in the FOS meeting post on the Forum, and will meet with friends for lunch when we can. We'd prefer to meet them vs. being picked up and taken to lunch because I want the freedom to 'call the ride' when Bub gets tired. You understand, I'm sure.
· Thank you for your desire and willingness to help and visit; at this time we do not encourage or desire any visitors due to two mean dogs (three if you include me) and I’m trying to keep the atmosphere quiet and healing for Bub. We will not take the healing process in a hurry and I want him to have the time and the space to cope with mending to his full health. We don't need any food because Barry's sister Rhoda lives next door and supplies us full, wonderful meals. Oh, YAY, there goes my damn diet...
· If others ask you 'how's Barry doing?', if you wish, please refer them to my blog.
· HE QUIT SMOKING.
UPDATE, LONG VERSION as of 09-26-09:
There is NOBODY like Barry. Period. End of story. He's amazing.
· Broken bones can be a daunting obstacle to a rider, but Barry will be back with a vengeance. While the major changes in your body never really go away, every day he's looking forward to future riding, rather than dwelling on the accident. He's already looking at magazines and online articles, trying to decide what bike he wants next. Some people have suggested a trike. Do you smell something burning?, because they're TOAST.
· He has received quite a few of phone calls, SMS messages, e-mails and other kinds of greetings from many well-wishers, friends & family: it's a great comfort to know that others are thinking of him and we thank you so VERY MUCH for your concern, your thoughtful and considerate outpouring feelings of warmth, affection, friendship and caring. Keep 'em coming so he doesn't feel left out! I am more than happy to pass along messages and words of encouragement to him as they come in, plus do feel free to call him. When he’s available to take calls, his phone will be on; if he’s resting or otherwise unavailable, voice mail is an option and he will return the call as soon as he gets it.
It's pretty neat-one person read the blog and was willing to donate their recliner!!! That is such awesome caring on their part, even though Barry is healing so well and his mobility is so awesome so far that we don't need it now. Things are really really speeding along.
· If there's a common theme in all the messages it is that there is understanding and compassion about Bub’s injuries. Some of you have ‘been there, done that’ and he appreciates your sharing some of your past like-kind incidents. Right after this happened, one of the guys told us about his experiences with broken ribs, and THAT was really helpful to understand what WOULD happen and how Bub'd feel, so we could be prepared and understand that with the healing process comes pain, but it CAN be controlled when you have information and knowledge. I think the first person to come up with the 'no pain, no gain' saying musta been a Physical Therapist.
· DON'T ever take your mobility for granted, especially those 'core muscles' in the middle of your body such as your back, abs, sides, etc. AND your shoulders: for instance, he still really can't drive due to the twisting necessary to get in and out of a car to the left side (driver's side) with injuries to the left side of the body, PLUS pulling/pushing yourself from any position using the left shoulder. Turning and checking for traffic are also hard to do. He's only recently been able to sleep in bed with minimal 'propping up' and can now use the core muscles to the right lateral side to get up with minimal pain to the left side. Again, really fantastic mobility even though it's been 2 weeks. You don't think about this stuff until you can't do it. I know I had a big lesson in mobility or lack thereof, watching him, and so we've figured out what can and can't be done.
The doctor appointments are over for awhile because everything is healing well. The scrapes and road rash are healing and unfortunately also itching, so I DID get that Vitamin E oil at Rite-Aid and it's helping to calm the itches as well as speed the healing process. I have seen Vitamin E do some wonderful things on riders who have gone down, have cut the Vitamin E capsules and used the stuff inside the capsules on their wounds. I HAVE SEEN IT. Within 4 days of low-siding on his bike, I saw a young motorcyclist's wounds heal unbelieveably well. He DID, however, have to sleep in a hammock. (we were all camping at the North Fork of the Yuba River 'way up in Northern California)
A lot of you have asked about me and how I'm doing, which kinda caught me by surprise. I really appreciate it & it almost made me cry (ok, it did make me have tears of self-pity and realization that there are those who understand what a job it is-hey, I'll admit to having occasional thoughts of feeling sorry for myself and mild depression, but then I think about Bub and his injuries, and I snap out of it. Mostly. The Tuesday night after the accident was the worst because THAT was when I finally came down off the adrenaline rush from the accident.). I've told some folks that it's Barry's job to heal and my job to advocate for him with the various members of the medical profession and others, PLUS keep him from reinjuring or aggravating his injuries...in other words, really do my 'Alpha Bitch' job WELL.
I think that'll be a blog in itself because I want to address all the thoughts, feelings, actions and stuff about a caregiver: someone who has been thrust into doing it all, not only specifically for the injured person but for the family as a whole. It's an experience, believe me. That blog will be in the future, maybe when I have time...say, Christmas 2010...
I'm lucky in that the first week Barry wanted to (and did!) do stuff for himself, like cook, check out the bills that have to be paid (he tracks 'em, I budget 'em), shower and dress, etc. Sometimes he says he feels useless, though. I try to dispel those feelings by knocking some sense into him, on his GOOD side of course.
I want to say thank you thank you thank you for some of you who have invited me on rides to different places with you-keep inviting me, please keep inviting me because I hope after another week or so I WON'T feel that bad about going without Bub. Even during the week, if I know about 2 days ahead and can arrange it with my work. It just that right now I don't want to rub it in to Bub that I can ride places and he can't, but he totally understands and wants me to ride when I feel I am comfortable being away for more than 3 hours. I just feel like since it's only been two weeks, I don't want to be too far away for now, only as far as Anaheim or maybe my work on an intermittent schedule in Santa Ana. I'm longingly and wistfully looking at some of the rides coming up. But, stuff happens...just please don't forget the that AB wants to ride & loves to ride, but I will not beg-too much fear of being told, 'No'.
UPDATE, SHORT VERSION 09-24-09:
Bub's good, good spirits, good care, being waited on hand and foot, he's better each day and it coulda been worse. Emails, cards, phone calls, texts have been appreciated & nice, thanks for showing your caring and your love. Keep 'em coming so he doesn't feel left out. Laughing, however, causes a little pain. I say tough shit. STILL NO VISITORS, PLEASE-he's still healing and I still want him to feel free to nap or drop off, even though those are less and less. We'll probably be at that Tutti-Fruiti place that Harper mentioned in the FOS meeting post on the Forum.
UPDATE, LONG VERSION 09-24-09:
Bub's doing a little better each day, more mobility, slightly less pain, sleeping on less of an incline night by night. If you've ever had a torso/arm/or shoulder injury, then you know it's harder than hell to get up from a recling position/supine. Can't push yourself up, can't use your abs or core muscles to stabilize you. Actually he was in bed last night vs. propped up on a 45 degree angle on the couch. The injuries coulda been worse, I coulda been a rich widow, but being a rich widow doesn't keep you warm at night and give you someone to vent bitchily to. I don't want to train someone else and there is NOBODY like Barry. Period. End of story.
Had & have multiple Dr. appts, Primary Care Phys, Orthopedic surgeon for the shoulder, cardiologist to make sure no damage to the heart-all good. No sign of infection, but then again, the EMT care is best, if I do say so myself. Wounds all healing well, I try to dress them ONLY if there's a chance of him rubbing against something and reopening them up, abrasions starting to heal AND itch so I'm going to get some Vitamin E oil to put on them, plus I'm spraying them with some antibacterial anti-itch aloe bactine crap that I had in the first aid kit. No need for antibiotics, yee-hah! There was no gravel in his wounds because of the L/S shirt he was wearing plus jeans, it's just that the bike slammed him down when it went out from under him.
Have filled out multiple forms including re: his work, me staying home & forms to my work, the usual bureaucratic crap, I'm going crazy.
I asked him how it felt to be waited on hand and foot, and he said he'd rather be able to do for himself instead of laid up with a broken wing et al and pain. Typical Barry-ism. Yes, you may get up off the floor now, I AM waiting on him hand and foot PLUS monitoring his pain levels, his overall well-being, doing his meals (poor guy, no WONDER he's lost weight, hey, I DON'T COOK, I am NOT domestic!) He's been eating my Lean Cuisine meals for small meals, he says because they're SAFE. I'm not sure I like his insinuation. His sister Rhoda (next door to us) has been supplying us with meals and care and love, and we owe her BIG TIME. She cooks OUT OF THIS WORLD, plus healthy stuff, very well rounded, she'd give anyone the shirt off her back. Damn wonderful lady.
We've had some great emails, some phone calls, some text messages, a few cards, but emails & texts are always great because I can tell him right then.
I will probably work intermittently at my work next week because I just feel over-protective right now. My work is so wonderful, so understanding, I feel really bad about being off but I'd feel worse if I wasn't home. Not sure how understanding HIS work is, but with the Alpha Bitch advocating for him, well, they'll KNOW they've been in a fight.
I will be riding my bike to work until around Thanksgiving, that's pretty damn cool for me, I love riding my bike BUT HATE the 57 north where the carpool lane joins the 91. No thanks, I'll take Haster/Anaheim Blvd/Lemon St. all the way and stop to work out at Bally's in Fullerton.
We won't be making the October 230 meeting on the 3rd because I'm teaching on Saturdays at 8:15 AM at Fullerton Bally's (advanced step aerobics) for the next 4 weeks or so, and Barry doesn't like to go without me. Plus he'd feel even weirder, driving the car to the meeting. I think I'll make him go, for the fellowship and the good feelings he gets when we go. Plus the male bonding and for him to get away from his crabby wife and stuff. (heh-heh-heh) YOU don't think I'm crabby? "And the Oscar goes to..."
RIDING-we'll be looking for something for him around Thanksgiving, maybe a little before, someone in the Chapter mentioned a Strat or Roadliner due to the lighter alloy frame, handling ability, etc. We'll probably also being doing a few Chapter rides (230, 345, maybe 422) so that he can allow himself to get back to feeling the handling of his body and feeling the handling with the new bike. Hey, a broken shoulder and ribs change you, no matter HOW well they heal.
Updates will come every few days or so, keep checking this channel.
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The main purpose of this blog is to explain what happened, what is currently happening, and for others (the injured motorcyclists and their caregivers) what goes on when an accident happens of this nature. Some accidents aren't as bad, some are worse, but it's just to give you an idea of what is involved.
THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED Saturday, September 12, 2009
Well, the Saturday ride with the 345 Chapter didn't turn out so good...on DeLuz Road just S. of Sandia Creek Road, Barry was in a serious motorcycle accident that day. He has 3 broken ribs (2 broken in 2 or more places), one of the ribs punctured his L lung, he has a broken L shoulder (acromium 'displaced' fracture), had a pneumothorax aka collapsed L lung (which they pumped back up within 24 hours) and a hemothorax aka some blood loss from the lung into the area between the lung and the chest wall, not much blood lost, just 30 ml. He was in Palomar Trauma Center Saturday through Tuesday. It was really great that with some of the folks we were riding with in Group 2, one of the ladies riding with her husband was an RN.
We want to go on record and PUBLICLY thank those folks in Group 2 of STAR Chapter 345-EVERYBODY stayed behind with me after Bub was taken to the hospital until Bub's bike was picked up and taken to No Pork, and even escorted me most of the way to the Fallbrook Hospital. I know that Jim Travis, Gregg Tomchick, and Shelly and Doug Cort were part of our group, but I didn't get the others' names. Just want you to know that I appreciate all of you staying with me and helping Bub and I.
You know, it kinda really sounds worse than it was, if you can understand what happened and his treatment. A lot of the stuff that happened in the first 12 hours were fixed up quickly, like the collapsed lung. (Looking back on what I've written so far in the last 4 hours, yeah, it DOES sound pretty scary and shit, but if you know what's going on and can treat and deal with it, it's less scary. Trust me on this. Some of you folks know what a walking encyclopaedia I am.)
To the right is the first part of the curve where it happened-the point where the bike went down is just out of camera range-he was coming towards the camera, just finishing up a nice right hand turn and was going into a left hand turn, the front wheel caught some gravel/sand that was in the crown of the lane, he said (I can't speak definitively since I didn't take pics of the exact spot) the front wheel slid and the bike kinda slammed him down. There were no tire skid marks nor metal marks on the road. No one saw it because I was 2 seconds behind him right where my bike is parked under the tree and the accident happened, as I mentioned, just out of camera range and would be to the lower left of the picture.
This blog is being brought to you by the makers of the CrashBounce apparel system...interesting how advertisers can 'key in' to key words in a blog and then have their ad/website show up on your page...no, the blog really ISN'T sponsored by CrashBounce, I just thought the website and the products were pretty interesting...
Ok, I'll tell you what happened, because this is interesting medical stuff re: motorcycle accidents:
He was doing a left curve nicely, with a nice lean, MAYBE 25 mph at most, hit some gravel/sand with the front wheel, went down HARD. He said that the bike slammed him down when it slid out. Gregg Tomchick and I heard the bike tank hit & scrape.
I was about 1-2 seconds behind him, so I didn't see it. I noticed he was down but trying to get up and was holding his arm, so I knew he was awake and aware (he was in pain) so I went down the road (it's twisty, with limited visibility around curves) to stop traffic. He was saying (afterwards) that all he could say was "Where's my wife?" even though they told him each time that I was down the road stopping traffic. What, did he think I went over a cliff or something???I was the only one who had cell service but just as I was TRYING to call 911, the volunteer sheriffs got to where I was and they radio'd for aid. Better bandwidth, I guess. My phone was cutting in and out, but I could still call some family and friends really quickly.
Paramedics got there in 15-20 minutes, quick work for them, he was taken to Fallbrook Hospital. The bike was taken to No Pork.
YAY, No Pork! Jim Travis and Brian Erman are golden and took a LOT of worry off my shoulders. They took such wonderful care of us, as if we were family. Jim just took over taking care of the bike, all I had to do was call AAA Roadside Assistance.
The guys at No Pork said he's been downgraded from an 1100 to a 650, so I figure I'll give him mine and get something bigger for myself, like a Roadie or at the very minimum a V-Star 1300. I WILL take Lambie off the 650 though.
BTW, bike was totalled. Poor bike, it was a great ride. Even I liked it when I rode it to No Pork a few days before. I REALLY liked it. It fit me well and was LOUD. Kinda like me.
Fallbrook Hospital took X-rays and reported that he had a dislocated shoulder (they said, but it wasn't, turned out to be an acromium shoulder fracture) 3 broken ribs, 2 broken in 2 places ('flail segments') and ordered a CAT scan for a 'shadow' on his lower L lung. At this time we STILL thought he was going home that night, so I went home at 3 PM Saturday on my bike to get the car. I was getting his clothes and stuff together and Fallbrook Hospital called and told me they were keeping him overnight because that 'shadow' turned out to be a traumatic pneumothorax aka collapse of a lung with escape of air into the pleural cavity between the lung and the chest wall due to one of the ribs' flail segments puncturing it. The lung collapsed because it couldn't "blow up". (See 'way below for the pathophysiology of a pneumothorax and a hemothorax if you're interested in more of the medical stuff ) So they were putting in a chest pump (which is the combination of a chest tube and a suction pump to hopefully pump out the air AND blood in the thoracic cavity, again, see 'way below). He said he was out of it when they did it, and it's a good thing too, because those needles and tubes are HUGE and have to be shoved into the lung between the ribs. I asked if anyone was allowed in room with him overnight, they said no. I was too tired to argue...I was home when they called, if I had been down there I could've probably sweet-talked my way in there, used some medical jargon, maybe made myself small when he would've gone to his room and maybe they wouldn't've noticed me or maybe snuck in there, but I was too tired. Too much shit happening in too little of a time frame.
Fallbrook Hospital called again a few hours later that night and said he was being T/F to Palomar Trauma Center because he also had a hemothorax aka blood loss in the lung and thoracic cavity, not very much, about 30 ml, but he needed more medical care than Fallbrook could handle. Wonderful. So now I get dressed again, grab more of the overnight stuff and extra clothes for ME because I KNOW I'm gonna spend some nights there, and the SMARTEST thing I ever did was grab Barry's phone also. One thing I DIDN'T grab and I should've was some shampoo for myself. Oh sure, they had some 'all-in-one' stuff that cleaned your whole body like GoJo, but it's not the same.
Poor Bub, up until he was transferred to Palomar, he had had NOTHING to eat since the night before, because (remember?) we were going to a party!!! So the nurse at Palomar gave him something to eat, plus he had a little taste of burger.
At Palomar, he received the BEST care he's ever had in a hospital. AMAZING place, wonderful, caring (and funny!) RN's and CNA's, really cool. Their cafeteria is open 6 AM until 10 PM, they close for an hour to clean up, then they're open again 11 PM-1 AM for the graveyard staff. I had THE BEST sirloin cheeseburger I've ever had. Even gave 1/4 of the burger to Bub. Great prices, too. You know, I think I'd want to go around to hospitals, try out their cafeterias for lunch and dinner, then report on them. I've seen one website that does that but it's for some of England's hospitals.
Medication-wise, he was on morphine every 4 hours, Percocet every 6 hours as needed, plus Motrin (aka ibuprofen) every 6 hours. There's a pain level that the nurses ask, 'on a scale of 0-10, 0 being no pain and 10 being the worst pain you've ever had, what is your pain level now?' My sister was telling me that the pain of broken ribs/shoulder was NOTHING compared to a kidney stone. Since she's had the kidney stone (and I think there are others that would agree to this), I'd tend to believe her. But he was in pain.
One of my main jobs or tasks or missions at the hospital was to ensure he was getting great care, great nursing, and to take some of the load off the nurses there, i.e. walk around with him when they wanted him to get up and walk; um, 'help' him with other bodily functions; get water and make him drink it; you know, stuff.
Saturday I had to sleep curled up on two chairs that were pushed up against each other. For Sunday, I went scrounging. Check out what I found for Sunday and Monday nights...I found out that the floor of the ICU where he was ONLY HAD 2 OF THOSE SUCKERS AVAILABLE, and I scored one. THANK GOD.Sunday we had some visitors-Jackie's best friend 'CareBear' and her hubs (Bonnie and Willie Ritchie, they live 10 minutes away and Willie is at Pendleton) were in the lobby so they called me and came up. Nice to have visitors sometimes because it's someone for me to talk to-Barry was floating in and out. (Home is different, there's more going on at home that we have to do) We also had some visitors from the local biker gang (oopsie, I mean friends of ours) who drove their bikes down to see Bub. Richard Von Luft and Johney Harper came down to check on Bub. Lemme tell you, with Barry being hooked up to the wireless pulse/BP/Saturation/HR monitor, plus hooked up to the chest pump, PLUS the nasal cannula (those oxygen little plugs that they shove up your nostrils), he looked worse than he was. I was thinking about driving home Sunday night for a shower, but I took a shower in his room and had a change of clothes in my car (I always have extra workout shorts/T-shirts / tennies / socks) I didn't really want to leave if I didn't have to, and I would've been gone MINIMUM 5 hours. Ain't happenin'. The chest pump was taken out Sunday night, so it was only in for slightly over 24 hours. That's a good thing.
Monday morning x-rays taken & they discovered shoulder was actually broken (Acromium fracture, really a weird fracture for a motorcycle accident, in our orthopedic surgeon's opinion). Orthopedic surgeon called. He suggested that we contact our own ortho surgeon. That works for us because we really weren't all that thrilled with driving 2 hours (ok, if I drive, 1 hour and 20 minutes) back to Escondido. I call our regular doctor for a followup on Wed. and the ortho for an appt. on Monday next.
Tuesday he was discharged with lots of instructions for post-hospital care. Piece of cake. He got a spirometer breathing aid to use to ward off pneumonia, due to fluid still being in his L lung. Got 2 sets of xrays on CD and advised that he'll be off work for 3 weeks due to the breaks. I'll be off for 2 weeks for care.
Wednesday morning it took him 1 1/2 hours to get up from supine position to standing position. That'll be the LAST time in a while that he lays down for sleep. Had regular Doctor followup & she ordered more x-rays to determine actual amt. of fluid in the L lung.
Thursday morning early-early, swelling in feet & ankles. Doctor visit Thursday and were advised go to Placentia Linda Hospital ER for an ultrasound on his legs.
ER diagnoses myofasciitis (aka muscle strain). BULLSHIT. Bullshit, bullshit, bullshit. Well, at least they ruled out DVT, but I CANNOT for the life of me see how they can rule out CHF just by ruling out DVT. (I was also not too happy that they did NOT put him on a nasal cannula with low-flow O2, nor on an IV. His SAT was 92-95% on room air: normal is considered 97+%. Again, bullshit, bullshit, bullshit.) If you want (more medical shit again), you can see all the way below and get the acronyms straightened out. If you really want to see what jargon they use for all these things going on.
Friday our doctor said to get an echocardiogram from Bub's cardiologist, to rule out any cardiac compromise. We went, we did, heart and valves great. So rule out heart crap. Our PCP did mention that he had a moderate amount of fluid in his L lung, but that would probably be absorbed by the body in time.
Saturday Bub actually took a shower-piece of cake, he said.
Monday went to see the orthopedic surgeon to find out the care and feeding of Bub's shoulder fracture. His advice was no surgery yet, let's see if it'll heal, come back in 3 months and it'll be xrayed and we can go from there. But at least he knows. He did advise to keep the arm in a sling unless doing PT or movement such as a shower.
His mobility getting better each day, pain getting more tolerable each night. We go on small car trips to store, his work, etc. I'm home from work for another 8 days. The terrible part about the whole experience is that I HAVE TO COOK. Ugh.
09-22-09 NOTE-I don't really have to cook anymore, the 'good' meals part of it he gets from his sister Rhoda who lives next door and is an AMAZING cook. I'll be lucky if I don't gain 10 pounds from staying home with him. All I have to do is 'heat up', toast bagels, make sandwiches and coffee, you know, really really easy stuff. He cooks his own eggs because I make his too 'done'.
He'll be ok, just time will tell if everything will heal ok or if there'll be some sort of 'thing' that'll be with him for a while. You know, like when you have knee surgery and the damn thing ALWAYS tells you when it's gonna rain or something. Everything heals, just not sure how thoroughly or how well, depending on the person. Every day he's awake more and more: every night he sleeps a little better, in a quasi-reclining/sitting position with his feet up. Every day he uses less and less pain meds.
Probably be back in the saddle (motorcycle-wise) in 6-8 weeks, just like when he had knee surgery. When he gets back on a bike, we're going to take it slow because he'll not only have to learn the idiosyncrasies of that particular bike but learn how his body will adjust and ride; he will have SOME muscle atrophy in the shoulder area, we are doing hand and forearm exercises. Physical therapy will do SOME stuff, but I'm going to have him do some mild weight lifting with a barbell set to get add'l work for his upper back and chest-those muscles that 'assist' and 'stabilize' the shoulder/bicep/tricep muscles.
I'm doing vital signs on him (B/P, respiration, temperature, pulse, ausculating for abnormal sounds in his lungs) twice a day plus measuring the amount of swelling around both the foot, ankle, knee, wrist and elbow joints on each side. I have a spreadsheet for medical stuff and any conversations.
The knowledge of anatomy and physiology (from aerobics) and the other medical knowledge of taking vital signs, measurements, etc. (from my EMT certification) has come in very handy. Information is crucial when you have a traumatic event such as this, both information and communication. The more information gotten, the more communication can be done.
We are both tired-him from the trauma of the accident and his body trying to heal, and me. At night I wake up every hour just to check on him-his breathing, his position, his pain level if he's also up. Right now he's sleeping mostly upright but kinda reclining a little, and the only place he can do that is on the couch in the living room, so I'm in there on the other couch as well. It's my own thing, the reason I'm tired, and it's totally cool, but the fact is that I don't think I've come down from the adrenaline rush of last Saturday yet, or if I have, I ignored it.
(NOTE: 09-20-09-I'm coming down hard now. HARD, depression-wise. Missing being active and out and about. Missing interactions with friends. I don't know if he's missing anything other than riding, but you know Bub-he's so easygoing it's pathetic. I'm the hyper GO-GO-GO one and it's hard for me to stay still in one spot. Like at home.)
It's hard to sleep at night. I try to nap during the day but it doesn't work, there are constant interruptions. The only time I have on the PC is late at night. But it's cool. I know he'd do the same for me. I do miss riding, though, but I don't want to leave the house unless he's going also, ESPECIALLY riding. Had to go get some more gauze and dressing for some of his owies today, and he went too, stayed in the car and read, so I beat feet shopping for stuff. I'm glad we can get out and do things, even if it's a little bit. We have plenty of food, plenty of movies, I write and update his 'chart' that I'm keeping, do the crossword, you know, kick back.
One thing I WILL do without him is go and teach my aerobics classes. That's 'my time' away but at max, it's only 2 hours. He has his cell phone, I have mine, when he calls it's a special ringtone, and my phone is only 5 feet away from where I teach in the room.
(NOTE: 09-20-09 didn't teach my Sunday class today because he was coughing and in a lot of pain; I wanted to monitor his pain. I felt really really bad about not doing class because it's my time away, but I could feel him having pain and wanted to make sure he didn't collapse from it. I was also just too tired to go.)
It's not a good idea to have any visitors because he reads, nods off, reads a few minutes, nods off for a few minutes...sleep and rest are the best things for him, because then the body can give it's full attention to the process of healing. Visitors can put a strain on someone who's healing. In a hospital setting, sure, it's ok within limits, because the hospital setting is a tightly controlled environment for the patient, but in home setting, it ain't good UNLESS the patient is up for it. Bub AIN'T up for it right now. To tell you the truth, neither am I. I don't feel like being Ms. Hostess and a gracious lady, "Oh, DO come in! Would you like some coffee / tea / soda / cake / cookies?" BULLSHIT. If I get cranky/bitchy, Bub doesn't get the best atmosphere and environment for the healing process. Plus it REALLY gets old, explaining what happened OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER. It's wearing, and I don't think it's all that great psychologically for the patient/person to relive the experience.
I DO appreciate those people who I've contacted who have taken the bull by the horns and let others know what's going on. I'm NOT CRAZY about people who call me every couple of hours, demanding updates on him and trying to give medical advice i.e. 'why didn't you do this or that?'. That just makes me want to ignore any phone calls. Lesson to learn: only call those whom you know will NOT make a federal case out of a situation, such as only call people when you have the time and energy to deal with them, or when it's crucially necessary. NEVER call them from an area where only YOU have cell service and even THEN, sporadic service. Some people will end up calling the hospital's ER or the nurse's station when YOU don't call them back within 15 minutes of their hourly 'what's going on? I need an update!' phonecall. It's true. This is where a GREAT relationship with the nurse on duty comes in handy.
Pathophysiology-pneumothorax (only for those who are interested in the medical shit) The lungs are lined with a double layer of membrane (pleura) separating them from the chest wall. If air gets between these two layers, it's called a pneumothorax. The trick is that the air isn't going from the lungs to the body anymore, it's escaping from the lung into another area, so not only is that air not being used at the cellular level when the bloodsream brings oxygen-rich blood to the cells, but the air is trapped in this small space and so is pushing on other organs. The biggie organ that's the closest to the lungs is, OF COURSE, the heart. A pneumothorax is treated with emergency removal of air under pressure called a tube thoracostomy, also known as chest tube placement. It is mandatory to remove the air from the pleural cavity immediately. A needle attached to a syringe is inserted into the chest wall outside the lung and air is extracted using a vacuum and a water valve "pump" device, depending on severity. This allows the lung to re-expand within the chest cavity. The pneumothorax is followed up with repeated X-rays. If the air pocket has become small enough, the vacuum drain can be clamped temporarily or removed. That thing was a WEIRD looking piece of machinery, almost like a medical version of a radiator. Come to think of it, the function of the chest pump is not really unlike that of a radiator...I think... That chest tube/needle sucker was about 6" long.
Pathophysiology-hemothorax (only for those interested in the medical shit) A hemothorax is a collection of blood in the space between the chest wall and the lung (the pleural cavity). The most common cause of a hemothorax is chest trauma, occuring when the patient has blunt trauma to the chest and/or penetrating chest trauma (aka rib 'flail segment'). The goal of treatment is to stabilize the patient, stop the bleeding, and remove the blood and air in the pleural space. A chest tube is inserted through the chest wall to drain the blood and air. It is left in place for several days to re-expand the lung. In trauma patients, depending on the severity of the injury, chest tube drainage is often all that is necessary. As in this case.
Ok, HERE'S THE LINGO AND THE ACRONYMS I'VE USED ABOVE:
DVT-Deep Vein Thrombosis aka clots in your veins, not a good thing to have...clots can stop or slow down your blood, your oxygen, all sorts of stuff. Not good at all.
CHF-Congestive Heart Failure-it really means that the heart can't or isn't pumping hard enough to get all the blood that's needed to the extremities, and is working really hard to even get blood pumped out of itself. The 'congestive' part means it's congested like your nose in winter, you can't breathe thru your nose or it's really really hard to do: the heart part, DUH. The 'failure' part means that as time goes along, it gets worse and worse, like if you know you gotta fix the steering belt on your car sometime soon because you can hear it screeking (like a screech and a squeek) when you crank the wheel, but you just don't get it fixed...and then it gets worse and worse...THAT'S what the 'failure' means for CHF. That, BTW, is what killed George Carlin.
B/P-Blood Pressure. I have one of those cuffs with the sphygmomanometer gauge and a stethoscope, so I can ausculate his heartrate and blood pressure really really good.
Ausculate means LISTEN. Hey, it's an official medical term, don't go riding me for using these words.
Nasal cannula-those little nose tube thingys that they put up people's nostrils for oxygen. I know, it looks like the person is ready for the meat wagon when you see them with those puppies in, but oxygen is one of the ONLY drugs that is given freely by EMT's and paramedics. O2 is the MINIMUM thing that's given. It's ALWAYS given. ALWAYS. It always helps the situation, and can RARELY make it worse. The nasal cannulas are the minimum way of giving oxygen, other than a 'blow by' of the O2 to someone who can't take the cannulas or the face mask.
SAT-refers to oxygen saturation, a measure of how much oxygen the blood is carrying as a percentage of the maximum it could carry. Most people have a SAT of 97%+ on room air. Anything less is not really all that good, and anything below 90% is REALLY not good. I mean, your body NEEDS oxygen. Also known as SpO2. Now you know why I practically had a FIT in that local ER when his SAT was 91-95 and they DIDN'T have him on O2. GMAFB.
Pt-patient
PCP-Primary Care Physician
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