The next five days went by in a blur. I don't remember much if it now and I didn't then either. That's because I was in an out of surgery and in and out of consciousness too.
From the impact of the car, both my tibia and fibula were damaged. Both bones of my right shin were broken, and it two ways. A oblique break: means the bone was completely broken on an angle, which is very unstable (in the degree of breaks). And then a comminuted break, which means they were shattered too. What did this mean for me?
First and foremost, it meant that I needed immediate surgery to secure the tibia. This required a titanium rod to be placed in my tibia and secured with some screws. I'm not going to go into detail about that procedure but I do know that I am thrilled that I wasn't awake to experience or remember any of it.
So the reason I don't remember those first five days is...after that first surgery to place the titanium rod in, there was a complication. I spiked an intense fever. Which, though I don't remember much in those days, I actually remember this. And that's because I remember being soo hot, like melting hot, but the nurse saying I wasn't - that according to my temperature I was, in fact, freezing. When they touched my skin, it was ice cold. (Later in my hospital stay I stole a peek at my chart and saw the temperature line. It had completely skyrocketed, and then plummeted and then skyrocketed again during this time period).
Why? Not only was my body reacting to the trauma of this rod intrusion, it was also resisting his foreign object. Hence the fever. It is Acute Compartment Syndrome, and required immediate surgery to get control of the swelling. If left untreated in an urgent manner, this could have caused the nerves and blood vessels to die and would have resulted in amputation - and in the worse cases - death.
I am grateful every day that I was the 1 in 4, to have KEPT my leg (3 our of every 4 people with this complication aren't so lucky and end up losing their limb). Four surgeries in five days, is the reason I don't really remember much of them. They gave me four long scars on my right leg - but I rock them proudly. (On the left of my calf is similar to the one on the right side, it's not visible in the photo). They are daily reminders of how I beat the odds - what's not to be grateful for?
I hope you've enjoyed part two of my experience of being struck by a car. If you have stories and experiences to share, I would love to hear them! Please leave them in the comments and check back next week for part three!
From the impact of the car, both my tibia and fibula were damaged. Both bones of my right shin were broken, and it two ways. A oblique break: means the bone was completely broken on an angle, which is very unstable (in the degree of breaks). And then a comminuted break, which means they were shattered too. What did this mean for me?
First and foremost, it meant that I needed immediate surgery to secure the tibia. This required a titanium rod to be placed in my tibia and secured with some screws. I'm not going to go into detail about that procedure but I do know that I am thrilled that I wasn't awake to experience or remember any of it.
So the reason I don't remember those first five days is...after that first surgery to place the titanium rod in, there was a complication. I spiked an intense fever. Which, though I don't remember much in those days, I actually remember this. And that's because I remember being soo hot, like melting hot, but the nurse saying I wasn't - that according to my temperature I was, in fact, freezing. When they touched my skin, it was ice cold. (Later in my hospital stay I stole a peek at my chart and saw the temperature line. It had completely skyrocketed, and then plummeted and then skyrocketed again during this time period).
Why? Not only was my body reacting to the trauma of this rod intrusion, it was also resisting his foreign object. Hence the fever. It is Acute Compartment Syndrome, and required immediate surgery to get control of the swelling. If left untreated in an urgent manner, this could have caused the nerves and blood vessels to die and would have resulted in amputation - and in the worse cases - death.
I am grateful every day that I was the 1 in 4, to have KEPT my leg (3 our of every 4 people with this complication aren't so lucky and end up losing their limb). Four surgeries in five days, is the reason I don't really remember much of them. They gave me four long scars on my right leg - but I rock them proudly. (On the left of my calf is similar to the one on the right side, it's not visible in the photo). They are daily reminders of how I beat the odds - what's not to be grateful for?
I hope you've enjoyed part two of my experience of being struck by a car. If you have stories and experiences to share, I would love to hear them! Please leave them in the comments and check back next week for part three!
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