Saturday, July 28, 2012

Concussion

No pictures today.

It's hard to take pictures
when you're
unconscious.

My Friday started so normal.

Early morning blogging and computer work in my little cool bedroom at The Land.

An early breakfast of fresh French toast and grapefruit juice.

At 7AM I slipped out the door to go water one of my oak trees before my bike ride to work.
The morning was bright and fresh - a relief after these dry hot weeks of drought.
The puppies were bouncy so I said - Come on guys, let's run!"

Silly Koda, my Rottweiler, ran in front of me and stopped suddenly stock still.

I crashed into him and I hit the ground.
Hard.
The dry soil, like concrete, knocked my head, rattled my brain and knocked me out.

I lay in the grass for about 2 hours - fading in and out of consciousness.
Every time I woke up and lifted my head I was hit with intense waves of nausea.
I threw up twice - that I remember.

Finally I had to go to the bathroom.
So I crawled into the house, used the toilet, fainted, threw up.

By this time I was convinced I was bleeding into my brain.

So I crawled into the bedroom where my cell phone was and called 911.
I was fading in and out and could barely talk.
  - just gave them the address.

Then I called Tom back in Fishers.
Again I wasn’t conversant.
I croaked out.
“I fell”
And
“Come”

So now we need to see thing from the EMT perspective.

They find a 56 year old lady, barely responsive, in her bedroom in her pajamas.
Pulse in the 40s. (normal is above 60)
They had no idea I had been running outside with a Rottweiler.

They didn't know my heart was slow because I'm such a biker.
They didn’t know I had fallen or hit my head.

So I guess it was pretty logical to assume I had a heart problem.

When I could wake up enough to talk the one thing I would say, over and over again, was “Cat scan”.
So they did do a CT scan of my brain - which was normal.

So they sent me to the St Vincents heart hospital (SVHH)

Bad choice.
SVHH knows nothing about brains or concussions.

They ordered an echocardiogram.
Donna, the echocradiogram tech was astonished!
She had never seen such a good heart.

She raved about the quality of the images (no fat) and the quality of the heart muscle.
She said these pictures were Olan Mills quality.

Now I had to wait for a consult from the Electrocardiologist (EC)

So I sat around the heart hospital all day long – telling my nurse Michael that I was leaving after I saw the EC.

Waited.
And waited.

Shift change at 7PM and I told Kathy, my new nurse, that I had to see the EC soon.

She paged him and found out that after 5PM he was the admitting doc and he wouldn’t be seeing any more consults that day. But she told him my situation and he said he would make me an exception and “squeeze me in”.

9:00 hit and no EC.
So I called in Kathy and asked for the AMA forms.

(That is Against Medical Advice for when a patent leaves without a doctor's blessing).
Kathy got quite flustered and left the room.
Five minutes later and the EC walked in.

He was sure flummoxed.
He said his practice is specifically putting in pacemakers for people who are symptomatic from their bradycardia. I described some of my biking activities including last Saturday’s 80 mile ride.

He decided I was not a candidate for a pacemaker.

So he agreed to discharge me and I asked for their standard set of instructions of what my family should be looking for post- concussion.

Nope. St V’s heart hospital doesn’t even carry those.
Good thing we have Google.

So I went home finally about 10:00 PM and had an uneventful night – other than a worried KC at 1:00 and a grumbly Tom at 3:00 and 5:00 checking on me.

Now I read that post-concussion I should take things easy.
No workouts, quiet settings, limit computer and television.

This could be difficult.

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Family Nature Summit 2012








This
has been
my
favorite
Summit!






You
can't
beat
a
location...








like
Rocky
Mountain
National
Park!







And
you
certainly
can't
beat...






the
friends...






and
the
faculty...



of
a
Family
Nature
Summit!









And
this
year...







I
got
to join
every
group...





for
their
various...









activities!







Day 1 -

An
early
morning
birding
ramble...






Rock
climbing
with
the
young
adults...





and
exploring
Eagle
Rock...






with
my son,
TJ!







Day 2 -

I leave
the
kids...










to
their
coloring...









and
the
bigger
kids...





to
their
human
knot...




while
I
join
the
adults....





for
their
field
trips!






Not
everything
goes according
to
plan...






but
we
have a
great
time...







visiting
an
organic
farm







and
a
conservation-
minded
ranch.




What
I love
most
about
the
Summits...





is the
opportunity
to
meet
people...






who
are
so
passionate...





about
their
work!













Day 3 -

dawns
bright...





Another
early
morning
ramble...








with
the
famed
Bruce
Lampright.






A
deer
in the
morning
sun....








a flit
of
a
bird...







We
love
these
early
outings.






We return
to see
the
young
adults....








leaving
for
tonight's
camp-out.







Good
luck
TJ!







I'm
off
with
the
younger
set...








to
go
exploring...







the
pond!








And
look!




There's
Calvin's
group!






We
see
Summiteers
everywhere!







Hiking...








Netting...









In-
ves-
tigating.








I
just have time
for a
quick
lunch...








before
I join
the
teens...






for
their
wet
water
class...






and
a
drier
orienteering
experience!







They
learn to
use a
map...






and
a
compass...






They
get
a
little
bit
lost...







But then
they
find
their
way!









A
good
night's
sleep...







And
Day
4
begins!




It's
a
hike
on the
Tundra...


with
the
Junior
Naturalists....









and  
three
awesome
educators!






This
is
my idea
of a
classroom!!









We
hike
back
down...







to
the
montane
zone...








more
flowers...












more
trees...





more
beauty.







The
journey
back....







a
glimpse
of
elk!













.....
Day 5
.....







Our
last
Summit
day.




And
we
start
with
bikes!






It's
the
Orienteering
Adventure
Race!













Biking...






Mapping...













A
Frisbee
Challenge...



and
a
dash
for the
Finish!




We
did
it!!!




And
the
day's
not over
yet!






We
still
have our
weeding
to do!






We
are out
to rid
Rocky Mountain
National
Park....







of
the
evil
invasive
thistles!











Yay
for
us!








Summit
2012
is almost
done
now....














It's
time
to say
good-bye...





to
Summit
friends.










I've
taken
so many
pictures....







I've
seen
so much
beauty...








I've
had
so many
great
experiences...









I
just
can't
wait...







until
Summit
2013






in
Bar
Harbor
Maine!