Jul 7th 2014, 15:05:06
Originally posted by Patience:
Those of you who have me on Facebook may have read that my dad & stepmother were involved in a rollover accident in BC a couple of weeks ago. Originally we thought Dad escaped injury, although he was really battered and bruised - but it turns out he has a fractured thoracic vertebra and kidney problems caused by the amount of internal bleeding his kidneys had to process.
My stepmother wasn't so lucky - she broke her neck in two places (as well as 14 of her ribs) and spent almost 2 full weeks in ICU on a ventilator, after a full tracheotomy. She's recently been transferred to the spinal ward and is off the ventilator during the day, holding her own. She was originally unable to feel anything below the break, but has made some progress and can now feel all of her extremities, although she can't move much at all and what movement she has is completely uncontrolled (aside from the broken neck, she also suffered a series of mini-strokes in her cerebellum the night of the accident). She has no use of her hands, but can raise her arms a bit - although she's unable to press down and has to depend on gravity to lower them again. She can move one leg slightly, but can only wiggle the toes on the other foot. We're hoping she'll regain some control and mobility over time.
I'm heading to Vancouver on Friday and will be out there taking care of them for the foreseeable future, so I won't be online much. Try to behave while I'm away. And Grizzie, maybe we can meet up for coffee or drinks while I'm out there - I'd love to see you!
My stepmother wasn't so lucky - she broke her neck in two places (as well as 14 of her ribs) and spent almost 2 full weeks in ICU on a ventilator, after a full tracheotomy. She's recently been transferred to the spinal ward and is off the ventilator during the day, holding her own. She was originally unable to feel anything below the break, but has made some progress and can now feel all of her extremities, although she can't move much at all and what movement she has is completely uncontrolled (aside from the broken neck, she also suffered a series of mini-strokes in her cerebellum the night of the accident). She has no use of her hands, but can raise her arms a bit - although she's unable to press down and has to depend on gravity to lower them again. She can move one leg slightly, but can only wiggle the toes on the other foot. We're hoping she'll regain some control and mobility over time.
I'm heading to Vancouver on Friday and will be out there taking care of them for the foreseeable future, so I won't be online much. Try to behave while I'm away. And Grizzie, maybe we can meet up for coffee or drinks while I'm out there - I'd love to see you!
Best of luck for you and your family. Something similar happened to my mom about 3-4 years ago. She fortunately escaped with only minor injuries but still can't remember what happened that day. Doctors said she just completely blacked out and didn't remember what happened.
According to police reports, she was making a legal turn when she was completely blindsided by a construction vehicle on the driver side. The entire left side of the car was totaled so it was really a miracle she escaped with little injury.
