March 10, 2015
Day 36: Port St John: Blast (ed) Off!
Today, like with manatee viewing at Homosassa, was set to be an all fun excursion to the Kennedy Space Center. All we had to do was to cycle back a couple of kms to SR 405, and in total go 14 km to the major centre, with spacecraft outside, an IMax experience, and even bus tours to the launch complexes.
Because the thing opens at 9, and the possibility of long lineups, we were out the door at 7:30 and eagerly on our way. When we reached 405, we were distressed to find heavy traffic of space workers on the no shoulder road. We have become rather good at riding a dead straight course, down the right hand side of the thin white line, and that is what we did this time.
We were headed due East, the direction of the sunrise, and soon it broke through some low lying clouds, producing a blinding glare. I was just thinking this really is too much, when Wham!
| Heart | 0 | Comment | 0 | Link |
| Heart | 0 | Comment | 0 | Link |
I have often wondered what it would be like to be hit by a car, so now I can say. First, there is shock and disbelief. Shock is just regular shock at this point, not medical shock or even emotional shock. Disbelief is more like "drat, if this is really happening (unlikely) it's really going to ruin our plans.
Now so far this is happening while I am still flying through the air. Later analysis shows I flew about 5 feet forward, far enough to take out Dodie. Dodie went down and into the road on her back.
The next part I am not very proud of. Seeing her there, I leapt up screaming her name. I knelt over her and begged her to get up and out of the road. "I can't ... my back" she said.
I am not sure what happened next. The next I recall, I was lying on the grass, and Dodie was standing. I think I stood up, but soon was flat out, and could not move my shoulder, which was in intense pain. Though not unconscious, my eyes were closed and I could not move. So talking to the police, getting loaded on a stretcher into an ambulance, and the seemingly bouncy ride to the hospital in Titusville were all done without much awareness. Dodie, ok for now, rode in the front. My company was Bo, an ambulance attendant originally from Thailand. He recounted stories of how he came from a mountain village, had come to America, and had struggled to better himself. This was a much appreciated distraction.
The ambulance we rode in is part of NASA, since this all occured on NASA land. So hey, we did get some sort of NASA ride!
Bo could not start a morphine drip, since my left hand was being held vice-like by my right, trying to support the shoulder. Also, I refused to have my MEC windjacket cut off.I love that jacket, but Dodie says the fall shredded it anyway.
At the hospital, the ambulance guys Bo and Steve stayed with us in the corridor.
I think maybe they were waiting to get their stretcher back. The emergency room was very busy, so there was at least an hour in the corridor with no treatment and no pain killers. Dodie did great work keeping me from hyperventilating. It was not until we were in a room and I already had had one x-ray, that she admitted she had better check herself in as well. It took two hours for her to be seen, and happily nothing was broken in her back. She does however have one bruise to show on her elbow, and a really ugly one on her side.
The doctor looked at my x-rays and declared a severe break in the scapula and a dislocated shoulder. He called for a cat scan to check for damage to major blood vessels, and he called in an orthopedic consultant. There were two tricks about the shoulder. First, how to pop it back with the bone broken. Could require full on surgery. Second, the shoulder was blown out to the back. How come, since the blow had come the other way?
What we think is that the truck broke the bone and the fall did the shoulder. In any event, the amount of force and movement that happened did not make this a simple case of pop it back and off you go. Also, the classical broken arm/shoulder sling arrangement, with injured wing forward and in front (the way I had been holding it) was wrong. This one needs to be held back and away.
The consultant must have already seen the photos/scans electronically, because he brought a special reverse sling. But there was still the problem of putting the shoulder back together. A large group of staff now assembled. This included Dodie, since I refused to have her out of the room. They warned things could get ugly. She stayed.
They administered a drug, and when next I heard someone calling my name, I said "You need more stuff to knock me out". "You are already done", was the reply. Dodie says it was tricky, and needed all the people, but a digital xray machine that was brought in revealed the try had been a success - for now.
The special sling needs to stay on 24/7 for 4-6 weeks. It is on my bare skin, so any clothes will have to be some sort of tent like affair.
Our bikes got moved back to the motel by - somebody, and we took a taxi out of Titusville. Clearly the Space Center is out, and the ride is off. And we need to clean up the aftermath: How do we get the bikes out of here, how do we get us out of here, how do we handle the insurance companies (the truck driver stopped - that's one good thing. We are sorry he is having to go through this.) We need to phone our family (before this goes live) and Marilyn and Ed in Fort Lauderdale. We are hatching a plan to FEDEX the bikes home from here, and then take the Greyhound south to Fort Lauderdale. Montreal and Seattle are likely, sadly, off the agenda. It's going to take close monitoring by an orthopedic specialist from home.
So, a bit shocking, eh. But the Grampies are still kicking, and will ride again soon. Do not give up on the blog yet, there are still lots of details on how we cope with this still to come! And I want to see if hardship really does boost the hit count!
| Rate this entry's writing | Heart | 0 |
| Comment on this entry | Comment | 0 |