Groundhog Day...
We went to the mountains Saturday for the long weekend. We arrived about 1'sh with Smokey in tow. His first trip with us. Back to the town where he was a 'friend of the pen' (as in penitentiary). Wonder if the thought he was going back?
It was a great day for being outside. Little Miss caught up with her friends and ran around. I unpacked the car while Smokey checked things out. My husband rode up with his friend since they had to stop at Home Depot on the way. The guys arrived about 3 and immediately rounded up another friend so they could go for a quad ride. About 3 hours later, while we were fixing dinner they arrived back. They had been back for a few minutes when my husband's friend Dave said I needed to go down and talk to Bill since he seemed confused. 'Why would he be confused?', I asked. 'Oh, he crashed the quad and hit his head on a rock.' Dave said. OH, THAT'S ALL??
So I go down to talk to him and he keeps repeating himself: 'I'm confused. What happened? Where's my phone? Where's my wallet?' Over and over and over again. My first thought was 'we need to go to the ER and have him checked out'. Of course he didn't think he needed to go anywhere since he didn't know what happened. So, we call his friend Nick, who is a doctor, since I knew if he told him to go he would do it. I had no idea where the hospital was so Bill's friend, Jim, drove us down. He had also been on the ride with him so he could better explain what happened. The entire 15 minutes to the hospital he kept asking the same questions over and over again. He didn't know what day it was but he could name his 12 brothers and sisters. He knew me, Jim and Little Miss but didn't remember going for a ride at all.
We arrived at the ER at 8:10 pm. We were in a room at 8:30. His back hurt, his neck hurt and he was still repeating himself. He had an x-ray done of his ribs and a cat scan. Luckily he only had what they called a 'minor head injury'. I have to say that I was pretty scared but I did manage to keep my cool. By the time he was discharged at 11:35 he had started repeating himself less and was remembering a few things, but still not the ride or accident.
The ER doctor originally wanted to admit him to the hospital for observation. He was a little reluctant though since he was concerned about leaving Bill in the hands of the attending neurosurgeon. The hospital is in a small, rural town and the Dr. mentioned that he wanted him to stay because people tend not to follow up with their physicians or follow any of the discharge 'rules'. Since we live an hour away we thought we could go to the hospital in our town. He sang a different tune when he found out we weren't locals. We looked like the Beverly Hillbillies (after riding all day and being dirty) but after speaking to us he realized we weren't. :) He called our town's hospital and they had no beds available. So after we said that Bill's friend Nick would do his follow up (the ER Dr. knew of him) he said he would discharge him. We had considered driving home but Nick said to stay there so if he needed to go back to the ER they would have all the info instead of repeating it all at our hospital.
I had to wake Bill every 2 hours and check his pupils and have him squeeze my hands. Jim helped out by taking the first shift since he wasn't ready to go to bed yet. I am not quite sure what I would have done without him that night. Or his wife who watched Little Miss while we were at the hospital. You really know who your friends are when things like this happen.
We are all home now. Bill is doing much better. He pretty much slept/rested the entire day on Sunday. He still doesn't really remember the accident but is speaking like his normal self and acting normal. We went out to dinner last night and he did well. He will be ready to go to work today.
While he wasn't driving his own quad I told him he should consider selling it. He wasn't totally opposed to it so I hope we can do it sooner rather than later. I think he's better off in the Ranger, with a roll bar. But, thankfully, he was wearing a helmet. Otherwise I would likely be telling a different story right now...
It was a great day for being outside. Little Miss caught up with her friends and ran around. I unpacked the car while Smokey checked things out. My husband rode up with his friend since they had to stop at Home Depot on the way. The guys arrived about 3 and immediately rounded up another friend so they could go for a quad ride. About 3 hours later, while we were fixing dinner they arrived back. They had been back for a few minutes when my husband's friend Dave said I needed to go down and talk to Bill since he seemed confused. 'Why would he be confused?', I asked. 'Oh, he crashed the quad and hit his head on a rock.' Dave said. OH, THAT'S ALL??
So I go down to talk to him and he keeps repeating himself: 'I'm confused. What happened? Where's my phone? Where's my wallet?' Over and over and over again. My first thought was 'we need to go to the ER and have him checked out'. Of course he didn't think he needed to go anywhere since he didn't know what happened. So, we call his friend Nick, who is a doctor, since I knew if he told him to go he would do it. I had no idea where the hospital was so Bill's friend, Jim, drove us down. He had also been on the ride with him so he could better explain what happened. The entire 15 minutes to the hospital he kept asking the same questions over and over again. He didn't know what day it was but he could name his 12 brothers and sisters. He knew me, Jim and Little Miss but didn't remember going for a ride at all.
We arrived at the ER at 8:10 pm. We were in a room at 8:30. His back hurt, his neck hurt and he was still repeating himself. He had an x-ray done of his ribs and a cat scan. Luckily he only had what they called a 'minor head injury'. I have to say that I was pretty scared but I did manage to keep my cool. By the time he was discharged at 11:35 he had started repeating himself less and was remembering a few things, but still not the ride or accident.
The ER doctor originally wanted to admit him to the hospital for observation. He was a little reluctant though since he was concerned about leaving Bill in the hands of the attending neurosurgeon. The hospital is in a small, rural town and the Dr. mentioned that he wanted him to stay because people tend not to follow up with their physicians or follow any of the discharge 'rules'. Since we live an hour away we thought we could go to the hospital in our town. He sang a different tune when he found out we weren't locals. We looked like the Beverly Hillbillies (after riding all day and being dirty) but after speaking to us he realized we weren't. :) He called our town's hospital and they had no beds available. So after we said that Bill's friend Nick would do his follow up (the ER Dr. knew of him) he said he would discharge him. We had considered driving home but Nick said to stay there so if he needed to go back to the ER they would have all the info instead of repeating it all at our hospital.
I had to wake Bill every 2 hours and check his pupils and have him squeeze my hands. Jim helped out by taking the first shift since he wasn't ready to go to bed yet. I am not quite sure what I would have done without him that night. Or his wife who watched Little Miss while we were at the hospital. You really know who your friends are when things like this happen.
You find out who your friends are
Somebody's gonna drop everything
Run out and crank up their car
Hit the gas, get there fast
Never stop to think 'what's in it for me?' or 'it's way too far'
They just show on up with their big old heart
You find out who your friends are
~Tracy Lawrence
While he wasn't driving his own quad I told him he should consider selling it. He wasn't totally opposed to it so I hope we can do it sooner rather than later. I think he's better off in the Ranger, with a roll bar. But, thankfully, he was wearing a helmet. Otherwise I would likely be telling a different story right now...
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