Other things have been happening lately, but I had to pass along this incredible... unbelievable... news from last night.
I actually went to BJ's and spent less than 10 bucks! Yes, it's true! Yes, it can happen!
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Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Sunday, March 7, 2010
A Birthday She'll Never Forget (But Only Because We'll Tell Her What Happened)
Sunday morning March 7, 2010
Life became turned around a little yesterday... March 6, 2010.
It all started about an hour before they MedEvac'd my wife to St. Luke Hospital's trauma center.
It had been such a beautiful day... we had her surprise 50th birthday party Friday night, and Saturday Mar. 6 was her actual birthday. So off we went for a day of skiing at Camelback, absolutely gorgeous day, sunny and pushing 50 degrees. Sunscreen weather. I was patrolling anyway since it was Saturday, and she brought Kate / Jay. Fred my buddy from college was there too, and we were skiing together as much as we could. It was Kate/Jay's first time doing the "black diamonds" and they were stoked!
I went on a call for some dude with a knee injury, and left the group to either follow me or do something else. They're used to it.
Karen, Kate, Jay, and Fred decided to do "The Rocket," one of the black diamonds. Conditions were excellent, actually, and they were doing great... until Karen fell backward onto her head. Didn't seem like much according to Fred, who witnessed it. She lost her skis, he helped her get them back on, and she skied to the bottom, no trouble. At the bottom, though, she started losing orientation. Fred very correctly hustled her into the patrol room; do not pass Go, do not collect $200.
When I got to the patrol room with the toboggan and my guy with the knee, Ed the patroller in charge said "I need you inside right away, they'll take your patient. Your wife is inside. Hit her head."
Freakin' great. Now what?
She was "looping" as we say on about a 10 second loop... "Did I lose consciousness? Where am I? (wasn't sure if she was in Pennsylvania or Utah). Did I fall? Did I hit my head? Did I lose consciousness? Did I fall? Did I hit my head? Did I lose consciousness?"
Amazing how the progression goes... first I'm going to take her to the local hospital by car. Then Wayne, one of the other patrollers, reminds me that I have to look at her not as my wife, but as a patient and what would you do if she was your patient? Bam. He says "Do you want to take a vote?" Bam. All right, you're right Wayne, she's going in an ambulance. Continues looping all the while, then she gets nauseous. The ambulance crew decides to fly her since the local hospital doesn't have a neuro unit. All the while she's looping, for almost an hour at this point. We all remember Natasha Richardson all the time with head injury patients and no one needs a repeat of that... And standing there are two 10-year olds worrying about their Mommy.
Gotta tell you, it's pretty freaky when it's your wife on the table and people are strapping her to a backboard and putting a cervical collar on her and tying her head down to get her ready for the ride in the sky. But the right thing for me to do was to take a step back, change out of my patroller suit and into my husband/daddy suit, and let my friends do all the right things, and they did.
So she went one way and we went another to get to the hospital. Biggest difference is our way was $17,000 cheaper. (As a special bit of joy, the story is that her flight is not covered by insurance, I guess we'll find that out for sure before too long.)
My GPS died on the way to the hospital. Not a good omen.
We get to the hospital, and the receptionist tells us that a member of the trauma team will be down to talk with us right away. Please sit there. We sit. We wait for a doctor or a nurse.
Four minutes (a VERY long four minutes) later, a lady with a CLERGY COLLAR steps out, looks around, and asks for Karen's family.
This is stunningly attention-getting, I assure you.
For maybe a count of three, I see nothing else but that collar. It was 7 feet wide and 5 feet high. You've heard the term "blood ran cold." It does. Many dreadful things flash before your eyes in just those 3 seconds.
But the clergy lady says that Karen's up in one of the rooms, she’s talking, they're going to keep her overnight, and let's go upstairs.
Much. Better. My body temperature rights itself instantly.
We follow the clergy lady through 17 hallways, up an elevator, through 39 sets of doors. There's her room, just ahead.
And man, is she talking.
They'd already done a CAT scan (negative!) and some other tests (no dope, booze, tranquilizers, or anything else interesting on the tox screen). They cleared her C-spine (removed the uncomfortable C-collar) a couple hours after that. They kept her overnight, and will decide this morning whether to discharge her or not. Over the course of our stay with her last night, about 6 hours, she was starting to sort a few of the marbles into the correct holes, but was still looping some. She started remembering bits & pieces of her party Friday night, and once even remembered what we had for breakfast Saturday.
I'm guessing "yes" they'll discharge her today but if she's still looping, or if the repeat CAT scan shows changes, who knows what'll happen.
But thank God for the inventor of the ski helmet.
And if you're got the winning lottery numbers for this week, I'm all ears.
More news as it breaks.
- - - - - - - - -
Late Sunday night Mar 7… she's there, we're here.
More news as promised.
They decided, in an abundance of caution, and because the people necessary to do the test weren’t in today, to keep her a second night. She’ll get a “cognition” test Monday morning, presumably she’ll pass with flying colors, and we’ll take it all from there. This afternoon she was mostly back, some short-term memory hang-ups, but nothing at all like yesterday. What a difference 24 hours makes.
One of the things we did yesterday (suggested by Ron, her outstanding nurse) was to write on the whiteboard in her room some of the questions she was asking. We also took it upon ourselves to count the number of times she asked each question… well estimate anyway, but we got pretty close, I think.
The count winner by far was “Did I lose consciousness?” which she said AT LEAST once/minute (probably more like 4 – 6 times / minute) for AT LEAST 6 hours. So if we go real conservative and say 2 times / minute for 6 hours, that’s over 700 times. Probably well over 1,000 times for that one. We wrote “NO LOC” on the board, and it got to the point where she was ready to ask the question again, she’d look over at the board, see NO LOC and just laugh about it.
We’d ask her what day it was. She wouldn’t know. We’d say “It’s March 6.” “It’s my Birthday!?” “Yes.” “No it isn’t.” “Yes it is. Happy Birthday.” “It’s not my birthday.”
Other favorites on the board were “Did I have a CVA?” (Cerebro-Vascular Accident… a.k.a. a stroke) Answers: “NO CVA.” And “CAT SCAN Negative.”
“Where did this happen?” Answer: Rocket.
“Someone tell me exactly why I’m here.”
One of her main frustrations is not remembering the helicopter ride. So someday we’re going to take a helicopter ride that she can remember.
The official diagnosis at this point is a “Grade 3 Concussion.” They go up to Grade 3. She remembers absolutely nothing about the accident or anything for hours after it… nothing in the patrol room, nothing in the helicopter, nothing in the E.R., Cat Scan, or early part of her stay in the neuro step-down unit. She says she doesn't remember us being there last night, but it did register that she wasn't alone.
But she’s getting there, quickly it seems. She just called to say goodnight to Kate & Jay and to ask me to bring her dental floss tomorrow.
Thanks to everyone… obviously Camelback’s ski patrollers who are the best anywhere get special notice. Go Saturday Crew! The staff at St. Luke’s, also awesome… particularly her nurse Ron, who sets the bar so high for nursing care and Lissette, the patient care assistant. How they find time to spend so much caring time with Karen is amazing, given that they are so busy in general.
More news, again, as it breaks.
- - - - -
March 9, 2010... update
Well, my sweetie's home. Yesterday was her day to say goodbye to St. Luke's (put your hands together for it being the *last* time she goes there except maybe as a visitor). We bought chocolates for the staff and a little angel for the wonderful & caring Lissette, who looks like Halle Berry, only cuter.
They said NO WORK for 2 weeks... Karen still has to make an appointment at Good Shepherd Rehab for testing, to ensure all the marbles are in all the right rows. She's of course chomping at the bit to get right back to work, but her noggin may have other plans. We'll see. Obviously we all have to make sure she's 100% remembering so there's no question she's totally back on trifles like, oh I don't know, MEDS and DOSAGES and THINGS TO DO FOR A CARDIAC ARREST. She has an appointment a week from today for a follow-up checkup.
I say again...
Thank God for the inventor of the ski helmet.
- - - - - - - - -
Update March 16...
This was a big day... the "cognition test" day. Having received a letter from her employer that said (paraphrasing here): "Dear Karen, sorry to hear about your accident. If you're not back to work by March 21, you're fired. However, you will be eligible for re-hire if we repost your job. Have a nice life." the pressure was on to pass that test.
So we get there, and the check-in nurse says "Oh NO... today's not your test. They're just going to see you and schedule your test.
UN AC CEPTABLE.
After a bit of drama, we did manage to see first one doc, then his boss. They poked and prodded and asked questions like "count backward from 100 by 7's." Try that... pretty hard. Poke and prod some more. Ask more questions, do drawings, and on. Result:
Pass with Flying Colors. Back to work approved. No restrictions!
So... this part of the saga is over. Now it's time to do battle with the insurance company, the hospital, the labs, the doctors who saw her for a few minutes here and there, the ambulance company and my personal favorite, the helicopter company. All good stuff to have when you need it, but not fun when you open the mailbox in the aftermath.
Bake sales appreciated... winning lotto numbers even more appreciated.
Thanks so much to everyone for all the support, prayers, good words, emails, phone calls.
Life sure ain't dull...
.
.
.
Life became turned around a little yesterday... March 6, 2010.
It all started about an hour before they MedEvac'd my wife to St. Luke Hospital's trauma center.
It had been such a beautiful day... we had her surprise 50th birthday party Friday night, and Saturday Mar. 6 was her actual birthday. So off we went for a day of skiing at Camelback, absolutely gorgeous day, sunny and pushing 50 degrees. Sunscreen weather. I was patrolling anyway since it was Saturday, and she brought Kate / Jay. Fred my buddy from college was there too, and we were skiing together as much as we could. It was Kate/Jay's first time doing the "black diamonds" and they were stoked!
I went on a call for some dude with a knee injury, and left the group to either follow me or do something else. They're used to it.
Karen, Kate, Jay, and Fred decided to do "The Rocket," one of the black diamonds. Conditions were excellent, actually, and they were doing great... until Karen fell backward onto her head. Didn't seem like much according to Fred, who witnessed it. She lost her skis, he helped her get them back on, and she skied to the bottom, no trouble. At the bottom, though, she started losing orientation. Fred very correctly hustled her into the patrol room; do not pass Go, do not collect $200.
When I got to the patrol room with the toboggan and my guy with the knee, Ed the patroller in charge said "I need you inside right away, they'll take your patient. Your wife is inside. Hit her head."
Freakin' great. Now what?
 |
| Where am I? Did I fall? Did I hit my head? Where am I? |
Amazing how the progression goes... first I'm going to take her to the local hospital by car. Then Wayne, one of the other patrollers, reminds me that I have to look at her not as my wife, but as a patient and what would you do if she was your patient? Bam. He says "Do you want to take a vote?" Bam. All right, you're right Wayne, she's going in an ambulance. Continues looping all the while, then she gets nauseous. The ambulance crew decides to fly her since the local hospital doesn't have a neuro unit. All the while she's looping, for almost an hour at this point. We all remember Natasha Richardson all the time with head injury patients and no one needs a repeat of that... And standing there are two 10-year olds worrying about their Mommy.
Gotta tell you, it's pretty freaky when it's your wife on the table and people are strapping her to a backboard and putting a cervical collar on her and tying her head down to get her ready for the ride in the sky. But the right thing for me to do was to take a step back, change out of my patroller suit and into my husband/daddy suit, and let my friends do all the right things, and they did.
 |
| Does this backboard make my butt look big? |
So she went one way and we went another to get to the hospital. Biggest difference is our way was $17,000 cheaper. (As a special bit of joy, the story is that her flight is not covered by insurance, I guess we'll find that out for sure before too long.)
My GPS died on the way to the hospital. Not a good omen.
We get to the hospital, and the receptionist tells us that a member of the trauma team will be down to talk with us right away. Please sit there. We sit. We wait for a doctor or a nurse.
Four minutes (a VERY long four minutes) later, a lady with a CLERGY COLLAR steps out, looks around, and asks for Karen's family.
This is stunningly attention-getting, I assure you.
For maybe a count of three, I see nothing else but that collar. It was 7 feet wide and 5 feet high. You've heard the term "blood ran cold." It does. Many dreadful things flash before your eyes in just those 3 seconds.
But the clergy lady says that Karen's up in one of the rooms, she’s talking, they're going to keep her overnight, and let's go upstairs.
Much. Better. My body temperature rights itself instantly.
We follow the clergy lady through 17 hallways, up an elevator, through 39 sets of doors. There's her room, just ahead.
And man, is she talking.
 |
| Kate notching another one for "Did I lose consciousness?" |
I'm guessing "yes" they'll discharge her today but if she's still looping, or if the repeat CAT scan shows changes, who knows what'll happen.
 |
| Happy times at the hospital, even tho' she doesn't remember any of it. |
But thank God for the inventor of the ski helmet.
And if you're got the winning lottery numbers for this week, I'm all ears.
More news as it breaks.
- - - - - - - - -
Late Sunday night Mar 7… she's there, we're here.
More news as promised.
They decided, in an abundance of caution, and because the people necessary to do the test weren’t in today, to keep her a second night. She’ll get a “cognition” test Monday morning, presumably she’ll pass with flying colors, and we’ll take it all from there. This afternoon she was mostly back, some short-term memory hang-ups, but nothing at all like yesterday. What a difference 24 hours makes.
One of the things we did yesterday (suggested by Ron, her outstanding nurse) was to write on the whiteboard in her room some of the questions she was asking. We also took it upon ourselves to count the number of times she asked each question… well estimate anyway, but we got pretty close, I think.
The count winner by far was “Did I lose consciousness?” which she said AT LEAST once/minute (probably more like 4 – 6 times / minute) for AT LEAST 6 hours. So if we go real conservative and say 2 times / minute for 6 hours, that’s over 700 times. Probably well over 1,000 times for that one. We wrote “NO LOC” on the board, and it got to the point where she was ready to ask the question again, she’d look over at the board, see NO LOC and just laugh about it.
 |
| Turns out our initial guess of 300 times asking "Did I lose consciousness?" was low by many hundreds... |
We’d ask her what day it was. She wouldn’t know. We’d say “It’s March 6.” “It’s my Birthday!?” “Yes.” “No it isn’t.” “Yes it is. Happy Birthday.” “It’s not my birthday.”
Other favorites on the board were “Did I have a CVA?” (Cerebro-Vascular Accident… a.k.a. a stroke) Answers: “NO CVA.” And “CAT SCAN Negative.”
“Where did this happen?” Answer: Rocket.
“Someone tell me exactly why I’m here.”
One of her main frustrations is not remembering the helicopter ride. So someday we’re going to take a helicopter ride that she can remember.
The official diagnosis at this point is a “Grade 3 Concussion.” They go up to Grade 3. She remembers absolutely nothing about the accident or anything for hours after it… nothing in the patrol room, nothing in the helicopter, nothing in the E.R., Cat Scan, or early part of her stay in the neuro step-down unit. She says she doesn't remember us being there last night, but it did register that she wasn't alone.
 |
| Nope, doesn't remember this either... This is a shot of one of her trauma docs checking in. |
But she’s getting there, quickly it seems. She just called to say goodnight to Kate & Jay and to ask me to bring her dental floss tomorrow.
Thanks to everyone… obviously Camelback’s ski patrollers who are the best anywhere get special notice. Go Saturday Crew! The staff at St. Luke’s, also awesome… particularly her nurse Ron, who sets the bar so high for nursing care and Lissette, the patient care assistant. How they find time to spend so much caring time with Karen is amazing, given that they are so busy in general.
More news, again, as it breaks.
- - - - -
March 9, 2010... update
Well, my sweetie's home. Yesterday was her day to say goodbye to St. Luke's (put your hands together for it being the *last* time she goes there except maybe as a visitor). We bought chocolates for the staff and a little angel for the wonderful & caring Lissette, who looks like Halle Berry, only cuter.
They said NO WORK for 2 weeks... Karen still has to make an appointment at Good Shepherd Rehab for testing, to ensure all the marbles are in all the right rows. She's of course chomping at the bit to get right back to work, but her noggin may have other plans. We'll see. Obviously we all have to make sure she's 100% remembering so there's no question she's totally back on trifles like, oh I don't know, MEDS and DOSAGES and THINGS TO DO FOR A CARDIAC ARREST. She has an appointment a week from today for a follow-up checkup.
I say again...
Thank God for the inventor of the ski helmet.
- - - - - - - - -
Update March 16...
This was a big day... the "cognition test" day. Having received a letter from her employer that said (paraphrasing here): "Dear Karen, sorry to hear about your accident. If you're not back to work by March 21, you're fired. However, you will be eligible for re-hire if we repost your job. Have a nice life." the pressure was on to pass that test.
So we get there, and the check-in nurse says "Oh NO... today's not your test. They're just going to see you and schedule your test.
UN AC CEPTABLE.
After a bit of drama, we did manage to see first one doc, then his boss. They poked and prodded and asked questions like "count backward from 100 by 7's." Try that... pretty hard. Poke and prod some more. Ask more questions, do drawings, and on. Result:
Pass with Flying Colors. Back to work approved. No restrictions!
So... this part of the saga is over. Now it's time to do battle with the insurance company, the hospital, the labs, the doctors who saw her for a few minutes here and there, the ambulance company and my personal favorite, the helicopter company. All good stuff to have when you need it, but not fun when you open the mailbox in the aftermath.
Bake sales appreciated... winning lotto numbers even more appreciated.
Thanks so much to everyone for all the support, prayers, good words, emails, phone calls.
Life sure ain't dull...
.
.
.
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- Ed Kmetz
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