My Little Darlin update, PT day3
By far this is an emotional experience for me and I do think ignorance can be bliss but I do see the clinical side. This is good in some ways but bad in others knowing what potential problems can occur with this kind of trauma. Today she remains stable. No change in her neurological status. This is a good thing(TIGT). She is still heavily sedated which is likely a good thing. Her injuries would be extremely painful if she were aware. Her blood pressure remains good and the medications to help with this are slowly being weaned. (TIGT). She did develop a collapsed lung on the right side early this morning. This was treated with a chest tube which promptly re-expanded the lung. This was not necessarily a surprise given the degree of trauma she experienced. She has some infiltrate in the left lung. This could be a contusion from the trauma, pneumonia or both. She is on antibiotics to cover this. This is truly a test of patience but it is going to be a slow recovery. Thank God she is still here to recover.
I feel very strongly about having as many people as possible know about this and similar occurrences. This includes the young man(18years) from here in Tupelo who was killed on his bicycle last year. Many others have told me since this happened of their encounters with automobiles while on their bike. The auto always wins. Those of us who bike and run must use public roads. We have all had near misses doing both of these activities with people in automobiles, commonly by drivers not paying attention because of their cell phone or other distractions. There are a rare few people who are just mean. Jan and I got involved in biking, running, triathlon etc for the pure joy and satisfaction of being active and for the short and long term health benefits. Jan was heavily involved with Team in Training to raise funds for the Leukemia and Lymphoma society for several years. We (Jan, I am a token) opened Boardtown Bikes as a way to promote good health(It is not how we make our living). Jan tried to do Florida Ironman Triathlon last year. For those of you who do not know, this consists of a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride followed by a 26.2 mile run. 140.6 miles under your own power and you are given 17 hours to do it for it to be official. She made 130 miles and has been beating herself up since for not finishing. How many reading this have ever come anywhere close to going this distance on there own power? She signed up the day after the race to do it again the following year.
Last Sunday she was on a training ride. She and our friend Kim were 35 miles into a 50-60 mile planned ride when she was hit. I have been on an emotional rollercoaster since. The worst comes when I am alone and see in my mind the description Kim gave of the incident. Imagine the person you are closest to, your husband, wife, child, parent. The person that if they die you will too. Then imagine that person being hit straight on by a 2000 pound automobile going 55 plus MPH. Imagine the impact and the 2 to 3 seconds following. This is what I see now every time I stop any other mind occupying activity. I never know while I am talking, texting or otherwise communicating to a friend or family member if or when I am going to have to stop and choke back the tears. It also happens every time I go in to see my usually vibrant little darlin lying in the critical care bed on a ventilator broken in ways hard to imagine but happy I am not at her funeral. At this moment I would elate at open eyes and recognition.
I do not want what happened to Jan to be in vain. Tell everyone you know about this. Tell them to give anyone they see on the road a wide berth whether it is a biker, runner, worker or someone who simply has no other means of travel other than legs or bike. If you do not run or bike or do some other physical activity then do it. It will do you good and the more of us there are the more aware others are. When you drive keep your mind on the road. I equate cell phone usage while driving to drunk driving, now that people are getting significant prison time for this less people are doing it.
I want to thank everybody for their prayers, kindness, concern, texts, Facebook posts, emails, phone calls and visits. This is the hardest thing I have ever faced not to mention what Jan is going through. I would wish that no one ever experience anything like this either as victim or family. The support from family and friends makes this bearable. It is so meaningful to know that there are so many good friends out there. We would not get through this without you.
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