Re: How do YOU deal with almost dying?
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Sean the Nailer</div><div class="ubbcode-body">It's funny though, cause the sound of all my other bones breaking, were essentially "crunches", whereas the pelvis has a definingly deep "snap".
4 months later, I got out of the hospital. 7 months after the accident, I started learning how to walk again.</div></div>
BTDT and got the Helicopter ride to go along with it.
Single vehicle MVA, cruise control set on 63 mph, driving one hour south at 0415, driver fell asleep at the wheel and I was asleep in the passenger seat.
Mitsubishi Eclipse strikes a bricked in driveway embankment head on in the passenger side.
(Alcohol was not a factor in this accident.)
My femur was driven rearward by the dash and shattered my pelvis in 8 places.
Woke up and the other two occupants of the vehicle were gone.
They got out and went to the nearby house for help.
They came back and pulled me out of the window.
State Trooper showed up and ordered me to stand up.
When I tried my unstable pelvis shifted and my right leg shifted 4 inches up.
Fortunately the hospital was less than 5 miles away.
Ambulance showed up and away we went.
I was in unimaginable pain at this point.
In the emergency room things were moving rapidly and I started to slip into shock as was indicated by tachycardia.
(Shock was the only relief I got up until this point.)
Turns out that I had massive internal bleeding, lacerated spleen, bruised liver, detached urethra, and sprained ankle.
The prognosis was not good and this hospital did not have a trauma center.
I knew I was in trouble when I saw several of the ER nurses crying.
The hospital contacted the Coast Guard to notify them that one of their members was in an accident and was in critical condition.
The OOD contacted the Air Station and they arranged to air lift me via one of our local MH60 J-Hawks to Portsmouth Naval Hospital.
The medical team prepared me for transport by fitting me with Trauma Air Pants and giving me a cocktail of pain medication.
The flight was uneventful and we arrived at Portsmouth Naval about 25 minutes later.
We sat on the helipad for about ten minutes with the head turning and no one came out.
The aircraft commander sent the flight mechanic into the ER to get someone.
I finally transported to the ER and then sat there for another 20 minutes before someone realized the severity of my condition.
The doctor that noticed me immediately went into GQ mode and started barking out orders.
A few moments later, a portable crash cart was put on my bed and I was moved to ICU.
Due to the blood loss and internal injuries, they were unable to treat my pelvis.
In the interim, a rod was inserted laterally through my femur just above the knee and traction weights were affixed to provide some level of stabilization.
They concluded that my bleeding could be controlled with drugs and monitored me in ICU for close to a week prior to operating on my pelvis.
Since I was 21 years old and in the best shape of my life, they felt that I was a good candidate for an experimental procedure.
This procedure involved reassembling my pelvis using three eight inch screws through the pelvic wings and a plate across the front attached with seven screws.
The surgery took 12 hours and was a complete success.
When I woke up I immediately felt much better.
Spent two more weeks at Portsmouth Naval recovering and then two more months in a wheel chair.
Tons of physical therapy and three months later, I was walking normally with only a minor limp.
Unfortunately, I am unable to run for any significant amount of time.
Since I was an avid runner prior to the accident, this was a big deal to me.
Anyhow, back to the point of the thread.
How I dealt / deal with it.
Well, I was on what I call a "Near Death High" for about two years.
There was nothing that could get me down or wipe the smile off my face.
I would just take a deep breath smile and say, "I'm alive…"
The trauma aspect of it still has a lasting affect on me in many ways.
I'm a walking barometer of course.
I some times tear up when I see a bad accident scene.
For years I could not sleep in vehicles.
I never have seen a shrink about it or taken a clinical physiological look at things.
Maybe I should...
