Where Will It Lead?
The beginning of my journey - February 4, 1994
It was on this date I hit a stationary city bus at an estimated speed of 45 mph. How did I manage that? This was the first thing I asked myself, 5 ½ hours later, when someone told me how I came to be in the hospital intensive care unit where I first became aware,following the accident.
What I eventually discovered was that the bus began to experience mechanical difficulties on the freeway. The driver made his way to the far right lane which happened to be a short lane attaching the on-ramp which I got on every morning with the next off-ramp which I exited at every morning. It is here that he stopped the bus and got on the radio to call his dispatch center. What he didn't do was put on his emergency flashers or put out warning cones. Since I was getting on a U-shaped on-ramp that didn't allow for a lot of forward visibility and had morning commute traffic in front of me, I apparently did not see the hazard in front of me in time to react at all. This is evidenced by the speed at which I hit the bus and the fact there were no skid marks at the scene. I have no independent recollection of the seconds prior to the accident through to the next 5 to 6 hours.
My
Injuries
Initially,the hospital personnel concentrated on the major injury to my right foot. This was a crush type fracture to the calcaneus or heel. The nurse told me it was unusual as they usually saw this type of injury on construction workers who fell many feet from scaffolding. I also broke my collarbone, cheekbone and had a significant head laceration in the right temporal area. Still, they did not do a CAT Scan of my head until my mom arrived and saw that I was out of it, speaking unintelligibly and repetitively.
The scan showed a subdural hematoma. A neurosurgeon was called in and they began to prepare for surgery to relieve the pressure on my brain. However, my body began to absorb the excess blood well enough that they felt surgery was unnecessary.
I was released from the hospital after 6 days and provided 24 hour home care for a week until I went back to the hospital to repair my foot with a plate and screws. I was in for 4 or 5 days more, sent home with more nursing care for 2 more weeks and then the care was scaled back to 6, then 4 hours a day. I had an eleven year old and a nine year old at home at the time so most of the care at this point was keeping the house clean, cooking meals and changing my dressing.
I began to feel depressed and lonely after about five weeks. By this time I had fewer visitors and my significant other, who can't sit in one place for more than 10 minutes without feeling stifled, was always on the go. He just couldn't or wouldn't see how much it would mean to me for him to spend an evening just talking to me. I spent most of this time in my hospital bed that had been brought in as my bedroom was upstairs.
My boss was of the opinion that the sooner I returned to work the better off I would be so she began to pressure me on this point. Two and a half months after the accident I returned to work on a part-time basis.