Hospital #2

     As I said in the last post, I was admitted to three different hospitals. I talked about the first one, now I'm gonna talk about the second one. Next, I stayed at the "Retreat Hospital" in Richmond Virginia. I never did understand why they named it "Retreat Hospital." I would always make the comment, "this is not like being at a retreat." When I said this, I was meaning it in a joking manner. The only problem was you couldn't tell I was  joking. I was told that I looked angry.
    On top of all my physical challenges, I also had to re-learn emotions, for example, it took me about 8 months before I could cry again. I knew I had all these emotions bottled up, I just didn't know what to do with them or how to express them. After being on both sides of having mental and physical challenges,  I would much rather take the physical struggles over the mental ones. Living day to day life in a state of constant confusion, is not a fun place to be.
      The top picture shows how my left arm was bent upward. My left arm  stayed in that position for several months. It was no picnic trying to stretch it out in order to extend it straight.
      On my right arm, there were bruises from IV's and restraints. The nurses had to put restraints on me because as I said in the last post, I pulled on everything. When I say "everything," that even includes my clothes. I was told  I had a hard time staying dressed. When I did start to understand what was going on around me,  I remember everything feeling to tight. In order to solve that problem, I would just take it off (oh man, I was a mess). The feeding tube through my nose also became a problem for me. I had yanked it out on many occasions and the nurses had to put it back in so many times. The left side of my nose started to collapse. My husband (at the time), decided to go through with having a tube surgically inserted through my stomach. The tube was located right near my broken ribs. Can you say ouch!...
         This  next picture shows how I had a crooked smile and my cheek bones were all sunk in .
        At that time I think  I had lost about 30 to 40 pounds (this was just within the first month after the accident). I remember the nurses would try an convince me that I wasn't hungry because they had just given me "nutrients" through my IV. I would get so angry with them, because I felt like I was starving (and I kinda looked like it too).
      The reason why I was being fed through a tube still, was because I hadn't past my "barium swallow test." If you want to learn more on what this test is, check out this link http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/healthlibrary/test_procedures/gastroenterology/barium_swallow_92,P07688/. I failed about 2 of these tests before they would put me on a "thick diet." After each time I would fail, I had to wait about two weeks before they would let me try to re-take the test. The reason behind this, my doctors wanted to limit the amount of radiation I was being around.
     That pretty much sums up Hospital number 2. Next I will write about "NRH," or the third and final Hospital I visited. I stayed at "NRH" for about a month and a half. In this Hospital, I was the most coherent.

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.

Let's start at the beginning

     Here is a brief glimpse of my childhood, I was raised in a broken home, my parents divorced when I was around 13. My older brother, two younger siblings and I were all raised by my father and my grandparents (my dad's parents). My dad is a Christian man, with a heart full of love, compassion, and understanding (I'm a daddies girl to say the very least). Us kids were raised with biblical beliefs but we did not attend church very often.
   Throughout high school I was very shy. I lacked confidence and the sense of self worth. I felt like my opinions did not matter and the only way to be liked was to just be quiet and go along with the crowd.
     After high school, I joined the Navy. While I was at my training school to become an Information Technician, I became pregnant with my first daughter. Once I completed school, I chose orders for Virginia. I stayed in Virginia and I was stationed at three different commands during my five year enlistment.
   During my five years of active duty I was considered a"wild child." In the Navy I was one of the  "pretty girls." Being a "pretty girl" had its advantages. I was now considered "popular." I felt invincible.  I would hang out at clubs, go to parties, and hang out with groups of people, girls and guys.
     In order hide my insecurities, I drank ... yeah, so that's an understatement, I got drunk pretty often. I drank mainly to fit in. I think the drinking helped numb my feelings and the reality of my past issues, my present responsibilities, and future dilemmas.
     My drinking came to a halt in mid July of 2010, when... and the plot thickens, but I will pick this back up in a few days. I have to leave you on a cliff hanger, that way I know you will be back to read more.