Just giving a health update ...
One piece of advice I've learned and would give anyone in my situation, or any bad situation is - it's okay to feel overwhelmed and even cry for a minute - THEN be grateful for what and who you have around you and forward think.
Make future plans, even if they're unlikely and absurd 😂
Also what I have learned over time is that when bad things happen, you learn who's there for you and who isn't - and it can surprise you, going both ways.
(To be fair, there are a couple of friends I haven't told because I don't want to burden them. For example, former neighbors and friends, Angelie and Rico that I've mentioned before on here - who I don't think read here. Not only do they have 2 young children, but his mother with advanced Parkinson's just moved here from Puerto Rico and I know they are already overwhelmed!)
Among those I have told, here's who has stepped up to the plate with rides, food, checking on me daily, and/or sending me pictures of their adventures so I can live vicariously through them and/or just funny memes or pics:
These people are:
Mark - my amazing husband and my rock. 💓
Mark's siblings.
My mom and my little sister.
My friend, Kayla and her family.
My neighbors, Shondelle and Vince and their son, VJ.
My neighbors, Cody (also one of our maintenance guys) and his girlfriend, Savannah.
Mark's boss and coworkers, Kiyon, Corey, and Fidan.
My attorney, Katie, and her legal team (especially Claire) at Minner & Vines.
My Primary Care Physician at Family Practice Associates, Susan Monohan, MD, and her staff (especially Lisa).
My orthopedist at Bluegrass Orthopedics, Ched Crouse, MD and staff.
My neurosurgeon APRN at Baptist Health - Neurosurgery, Debbie Courcher, APRN (recently awarded "Advanced Practitioner of Year" for Baptist Health Lexington-Indiana.)
My dentist, Erica Higginbotham DMD - AKA "Lady Higginbotham" (because her name makes her sound like she's a character on Bridgerton 😂) - and the entire staff at Beaumont Family Dentistry - Leestown - ESPECIALLY hygienist and soul sista, Crystal!
(The latter was doing no dental work on me at the time, but heard about it and called me. That group has been SO supportive in general with life's ups and down, I can't tell you - the kindest and all around best dental group in town!)
Absolutely amazing people, some of whom I've only known for less than a year, living in our new apartment - THANK YOU!!! 😍
So, onto the health news.
The Bad News:
So when compiling my medical records for my attorney, I caught something on the CT scan report of the abdomen that was overlooked during the shuffle to find injuries. (Hey, 27 years in medical records - go me!)
I thought it was an incidental finding - but my neurosurgery APRN pinpointed it's location at being exactly at the point of the fracture.
So it's an aortic mural thrombus - essentially, a blood clot on my aorta.
Being that the ER staff had much to be desired the night I was seen (already written about earlier), I noticed the radiologist briefly mentioned it, but said nothing about either the size of it or the location - and then forgot to put it in his clinical impression or address it.
My PCP has referred me to Vascular Surgery (though we don't think surgical intervention will be necessary), thinking it was incidental finding.
Then when my neurosurgery nurse practitioner took a look at the images with me in the room, she showed me how it coincided exactly with the vertebral fracture at all angles.
Good News:
The aortic thrombus is tiny and should be able to be treated with medication alone.
Thus, I'm being sent for an MRI to determine the exact size and location, as well as if the age of the mural thrombus matches the age of the fracture to prove it's injury rather than calcific buildup.
She also told me "Whadaheck is THIS (the brace)? It's overkill. No wonder it was killing your ribs."
Ha! Isn't that exactly what I said, it's too much and was killing my ribs?
The abdominal swelling and rib-cage swelling had gone down, which helped - but thank you, Debbie Croucher!
She said she could get me a new one, but I was healing so quickly, I wouldn't likely need to wear one at all unless I overdid it or while riding in the car or walking on uneven ground.
(And the reason I'm healing up quickly is because I gently stretch everyday and walk laps around my house. It's kind of instinctual with this injury to want to move.)
Bad News:
She also made frustrated faces about the the documentation that night herself, not giving her the information she needed to know.
Not just the ribs, but the more serious injury, the mural thrombus - briefly mentioned only under the "VASCULAR" heading in the body of the report, without giving exact location on the aorta or the size, nor mentioning at all in the impression, and with no referrals or treatment. she said is "unacceptable."
Because said she, though a mural thrombus of that size isn't immediately dangerous, it IS dangerous and should be addressed immediately.
She may be country as the day is long, she is smart as a whip!
So she held her finger on the thrombus on imaging as she twisted the images from every angle, showing me it directly correlated with the vertebral fracture - proving it is at least suspect for being caused by injury.
It's uncommon, but it does happen.
Good News:
Again, Vascular Surgery will need to confirm, but because of it's tiny size, we may be able to break it up and prevent more clotting just with medicine.
Also, I have ZERO SYMPTOMS from it - in fact, I feel a little hit better each and every day! 🥰
Bad News:
We had just gotten our 2022 Mitsubishi Outlander in June and are thus underwater on our loan and its our only car.
Also, the lienholder and the insurance company cannot disagree on the reimbursement value of the car, with the lienholder obtaining a third-party independent evaluation, with which the insurance company still disagrees and the insurance company is dragging their feet on a response.
In the meantime, because the car is totaled, the insurance company will not pay for a rental car, so we're renting it daily out of pocket each day we wait - PLUS we have to continue payments on the old car until they decide, come up with a down payment for a new car, plus pay new car payments as well as the old car.
Also, I have had to quit school, both due to funding cuts to financial aid for half-time programs by Trump's OBBBA bill and because I will need a bit more of healing time.
I was door-dashing for income, and of course, I can no longer do that.
Good News:
Okay, so ... no good news on this front yet BUT ...
As I said, 2 days before the accident, I had a "ticker-tape" message run through my head which interrupted my own thoughts with accompanied by a chill - as if abruptly as a "breaking news" commercial interrupted a show you were watching on T.V. that said "Something really bad is about to happen - but it will be okay."
I couldn't literally hear anything, mind you - just a ticker-tape thought that interrupted my thought processes so clearly and disruptively that I knew it was not my own thoughts - as interruptive as "We interrupt this thought process for a a very important message." 😂
I told Mark immediately about it and he thought it was just anxiety on overdrive.
And yet thus far, whoever or whatever pegged it spot on, right?
I can't deny or explain that.
My mom of course thinks it was Jesus.
I said "Well, if it is, then I don't know where he's been for the last 20 years or so, but he's welcome." 😂
But as I said, there was no voice attached, no sense of male or female or who it was, so it's hard to say.
I like to think it was my friend/spiritual Mom, Marian, but perhaps that's just what I want to believe.
Regardless, despite my losing my faith entirely over the past year - I can't deny this - it was very clear and very accurate - so whoever or whatever that was that simultaneously both warned and reassured me of what was about to happen, I'm going to trust that it also right about the second part - that it WILL all be okay - or try to! 😂
Regardless, whatever happens, I will be focusing on joy and gratitude - and I WILL heal from this!
.JPEG)