Rachel Update Friday Night...
Hey friends and family. Yes, that was Rachel's car in that picture in yesterday's post. It could very well be the first totalled '08 VW Rabbit in the U.S.
I was awakened at 7:45 Thursday morning simultaneously by my alarm clock and a ringing phone. I hit snooze and answered the phone. It was Carlos from Rachel's work who told me that Rachel was OK, but she had been in a fender bender on 175 on the way to work and she wanted me to head on up there. He told me that white lie so I wouldn't freak out. On the way out there (after pouring coffee and getting my camera and a blanket for Rachel and such) I got another call saying they were taking Rachel to the hospital to get her checked out. When I got to the scene and saw the car, I freaked out a bit. (I actually passed Rachel's ambulance on my way out there - but there were no lights, so I figured everything was OK)
Rachel was on her way to work Thursday morning when a woman in a silver Honda crossed over the double yellow line and slammed in to her. This is where it happened:
It looks like she hit Rachel at the bottom left in the picture and then the 'S' whiteish mark is the path the other woman's vehicle took after the collision. The impact was severe and it caused Rachel's Bunny to roll. Realizing she was upside down and in the middle of the road on a blind turn, she managed to free herself from her seatbelt, climb out, and get to the side of the road. I am so proud of her for having the pressence of mind and strength to do that.
A CDF fireman on his way to work happened upon the scene and held Rachel's head and neck still until a medical team arrived. Rachel was strapped to a board and transported to Redbud. I took some pictures. I told a CHP officer that my wife was in the green car and asked if he could tell me what happened. He said, "That lady there in the boots says she fell asleep at the wheel and crashed in to your wife." Looking at the scene, I would think that if she fell asleep at the wheel entering a left hand turn, her vehicle would have drifted to the right in to the mountain rather than to the left in to my wife. So we'll see if her story holds up. The lady left before I could get any information from her, but I am told everything will be in the CHP report.
I took some pictures of the cars and the scene and then went to find Rachel at Redbud. I found her strapped to a board in the emergency room.
They did some X-rays and CAT scans and when they determined that nothing was broken, they unstrapped her from the board. Once unstrapped, she was able to breathe better, and when she took a deep breath, she had some abdominal pains that she didn't feel before. The doctor there was considering whether or not to perform some additional CAT scans. I said, "We are well insured, please do whatever you need to." They were going to give her some sort of dye and then do another CAT scan. They ended up skipping the dye part. And when the second CAT scan came back negative, they gave her morphine for the pain and sent us home with a prescription for some pain killers, advice about ice and heat (a hot tub would probably be good). We got her home around 2:00.
I have all kinds of terrible things to say about the quality of care at Redbud Community hospital, but I'll save those for another post when this is all over. But imagine what it would be like for Rachel to sit in a hot tub is she had internal injuries.
Anyway, I had to wait for Jake to get home before I could leave to fill her prescription. So I called our insurance and was told what to do. I called our attorney who helped us with our last case that didn't go very well to make sure we do everything right to make sure this case does go as well as possible. And we called Rachel's personal physician. After describing the pain she was feeling, Rachel's physician asked that we take her to Queen of the Valley in Napa (or St. Helena if we couldn't make it all the way to Napa) and go to urgent care for reevaluation and testing.
Jake got home from school, and Rachel's Mom came to watch Jake. I went to the wrecking yard and got our stuff out of the wreck. Got some auto glass in my hand in the process. I also took some more pictures.
I am impressed with how bad the exterior of the car looks and how much space there was inside the car around the passenger compartment. I don't think it is an overstatement to say that good engineering saved Rachel's life.
OK, so then I went to WalMart to get Rachel's prescription filled. By the time I got home, Dolores was there to be with Jake and I drove Rachel to Queen of the Valley in Napa.
After an evaluation, they decided to keep her overnight for observation and additional tests in the morning. I was allowed to stay there with her. So I sort of dozed in an uncomfortable chair and actually got an hour or so of sleep on a little couch in a lounge. This morning, they drew some blood and took some additional x-rays. And then we waited for a doctor to arrive. Around 11:00 this morning, Rachel felt like she had to go to the bathroom but couldn't. The nurse did a bladder scan and found that there was a lot there, so they had to do a catheter. That was awful and just added to Rachel's discomfort. And since she was not able to go to the bathroom on her own and wasn't eating or drinking much, they are keeping her there another night.
By this time, I was pretty wrecked and decided to come home for some sleep and a shower and to pack some things for Rachel. We were going to have Dolores go stay with Rachel tonight, but the hospital might not have let her and she would not have been able to sit all night in an uncomfortable chair. So we decided that it would be best for her to go home. We called Rachel and she was fine with spending the night by herself and it would do her some good to just sleep. Jake and I are planning on getting to the hospital at the start of visiting hours tomorrow morning. And we hope she will be able to come home with us tomorrow.
I'll let you know how it goes as soon as I can. Thanks to everyone who has offered love and support. And especially to Dolores who stayed with Jake, was able to listen to me ramble, and did a hundred or so other little things to make this as easy as possible for us.
And if you happen to be the type who prays, please say one for Rachel.
I was awakened at 7:45 Thursday morning simultaneously by my alarm clock and a ringing phone. I hit snooze and answered the phone. It was Carlos from Rachel's work who told me that Rachel was OK, but she had been in a fender bender on 175 on the way to work and she wanted me to head on up there. He told me that white lie so I wouldn't freak out. On the way out there (after pouring coffee and getting my camera and a blanket for Rachel and such) I got another call saying they were taking Rachel to the hospital to get her checked out. When I got to the scene and saw the car, I freaked out a bit. (I actually passed Rachel's ambulance on my way out there - but there were no lights, so I figured everything was OK)
Rachel was on her way to work Thursday morning when a woman in a silver Honda crossed over the double yellow line and slammed in to her. This is where it happened:
It looks like she hit Rachel at the bottom left in the picture and then the 'S' whiteish mark is the path the other woman's vehicle took after the collision. The impact was severe and it caused Rachel's Bunny to roll. Realizing she was upside down and in the middle of the road on a blind turn, she managed to free herself from her seatbelt, climb out, and get to the side of the road. I am so proud of her for having the pressence of mind and strength to do that.
A CDF fireman on his way to work happened upon the scene and held Rachel's head and neck still until a medical team arrived. Rachel was strapped to a board and transported to Redbud. I took some pictures. I told a CHP officer that my wife was in the green car and asked if he could tell me what happened. He said, "That lady there in the boots says she fell asleep at the wheel and crashed in to your wife." Looking at the scene, I would think that if she fell asleep at the wheel entering a left hand turn, her vehicle would have drifted to the right in to the mountain rather than to the left in to my wife. So we'll see if her story holds up. The lady left before I could get any information from her, but I am told everything will be in the CHP report.
I took some pictures of the cars and the scene and then went to find Rachel at Redbud. I found her strapped to a board in the emergency room.
They did some X-rays and CAT scans and when they determined that nothing was broken, they unstrapped her from the board. Once unstrapped, she was able to breathe better, and when she took a deep breath, she had some abdominal pains that she didn't feel before. The doctor there was considering whether or not to perform some additional CAT scans. I said, "We are well insured, please do whatever you need to." They were going to give her some sort of dye and then do another CAT scan. They ended up skipping the dye part. And when the second CAT scan came back negative, they gave her morphine for the pain and sent us home with a prescription for some pain killers, advice about ice and heat (a hot tub would probably be good). We got her home around 2:00. I have all kinds of terrible things to say about the quality of care at Redbud Community hospital, but I'll save those for another post when this is all over. But imagine what it would be like for Rachel to sit in a hot tub is she had internal injuries.
Anyway, I had to wait for Jake to get home before I could leave to fill her prescription. So I called our insurance and was told what to do. I called our attorney who helped us with our last case that didn't go very well to make sure we do everything right to make sure this case does go as well as possible. And we called Rachel's personal physician. After describing the pain she was feeling, Rachel's physician asked that we take her to Queen of the Valley in Napa (or St. Helena if we couldn't make it all the way to Napa) and go to urgent care for reevaluation and testing.
Jake got home from school, and Rachel's Mom came to watch Jake. I went to the wrecking yard and got our stuff out of the wreck. Got some auto glass in my hand in the process. I also took some more pictures.
I am impressed with how bad the exterior of the car looks and how much space there was inside the car around the passenger compartment. I don't think it is an overstatement to say that good engineering saved Rachel's life.
OK, so then I went to WalMart to get Rachel's prescription filled. By the time I got home, Dolores was there to be with Jake and I drove Rachel to Queen of the Valley in Napa. After an evaluation, they decided to keep her overnight for observation and additional tests in the morning. I was allowed to stay there with her. So I sort of dozed in an uncomfortable chair and actually got an hour or so of sleep on a little couch in a lounge. This morning, they drew some blood and took some additional x-rays. And then we waited for a doctor to arrive. Around 11:00 this morning, Rachel felt like she had to go to the bathroom but couldn't. The nurse did a bladder scan and found that there was a lot there, so they had to do a catheter. That was awful and just added to Rachel's discomfort. And since she was not able to go to the bathroom on her own and wasn't eating or drinking much, they are keeping her there another night.
By this time, I was pretty wrecked and decided to come home for some sleep and a shower and to pack some things for Rachel. We were going to have Dolores go stay with Rachel tonight, but the hospital might not have let her and she would not have been able to sit all night in an uncomfortable chair. So we decided that it would be best for her to go home. We called Rachel and she was fine with spending the night by herself and it would do her some good to just sleep. Jake and I are planning on getting to the hospital at the start of visiting hours tomorrow morning. And we hope she will be able to come home with us tomorrow.
I'll let you know how it goes as soon as I can. Thanks to everyone who has offered love and support. And especially to Dolores who stayed with Jake, was able to listen to me ramble, and did a hundred or so other little things to make this as easy as possible for us.
And if you happen to be the type who prays, please say one for Rachel.
posted by Eric Soderstrom at 6:16 PM
1 Comments:
Rachel has been in my prayers.
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