This was not an an intentional adventure but an accidental one - literally. I will preface this by saying I am fine. But the car is not and is probably on its way to the big junkyard in the sky.
Saturday afternoon after returning from a luncheon, I decided to run out to the liquor store to get some wine to have with the curry I was cooking. I live in a neighborhood of small streets with a lot of intersections without stop signs. People often coast through them and assume that no one is coming, which is often the case as the roads are very quiet.
I turned off the main road and went one block up the steep curvy hill to turn left onto the two block long street which runs parallel to our street. 2/3 of the way down a road comes in on the right where the driver must turn left or right. I wasn't going more than 25 mph and all of a sudden there was a car in front of me turning right into the road. I tried to brake but bam.
All of a sudden the car was full of smoke from the air bag. (I repeat I am fine.) I got out of the car fast thinking it was on fire (because I am just so smart). I approached the other car and asked the woman if she was okay and if she could call the police because I didn't have my phone.
Two (wonderful) neighbors and spouses came out. One neighbor is a nurse and one is a dental hygienist. They gave me ice and towels for my bleeding lip. They let me use their phone to call my husband at home after they also called the police. The hygienist looked at my teeth because the air bag hit me in the mouth. She thought my teeth looked okay but suggested I get them checked out. The nurse also looked at me and said I should get checked out because of the airbag.
The police and fire department arrived and told me I should get checked out because of the airbag as well. They said that often injuries can be hidden because of the force of the airbag. They always recommend hospital trips when air bags deploy - standard protocol. I considered not going but then I decided I would be up worrying all night.
My husband arrived and held my hand and talked to the police. They were very nice as they put me on the 'comfy' backboard with big collar thingy. And away I went in the ambulance. They took the long way to the hospital so I got to spend more time sliding around the back board and saying ow at every bump.
About 15 minutes after I arrived at the ER my husband showed up. He had to take home the wine and beer and turn off the stove where I had left dinner simmering.
I got to wear the lovely collar for several hours. It was relatively uncomfortable but bearable once they got me off the back board. The doctor checked me out and wanted me to have a CT scan of my head and neck because I had pain in the back of my neck.
The doctor and nurses were all impressed with my lists: they needed to know - what medications I am on (7 daily prescriptions), previous surgeries (8 in all), and current medical ailments (RA, fibro, osteoporosis, cancer twice, degenerating back disks and more). They then switched from being impressed to the 'with your medical history, we need to be sure' mentality. They offered to send me home with pain meds but I thought I had plenty already.
It turns out I have arthritis in my neck and compressed discs as well. No wonder my neck hurts - now I have another topic for my rheumatologist next month. (But there were no brain abnormalities which means no sneaky brain mets - the hidden fear of all people who have ever had cancer.)
They finally let us go about four hours after we got there. I was happy to go home and have chocolate cake for dinner.
Of course I could not find my driver's license. My purse dumped out all over the floor of the car so I suspect it is there still. I will check today when I go to empty all the personal belongings out of the car. I also have to see if my glasses survived. I think the air bag knocked off my glasses and I didn't realize this until the ambulance was halfway to the hospital.
I also have to go to the police station and get the full accident report. I do not think I was at fault because I had right of way but you never know how these thing work out. Then I have to fill in my report online and call the insurance company.
Once I am done with all my paperwork, I might get some work done and then go to the gym to work out some of the stiffness. I am a little stiff but not horribly. I also take some heavy pain meds every day so who knows how I would really be feeling if I wasn't taking them.
2 comments:
Thank goodness you are "fine"! Be kind to yourself today.
Meg
Ack! Made me sick to read. I was rearended by a vehicle doing 55 (he had not noticed I was turning left), and pushed into the path of an on coming truck, also doing 55. You are right that you can never tell about police: I was initially charged, the claim being that my blinker was not on. The officer told me that 'he had multiple witnesses that would testify that my blinker was not on.' Since that is one of my pet peeves, I couldn't imagine that it wasn't. The charges were dropped when the judge heard the case. All those witnesses? The guy in the oncoming car had told the police that he hadn't noticed whether I had a blinker on. The cars behind the guy that hit me? None of them had noticed either. The only one who claimed that I had not used my blinker was the young boy who hit me.
It was still a very sickening time. I have read the daily newspaper every single day since that accident 6 years ago. Not once have I read of anyone who had been rearended being charged. Not once. It still makes me upset.
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