****Content Warning**** My posts are usually PG. Today’s post includes some graphic pictures and descriptions that are more along the PG-13 lines. If you are reading this with children, please preview the content before sharing with them.
Well, if you you’ve followed along my story to this point, you know I was medevac’d to UNM Trauma Center in Albuquerque. Last post, we had just landed on the hospital roof. This episode continues the saga from that point.
In and out
They cut all of my clothes off, even my dirty girl gators!
Once we landed, I felt another wave of relief, similar to when each group of search and rescue arrived on the scene. Only this time, instead of sobbing, I passed out. That’s right. I remember my stretcher being angled out of the helicopter, and then, nothing. I think my body finally gave in to the extreme pain and trauma it had endured and said, “Enough. You’ve held on long enough. Rest. Let the medical professionals take it from here.” I don’t remember being transferred to the hospital bed. I don’t remember getting from the roof to the trauma bay – but from what I later learned about the size of the hospital, it wasn’t nearby. I don’t even remember how many medical personnel were at the chopper or with me in the hallways.
The next time I awoke, I was in the middle of the trauma bay, someone was taking off my shoes, and someone else said something to me about needing to cut my clothes off. I don’t remember my responses to most of it. But funnily enough, I do recall trying to tell the person taking my shoes off how to undo my hiking knot on my laces – it’s not a regular tie or a double tie. Then I passed out again. I awoke in the same place but with a hospital gown haphazardly thrown over my torso and a huge pile of blankets on me. There must have been a dozen blankets to ward off the effects of hypothermia and shock. At some point, another IV line was added to my left arm (in addition to the one the air medic put in my hand).
In the trauma unit. I looked rough!
The timeline for the rest of the evening is blurry as I slipped in and out of consciousness. I recall some of what happened, but not necessarily in order they occurred. I knew I was getting vital care. I knew my husband was on his way. At that point, that was all that mattered.
Someone from registration asked about my personal and insurance information. Someone else had me sign a waiver for treatment and possible transfusions for my surgery. I told one of the trauma doctors about my sore forearms. They sent me for different scans, including MRI and CT. Good thing I had had an MRI before and knew about the odd feeling when they add contrast (IYKYK)! Reading my records after discharge, I later learned they basically checked me from the top of my head down to my knees. At least I had good movement and sensation in my feet.
Injuries
Superficial wound. The scans showed no signs of TBI or skull fracture.
After all of the scans, I was told that I not only dislocated my left hip, I also broke some of the socket and would need surgery to repair it. My arms were only soft-tissue damage, but would need several weeks to heal. I think they had me on a low-dose IV pain meds for the next few days until I left the trauma center. They kept putting antibiotic ointment on my forehead wounds, too.
At some point, they set my hip. I remember the doctor telling me they were going to do it. I remember they told me the two drugs they would give me for the procedure. I don’t recall what they were, just that one was dissociative and would feel weird. One of my doctor friends suggested it was ketamine, which sounds about right for my experience. I had the worst, oddest, hallucinations. And I felt catatonic. I think I cried out at one point when they were manipulating my leg, but who knows. It felt like I was on a cyborg spaceship, and it was jarring to all of my senses. Once they set my leg, they put a triangle wedge between my legs so I couldn’t move. But the best part, once those drugs wore off, the pain was almost gone!
They allowed me to keep my phone this whole time. My older son called and said, “Oh, Mom,” with a deep sigh. We talked for a few minutes as I updated him on my injuries and the planned surgery. At some point in the middle of the night, I also messaged our family group chat with minimal information about where I was and the state of my injuries. I was too tired for more. But at least I was no longer in excruciating pain. The trauma bay isn’t a great place to get sleep, though, so I just dozed off and on all night.
Left leg in traction. The traction devise is that bracket at the end of the bed.
They did a few more scans and x-rays and discovered bone fragments in the hip socket. I think this was in the early morning hours. They told me that they would have to re-dislocate it and reset it so that the bone fragments wouldn’t cause more issues. So, another round of those awful drugs, and they did that. This time, they put my leg in traction when they finished. I still have wounds above my knees where the traction screws were inserted. Again with the triangle pillow between my legs. With the traction, I had to lay flat on my back until surgery later that day.
They also gave me an external catheter sometime that night, but it is difficult to pee when you’re flat on your back. After several more hours of a painfully full bladder, they put a foley catheter in. Relief!
Surgical repairs
Later that morning, I was moved from the large, noisy trauma bay into a private room in the trauma unit. At least I could finally get some rest. The registrar came back to me for my health insurance card. I knew exactly where it was and could direct him to give me my waist pouch. Another doctor came in for something else, and I asked for help getting my power banks so I could charge my phone. I knew my family would worry if they couldn’t contact me if my phone died. The doctor was very kind and I was able to direct him to where it was in my pack. It pays to have all of your gear organized with consistent, dedicated locations for everything. I automatically knew the locations of these items and was easily able to access what I needed with the help of the hospital staff. I was also getting warmer and the parade of staff helped remove a blanket or two at a time.
They had to add hardware to keep my hip in the socket.
Just before noon, the registrar returned with my husband, John! I almost cried. John unpacked all of my wet gear and hung it around my room to dry. The trauma unit staff took turns checking on me and my vitals. Apparently, I was becoming famous in the unit, not only for my fall, but my strength, calm, and presence of mind to get help. Several people said I saved myself.
By early afternoon, they were still talking about surgery, but did not have a definite time. They only said it needed to be completed within 48 hours of my fall. In the meantime, I was getting hungry! I hadn’t eaten anything but a Nature’s Bakery fruit cookie while I was in the water waiting for the rescue teams. With the unspecified time of surgery, I couldn’t get food.
Finally, midafternoon, they wheeled me into surgery. One of the nurses carried my pack to the surgical wing. (John had had hernia surgery less than a month prior and was not supposed to be carrying more than a gallon of milk.) John waited with all of my gear in the family waiting room. They updated him on my progress during the procedure.
The surgery took about 4 hours and was successful. He said it felt much longer because he was in the waiting room before they took me to the surgical suite, and waited there until I was out of recovery and back in my trauma unit room. I had missed dinner during surgery, so they brought me a small breakfast-type tray. I wasn’t overly hungry at this point, so I just had some graham crackers. John got a hotel room. He left the hospital late because he tried to get a taxi. After that, I ordered an Uber for him, or he walked if it wasn’t too hot. That was Wednesday.
Surgical scar right through my CDT tattoo, two days post-surgery. The tattoo is on my upper thigh, so the scar goes up and across my hip.
Recovery
I stayed in the trauma unit all day Thursday. OT came and helped me get out of bed and shuffle sideways with the walker. They also ordered a bedside commode for me. I was still on several pain meds with constipation meds to counteract the side effects. I was getting injections for blood thinners twice a day because hip surgery increases the risk of blood clots.
Around 2 am Friday morning, they finally had a bed available in one of the wards upstairs. The transport personnel gathered all of my gear and piled it on my bed. My new room was on the other side of the hospital, so it took a while to get there. The transport personnel did a great job navigating the bed through all the corridors and two different elevators. The nurses and techs got me settled in my new room and I slept for a few more hours until John arrived mid-morning. I had a shared room, so he would be staying at a hotel until I was discharged.
PT came later Friday and gave me a few exercises to strengthen my hip flexor and glutes. He also had me doing foot flexes to help circulation, and prevent blood clots and DVT. He was impressed with my strength. I reminded him that just a few days prior I was hiking more than 15 miles a day.
The nurse removed my foley catheter that afternoon. I was using my walker a few times each day to hop slowly to the ensuite bathroom. It was slow-going and painful, mostly because of the soft-tissue damage to my forearms. They hurt a lot more than my hip at this point. And using my forearms to get around on the walker was difficult, to say the least. But, I was able to get to the restroom on my own – well, with a nurse or tech following along closely. I was also on oral pain meds. Mostly ibuprofen and acetaminophen. About once a day I was taking oxycodone when the pain was getting bad.
On Saturday, the nurse demonstrated to John how to give me the blood thinner shot. OT came again. This time, she brought a walker with a forearm support. I was able to get around much easier and further on this one! I felt like Speed Racer and was taking bets on my time. We also practiced using it on a step. That evening, they brought my wheelchair, and we were instructed on how to use it. Thankfully, insurance covered all of these accessibility devices. Every time I did my PT exercises or got up to use the bathroom, I needed a half-hour nap. Healing is exhausting!
PT, OT, and the nurses expected me to be discharged by Sunday. Sunday morning, John gave me my blood thinner shot under the guidance of the nurse. He did really well, and checked with the nurse as he got ready for each step of the process. When ortho came to do their rounds Sunday morning, they said I would be discharged on Monday. They wanted one more day to gather all my meds from the hospital pharmacy and to be sure I was ready to travel. They were worried about clotting on the flight home. They also wanted me to hand-carry all of my records and scans to my rehab team at home, which meant waiting until the records office was open on Monday.
Discharged!
Monday came and the long discharge process started. John gave me my shot with the guidance of the nurse again. My IV ports were removed. We packed up my now-dry gear. Pharmacy came with all my meds and a prescription for the blood thinner shots. Our older daughter had ordered loose, comfy clothes for me and had them delivered to the hospital a few days prior, so I didn’t have to go home in the hospital gown. Then reviewing the discharge paperwork, getting dressed, and we were out of there by midafternoon!
We had a hotel room for two nights so John could get my prefilled shots from the local pharmacy and we could make our plane reservations. Our Uber to the hotel was great! He helped get my hiking gear and mobility devices in the back of his SUV so John didn’t have to lift them. When we got to the hotel, John got a luggage cart and the driver helped load it. I took a nap when we got in and John went to get our dinner.
Later, I called customer service for the airline and sorted out tickets and mobility assistance. The medical staff at the hospital said we should try to get business or first class aisle seats across from each other at the bulkhead. That would give me more leg room and put me closer to the restroom. The best we could get last minute was for Wednesday afternoon. It was the same flight John was originally booked on for his return, so we just upgraded his ticket. We couldn’t get two seats together, or on the aisle, but we got the last two first class seats on the direct flight from Albuquerque to Dulles. My seat was the window on the bulkhead and John’s was a few rows back. The airline sent an email with tips for mobility assistance, along with our e-tickets. That was really helpful.
One week after my fall, I was relaxing in the hotel room for the day. John got my prefilled shots. I did my exercises. Napped. John got us meals. The next morning, we went down to breakfast, took a morning walk around the parking lot (me in the wheelchair), and got the shuttle to the airport. Stayed tuned for the trip home and further updates!
Final thoughts on this segment
Throughout this whole ordeal, my husband has been a superstar. He helps without complaint. Even minor inconveniences, like getting something I can’t reach from the hospital tray, ordering my meals at the hospital, getting a nurse to help with the bathroom, giving me my shots. Anything and everything. Many times, before I asked. Anytime I start to do something and he says, “What do you need?”
My experiences of the last 2 weeks still feel unreal. I still find it difficult to wrap my head around everything that has happened, and everything I’ve lost from mobility, to stamina, to independence, to a summer of hiking, and everything in between. I know this is not permanent. The doctors told me I will be hiking next summer. I’m not finished with this trail, and I have other trails on my bucket list. But this will be months-long recovery of everything. And that makes it really challenging.
