On Tuesday, August 25, Peggy was participating in the Northwest Spectacular Horse Show and was it very spectacular! She was riding her horse, Al, and approaching a jump when Al missed a step and lunged unexpectedly. Peggy's head hit his head and she was knocked unconscious. She slid from his back and fell to the arena floor hitting her right shoulder and the right side of her head. The paramedics were at the scene but were unable to bring her around. The life flight helicopter was called and she was transported to Legacy Emanuel Hospital where she remained unconscious. As she began to wake up she became very combative (I know that's hard to believe) and had to be intubated and placed in a medical sleep in order for them to run the CT scans that were necessary. Apparently from the blow and the fall her brain did a little bouncing around and was bruised in five places. She also suffered a small skull fracture to the lower left base of her skull. She remained intubated for several hours and was then extubated and began to breathe on her own when those of you who had arrived at the hospital started talking to her per the doctor's instructions in order to keep her awake and breathing. (She doesn't remember any of this but it's my understanding that she was pretty entertaining during this time.) She went back to sleep and woke up momentarily to say "Hi Mom" when I arrived at 10:30 p.m. from Texas. (Tim called me before the helicopter had gotten her to the hospital and I was on the first flight I could get--scared to death to say the least.) At around 3:40 a.m. she came around again and the first words were, "What in the World?" She was very disoriented couldn't figure out where she was or how she got there. She did not remember anything that had happened since that morning when she arrived at the horse show. She stayed awake for about 30 minutes and then went back to sleep. When she awoke she continued to be disoriented and her short-term memory was not working very well. (Long-term was and is fine—she can quote any law statute you want to know about!) About 7:00 a.m. the hospital decided they needed her ICU space and began the process of moving her to a regular room. We arrived in the room around 8:00 a.m. and were then ignored by the doctors until 7:00 p.m. Needless to say, Tim and I were pretty upset. When the doctor finally arrived, he was surprised and apologetic that no one had been in to see her or to keep us posted on what to expect. At that time Peggy was still throwing up and was very dizzy. As the evening progressed, the nausea improved but the dizziness was pretty bad. The physical therapist came in and explained that the blow to the head had caused some inner ear dysfunction and that he would help her with that if it didn’t improve (It’s called having rocks in your ear.) The occupational therapist came in and ran Peggy through some exercises that confirmed her short-term memory is not yet up to par.
On Thursday, the physical therapist came back and did some head manipulation to improve the dizziness—it has helped tremendously. The doctor came in and said he was going to dismiss her because she needed to be at home where it would be quieter (you know she has a very active 5 year old), there would be less light, and less stimulation and she would be much happier in her own surroundings. He said patients with Traumatic Brain Injuries do much better when they are home. So, we left the hospital around noon. She was very happy to be home.
Now, here’s the hard part. She’s home, but for the next 7-10 days we were told she was to have very little brain stimulation because her brain needs rest to heal. That translates to no TV, no reading, low light, low voices, and not much interaction. It has been very hard for her and all of you not to want to interact. I have become the “interaction cop” and monitor how much activity she can have. We have discovered that when she has visitors she rises to the occasion and will interact as long as they will stay. When they leave, she goes to sleep and will sleep for two to three hours. So, what we are asking from everyone is that they call to see if a visit is possible and if it is then to come for five to ten minutes to say “hi” and sit with her for a while. It’s important talk in a low voice and not to stimulate her too much. We will probably continue to screen visits to two or three a day until the end of next week. We are still trying to get an appointment set up. Once she goes back to see the doctor, then I think the visitation situation will get much better. I know that there are a lot of people who love her and just want to make sure she is okay and that this is really hard on everyone. She is making progress and is getting pretty bored with all of this, but this may be the most important thing she does to help heal her brain and ultimately that’s what all of us want.
So, keep calling so we can tell her you did. Send cards and leave voice messages. She loves hearing from you. I’ll keep you posted through the blog and you can call here at the house anytime you want. Thank you so much for your love and concern and most importantly thank you for your prayers. They have been received, felt, and are working. God is good.