Sunday to Tuesday Morning Updates

Sunday's Email

Bev had a motorcycle accident while we are on vacation in Texas. She seemed to go off the road at a curve for no apparent reason and didn't seem to take any corrective action, just stayed with the bike until it hit a metal fence post. The accident happened Sat 4:20 PM.  She was unconscious but breathing with difficulty at the scene. She was flown by helicopter to University Hospital trauma centre in San Antonio ( the best in west Texas).  She took a severe blow to the head which cracked her helmet. She has 6 cracked ribs and both of her arms have multiple breaks.  The ribs and arms are not life threatening so they are concentrating on the head injury. On arriving at the hospital her body temp was 94, it is now slightly above 100 which they say is normal after a shock.  Her blood pressure was very low and they could not find out why or how to stabilize it.  She was critical on arrival and remains so.  They tapped her brain to relieve the pressure from bleeding and they put 2 taps (tubes) in her chest to remove fluid and air.  They used multiple drugs in an effort to control her blood pressure and to control the pressure on the brain. 

 

Monday's Email 

Bev is now off all medication except pain killers and fluids.  Her body has responded and her vital signs are close to normal on their own.  There is still no neurological response and so this is the major concern right now.  The doctors now suspect Bev had a stroke while on the bike.  They cannot confirm because of the head injury.  If she remains stable for 12 hours they will conduct more tests including an MRI.  She has a blood clot in her left leg.

TODAY
Bev is stable, still not conscious. Her vital signs are returning to normal and the drugs have been stopped except for pain killers, fluids and a little bit of sodium control. She is slowly using the respirator less and less. They are scheduling an MRI and MRA for sometime today.  There is restriction in her arteries in the neck going to the brain.  They have scheduled repairs to the left arm and right upper leg (femur I think) for tomorrow. left pupil shows reaction to light but the right pupil less so. The impact to the head was on the right side. Her skull is fractured above and to the right of her right ear, her right eye socket is also fractured. Her right leg is fractured near the hip, her lower right arm has multiple fractures (breaks) in both bones. Her lower left arm has multiple fractures (breaks) in both bones, her upper left arm is broken.  She has 4 cracked ribs. She has a tube in her head to relieve the buildup of blood and fluid and help keep the pressure down. She has 3 tubes in her chest to remove air and any buildup of fluids. These tubes are being needed less and less with time. One doctor said he thought it would be 2 weeks before she can be returned home by air ambulance.  Recent tests strengthen their view that Bev had a serious stroke.