(WARNING - SOME PHOTOS MAY BE DIFFICULT FOR VIEWERS)
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Etta (named after Etta James), my 2009 Honda Jazz
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Insurance company declared
the scooter unrepairable
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| My flames helmet |
On July 28th, 2012, I was riding my scooter and was hit by a car who ran a red light. The impact of the car was to my left side and I flew on the car's windshield, hitting my head then flew to the ground. I sustained many injuries especially to the left side. I was brought by ambulance to the Montreal General Hospital (MGH) where I spent the first month in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). I sustained a severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) including bleeding on the left side of the brain and also a lot of oedema fluid accumulation around the brain. For this reason, I was induced in a coma for 20 days. My neurologist and her team debated whether or not to do neuro-surgery where they remove a piece of my skull to permit my brain to swell. I developed a pneumonia therefore it never happened. I had catheters attached my head to extract the oedema fluid when monitors indicated there was too much.
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| My body became quite swollen from all the fluid |
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| The bandage on the front of my head was due to a big cut |
I had a fracture to my malleolus bones on the left ankle. I had surgery on August 16th, 2012 where four screws were inserted to repair the fracture. I also had a transverse apophysis fracture of my T3 on the spinal cord.
I had a feeding tube going directly to my stomach but an infection occurred and they removed it. A feeding tube was then put through my nose. Due to the pneumonia, a tracheotomy was put in my throat to assist with breathing. I had numerous tubes attached to my body for fluids, drugs to induce the coma, blood transfusions, etc. Someone told me they counted once I had 15 tubes attached to my body. I also had machines monitoring my blood pressure and brain fluid accumulation.
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| Holy tubes |
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| Tracheotomy put in, I look peaceful. |
After one month, I was transfered to the 14th floor, a neurology floor. I remember faintly when I was slowly coming out of the coma; being in a hospital bed, my head was shaved, neck in a brace, left foot in a cast, a feeding tube in my nose, wearing a diaper, urine catheter in and a partial tracheotomy tube coming out of my throat. It was terribly scary and confusing. I do not really remember much of my stay there especially in the beginning, it was blurry. Due to the drugs that were still in my system, I had many delusions. Perhaps dreams/thoughts/memories that I truly believed were reality.
I became obsessive about many things such as wanting to eat real food. For some reason, I had a huge obsession with Portuguese chicken, I wanted to eat it very badly. The feeding tube in my nose drove me crazy. I could always see it since it was taped to my nose. I pulled out the entire tube from my nose myself twice in the night. They would then tie my hands at night to the bed. This was extremely frustrating, I remember asking a nurse several times if I was in a prison or a hospital. I had a urine catheter and wore a diaper and was expected to do my toilet in them. I was never brought to the toilet. This was very humiliating to me. The urine catheter was extremely painful and I told one of the residents that I thought I had a urinary tract infection and I was right.
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| Portuguese chicken, yes please. |
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| This is the first words that I wrote post-coma. My neuro-psychologist asked me in French "how long have you been in the hospital?". I said and wrote "trop longtemps" - "too long". My mother kept it to give to me. |
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| Inner ankle scar from my surgery, 10 staples |
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| My friend Alan Lee made this poster for me. My parents framed it as a coming home present. |
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IRGLM, I was in this pavilion, Gingras
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I was given a wheelchair my first day which was such a blessing. I was taught how to do transfers and sat on a toilet for the first time. I was able to stop wearing the diaper but I still had some incontinence. I think my body got used to going to the toilet when it had to. September 21st, I got my cast taken off by the ortho-surgeon and he told me he was impressed how it healed and I could start trying to walk slowly. They discovered, however, a huge body ulcer on the back of my heel. They said it was probably caused from pressure on the heel in the cast and since I was bedridden for about 6 weeks.
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| In entrance lounge are at IRGLM, spent a lot of time there with visitors. |
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| Rocking the wheelchair with my fancy foot fashion. That's right, one foot shoe, one foot sock. In the park in front of IRGLM. I loved going there, felt so good to have sunshine. |
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| My first week at IRGLM in my room. I still had the bandage on my tracheotomy scar. |
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| My niece Angela and my sister Jacynthe in the lounge of IRGLM. My sister fundraised among friends and family to buy me an iPad. That's what is in the bag. I'm a lucky gal. |
A week later, my left leg became very swollen and was quite warm. I got sent to the hospital for a Doppler (vein ultrasound) and they discovered that I had 5 DVT (Deep Vein Thrombosis) or blood clots as we often call them. Despite having had 2 preventative anti-coagulant shots per day (at that point I was hospitalized over 70 days = over 140 shots), I still developed DVTs, also most likely related to the fact that I was bedridden for 6 weeks and wheelchair bound. They then started to give me anti-coagulant shots twice daily in the stomach (which really bruised me) then I started to take Coumadin (an anticoagulant pill) daily.
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| My fancy hair style when I arrived at IRGLM. Some balding and a bit of bed sores. |
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| This was taken the day after my cast was taken off. I called my foot/ankle the Michelin man foot (as in Michelin Tires logo man) |
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| My foot was extremely dry and still stained from antiseptic of the surgery |
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| Major bruising to my stomach caused by the anticoagulant shots twice daily |
The bedsore on my heel was the most painful and required a lot of nursing care. Every morning after my shower, the nurse would come to clean and change the bandage on the heel and on my lower back for the other bed sore. I learned a lot about bed sore care. Every couple of weeks they would measure the bed sores. My ankle sore was 4cm x 2 cm, quite big. My back sore was 5cm x 1 cm. The nurses would apply different kinds of gels to the sores, usually containing high salt, which would burn greatly after applied (sometimes for up to 2-3 hours). The object was to help remove the yellow fluid in the sore and promote healthy cells (more red of colour) to multiply. Every week the medical team on the floor would come evaluate especially my heel sore - doctors from the floor, my nurse, the head nurse and my physiotherapist. I was very popular. My physiotherapist did laser treatment 5 times on the heel bedsore when it became more red of colour. I was so nervous about this procedure, I thought it would burn and smell but it didn't at all. It was painless, I didn't even realize they were doing it and there no smell. My last couple of weeks at IRGLM we also used a honey medical paste (apparently honey is antibacterial) on the heel sore. When used, I had to keep the bandage on for 2 days.
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| Back bed sore in September 2012 at IRGLM |
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| Back bed sore closed up in December 2012 |
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| Finally closed up beginning of January 2013 |
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| Heel bed sore. The last pic was taken after my first laser treatment. |
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| Heel sore when I arrived home after 5 laser treatments and using honey paste. First 2 pics note the maceration caused by the honey. |
I started walking with a walker which felt really good. Two months without walking is a long time. It was a slow process. At first only 20-30 m, then the next day more and so on. My physiotherapist then banned my wheelchair from my room. He was good like that, always positive but would push me. After, I graduated to a cane. At first, a 'canne canadienne' that has a partial wrap that goes around the forearm then on to a regular cane. Felt like freedom to walk with a cane. IRGLM custom made me a walking boot which was so stiff and huge, it was very uncomfortable and felt like a snowboarding boot. I hated using it but I had no shoes or sandals I could wear since my left foot was so swollen and I had the heel sore. I walked around for over a month at IRGLM with a shoe on the right foot and a sock of the left foot. My left foot was so swollen, I had to wear my father's socks which we would also have to cut. IRGLM also made me a night boot which was to protect my heel while I'm sleeping so there is no pressure on it. Very weird to sleep with a boot I tell you and you had to take it off when you needed to walk to the toilet for example otherwise it would be dangerous.
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| Using the walker at IRGLM with my fancy footwear |
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| I made this drawing for a resident Rudy who was in the room across the hall from me at IRGLM. I worked hours on this drawing, I can't remember the last time I made a drawing. I said this Tibetan Buddha of medicine mantra numerous times to get through pain and rehab |
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| Walking boot |
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| So huge. |
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| Night boot |
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| Note the plastic arch at the back to protect my heel |
I finally got to have some day passes out of rehab on the weekend and went to my parent's house a few times. Then I was able to have weekends home, I had three. My mother got the landlord to install a hand rail going up the inside stairs to my apartment since I live on the third floor of a triplex. Wouldn't have been able to go home without it. When I first stepped into my apartment, I was very emotional, 3 months later... what a weird feeling. It was strange to be home but felt like heaven. To finally have privacy in a non-institutional setting, sleep in my own bed in a room alone. It felt awesome.
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| Thanksgiving dinner at my parents with my sister Jacynthe. I'm using a 'canne canadienne' |
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| My niece Angela and mom at my parents for Thanksgiving dinner |
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| My first weekend home. I had friends over for brunch. So good to be home |
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My first haircut after discharge home
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When I was discharged home, I thought it was going to be so awesome. Finally my privacy, living with my own things in my own place and making my own food. But I was miserable. I did a lot of crying. I was shocked how miserable I was. I guess I didn't realize how much my life was routined with activities including going to the gym every afternoon and that I had a medical team at my disposal all the time when I was living in rehab. At home, I was reminded of my losses - I have to walk with a cane, not one pair of shoes or boots fit me, I can't drive (I temporarily lost my driver's license because of the TBI), I was alone and had nothing to do. I was supposed to start outpatient rehab in 2 weeks but it got put off to over 3 weeks. I was bored and feeling discouraged.
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| My first weekend home. Alan and Kathryn were visiting Montreal. We're walking at Parc des Rapides in Lasalle. |
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| Kathryn & I at Parc des Rapides. Walking with my cane and my sandals. It was chilly. |
I found a gym after all near by that was actually adapted like a private rehab of sorts, so I started going there. I also found a local orthopaedic shoe store that informed me the SAAQ pays for up to 5 pairs of shoes. I got a pair of boots and 2 pairs of shoes. The CLSC nurse was coming every 2 days at home to change my bandage on my heel and back. At that point, we were using honey paste on my heel. Many nurses had never even heard of it. Finally, I started outpatient rehab at Constance-Lethbridge. I had a whole team to help me out - physiotherapist, occupational therapist, psychologist, neuropsychologist, nutritionist and kinesiologist. It was good to have a routine again. Rehab at Constance-Lethbridge 3 days/week then my local gym 2 days/week.
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| Me with Sunscape, the Constance Lethbridge Mira dog. He's awesome. |
I was intended to stop Coumadin in January, 2013 but I convinced my doctor to send me for another Doppler. They found that I still had a partial blood clot behind my knee and a superficial blood clot mid-calf. Therefore, I continued taking Coumadin. My doctor referred me to a hematologist and in June 2013, I finally stopped taking Coumadin (8 months later instead of the 3 months predicted) despite still having a partial blood clot that doesn't seem to want to disappear.
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| My compression sock and grip latex gloves I must use to put it on. |
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| Kinesiology tape to help with swelling |
Over 1 year later, my back and heel sore are closed, stopped taking Coumadin, walking without aid, 2 of the 4 screws in my ankle are broken (this was expected from my orthopaedic surgeon), past the test to get my drivers' license back (in January, 2013), driving a scooter once again, stopped doing physiotherapy at rehab and started back at work progressively (in June, 2013). I'm still wearing my compression sock (for up to 1-2 years), I struggle majorly with fatigue and I have increased headaches especially after starting work. I started taking Nortriptyline for the headaches. I continue going to rehab at Constance-Lethbridge for support with my return to work from the psychologist, neuropsychologist and occupational therapist.
All things considered, when I look back at everything I went through medically... I came out alright. I am definitely thankful and grateful for that. I was very lucky and I am happy to be alive. I also feel blessed for all the support and visits I had from my family, especially my parents (who were there daily), my sister, my niece and my numerous friends. They helped me get through it all for sure. For the 1 year anniversary of my scooter accident, I decided to do a rehab fundraiser. I felt it was important to give back to the rehab centres that helped me out. I raised $2600 for both foundations of IRGLM and Constance Lethbridge.
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| 1 year anniversary Rehab Fundraiser, me and my awesome family - my dad Bill, my mom Priscilla, my sister Jacynthe and my niece Angela. |
