Triple-digit days since the accident. Only seven days, as I type this, until she returns to the doctor. Jan is looking forward to it, but with some apprehension. Any change is stressful when you don't know what happens next. She has been walking three miles each day the last few days so that is building up. Physical therapy will be hard but it will get her back to normal.The lady at Hello Halo blog was having trouble washing her hair. Since Jan washes her's in the shower every day, she and I came up with this arrangement where we remove the back of the collar and put a wide velcro strap across the back to hold her head in the collar. That way her hair isn't covered by the collar back that goes from above her ears to below her shoulders. In this picture, she has her hair pinned up to show the back of the collar as it wraps around and the black strap that gives her some support.
Today was the first time in more than 100 days that she took ibuprofen for pain. NSAID drugs (aspirin, ibuprofen, naproxen) are not good for broken bones in the early stages of healing. They are anti-inflammatory and the healing process requires the inflammation response to cause the bones to properly grow back together. She is not in a lot of pain but it is that annoying ache and pinch that just won't go away yet.
I was speaking with someone about our accident. After showing him the pictures of the Miata, he remarked that a taller vehicle, such as Jan's Honda Pilot, probably would have rolled sooner and more than once. Even so, a Miata normally has no roof protection but our Miata had a hardtop and the roll bar. The odds are, the Miata survived the rollover better than the Honda Pilot would have. A Pilot, while full-bodied, does not have a roll bar reinforced top. Just sheet metal.
I used to operate a tow truck for my father. I recovered a few rolled cars in my time. If you google some rollover pictures, you will see that cars and trucks without roll bars are not any safer than a Miata with a roll bar.
In the end, accidents happen and nobody can predict how it will end. Some times, surviving is all you can hope for.
That looks like it would take alot of the hassle out of washing my hair. I'll ask my husband to get some velcro and will try it. Thanks for the informative post.
ReplyDeleteYou are welcome. I like to think I'm good at finding interesting solutions to simple problems.
ReplyDeleteFor instance, I put the plastic covers that came on the sharp ends of the halo pins on the outside to keep people from getting hurt when they got close to Jan. It saved more than one person a nasty gash from those things.
That is too funny. I always had to be so careful when people would try to kiss me. We kiss alot here in Quebec (we're French..). Friendly kisses, one on both cheeks. I don't know how many times people hurt themselves coming in for a kiss or a hug. I usually told them to stay away for their own safety:) My husband was poked in the forehead on many occasions. It's nice that you take the time to find resourceful solutions. Your wife is lucky to have you. Take care.
ReplyDeleteYes, I thought it odd the doctors and nurses had never considered the technique. Perhaps I can patent it?
ReplyDeleteAre your pin holes filling in? Jan's are still pretty deep, one over the left eye especially. The two behind her ears are, by contrast, much less noticeable. I suspect the lack of flesh under the bone made them less prone to it. I massaged them all at each cleaning, with and without the halo.
I am of French decent. A cousin traced our lineage back to the 1500s in France. Of course I only know a little vocabulary but that's what happens in the middle of Kentucky, 500+ miles from the nearest foreign country. I've learned more Spanish from eating at the local Mexican restaurant than I learned French in a school semester.
I don`t imagine there`s alot of French being spoken in Kentucky!
ReplyDeleteMy pin site holes on my forehead are not looking very good. The one above my right eye is quite deep and it remains adhered to the bone. I have massaged it regularly and there is less hardness underneath the skin, but it`s not as it should be I don`t think. I`ll show it to my doctor next week and see what he says. I doubt he`ll be very concerned though, under the circumstances. The other one is healing with a slight depression - it hasn`t filled in yet. My husband tells me the ones behind my ears are healing nicely. In any case, I have a headfull of curly hair so I doubt those will ever show. As for the forehead, well, I think bangs may be in my future...:) C'est la vie.