The "Accident"

   
     As I was saying a few days ago my "drinking phase" came to a halt back on July 14th of 2010. I did not wake up one day and have an epiphany, oh no, my stubborn self needed a reality check. My reality check consisted of being T-boned by a drunk driver, and remaining in a medically induced coma for two and a half weeks. My injuries included, a few broken ribs, broken tibia, a punctured lung,  and a blood clot and bleed in my brain. The bleed and clot strongly resembled a "stroke." The main issues that resulted from the "stroke" were, double vision and tightness, weakness, and numbness to the whole left side of my body (to this day I still have issues with my whole left side. I even still have vision issues).
      For about two months I received inpatient care from three different hospitals. I first went to Norfolk general in Virginia, then I was shipped off to the "Retreat Hospital" in Richmond Virginia. Lastly my final inpatient care was at the National Rehab Hospital in Washington DC. Even after I completed the " inpatient requirements" to go home, I still had a long road ahead of me. I still needed outpatient Physical Therapy (PT), Occupational Therapy (OT) and Speech Therapy.
     Now let me break the accident down for you a little more. On the morning of July 14th (which was on a Wednesday), 2010, I went to sign a six month contract with a communication company. I was going to be working in their IT department. After the completion of the contract, I would have received a $5,000 bonus.
    After I finished signing the contract (which I was super excited about) I jumped on the Interstate and started driving. I drove to and exited at the same exit where my daughter's daycare is located. But for some reason instead of going right (towards their daycare) I traveled left.  After veering left, I stopped at the red light. Once the light switched to green I began to turn left.
     I did not complete my left hand turn. Instead, a drunk driver ran the red light and t-boned the front driver's side of my Pontiac Vibe (it was about 3:30 in the afternoon). My little four door hatch back was no match for his full size pick-up truck (oh and there was also a fishing boat in the bed of his truck).
     After local fire fighters arrived on scene, they noticed my door had been crushed inwards and I was unresponsive. The Jaws of life were used in retrieving my completely still body from the wreckage.  After being successfully removed from my beat up car, I was intibated and sent off to hospital number one (Norfolk General).
     In order to asses my injuries, the doctors ordered multiple scans. An MRI  scan detected the bleed and clot in my brain. In reducing the swelling to my brain, the doctors agreed that I should be put into a medically induced coma. The coma would give my brain time to heal in order to prevent any long term side effects. 
     While I was in the comma,  I would forcefully pull out any tube that attached to me.  I pulled out my breathing tube, catheter, and feeding tube (the feeding tube was inserted through my nose. Can you say OUCH). Due to the damage I was causing myself (without having any real acknowledgement of what was going on) the doctors had to perform a tracheotomy. This procedure consists of creating an incision on my throat and placing a long tube into my trachea (or other wise known as my windpipe). Even having the tr ache in, I still would fig g-it with it and pull it out. 
    Due to the Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) I sustained , I have no recollection of the initial car accident. Thankfully, my mind has only blocked out about a week before the crash.  Besides that my other memories are pretty well intact.The information I'm sharing with you comes from what I've been told by reliable sources. 
     In the next post I will talk about the other hospitals and I will upload a few other pictures.