They need to decorate the ceiling of ambulances if you have to stare at it for 20 minutes

For two weeks I have been looking forward to going up to my friend's cabin for a gathering for some friends and their dates. It was going to be a great time to take a break from this *wonderful* month. Unfortunately, things didn't go the way I expected...

Oh it started out all right, everyone was happy and enjoying the cabin and the company and looking forward to a day of sledding, four-wheeling, hot tubing, games, movies, etc etc. I mean, look at these happy faces!




We decided to go sledding first. There was a really steep hill just next to the cabin that was long and steep and super icy. Because it was so long, we were towed up the hill by four wheelers. Very convenient on the way up, not so much on the way down. As I went sledding down the hill for the second time, I turned a bend and low and behold idling right in the middle of the trail was a four wheeler....and I was headed right towards it, headfirst. Try as I might, it was too icy to stop or steer and not really enough time to roll out, so my instinct was to put my arm up and protect my head for the possibility of any neurological damage (thank you nursing for that one). Although I was (miraculously) able to save my head from any damage, there was nothing I could do to save my back. The second I collided, my back twisted in all the ways it's not supposed to, my body curled up underneath the four wheeler on contact, and I was basically just one limp, mangled mess. It hurt. so. bad.
Next thing I knew, I was surrounded by a group of people who were concerned and watching out for me while I struggled to breath and attempted to figure out what was going on with my back that was hurting so badly. But I've decided that if you're going to get injured anywhere, it should be with three nursing girls! (Props to Sara, Sarah, and Shea!) They did all kinds of assessments to make sure I didn't have any neurological problems, and to determine what kind of pain I had and what it could mean. After being in the snow for about 20 minutes, it was decided that I first and foremost needed to get inside and warm up. This required a makeshift bodyboard. Sleds are remarkably handy when used as hard, flat, objects to keep back and neck straight. Everyone did a wonderful job keeping me stable as they all lifted me from the ground onto the sleds.

Sarah R. decided to document this experience. Hence the pictures.

Since I couldn't move my neck/head, and my back hurt whenever my legs were higher/lower than my back, the "board" required two sleds to keep my body level.

The next step to getting into the house was getting me up the long, steep hill. At first they tried pulling the sleds, but that was going to be quite a treacherous trip and everytime they pulled me over uneven snow (aka, THE ENTIRE TIME) I could feel it in my back and it hurt! So that plan was an epic fail. Next plan was carrying me up. I'm glad we decided not to try that one. Thankfully, there was a Jesus-loving drunk (he offered me a beer to take the edge off my pain haha) who offered to bring down his Suburban to take us to the cabin. He was a different kind of Good Samaritan than I would have expected, but I was so grateful to him. He brought us to the cabin and I was carried into a bedroom to rest and be covered in lots and lots of blankets. And to take lots of advil haha (which I really appreciated because those transfers were extremely painful).

okay, this was obviously before the lots and lots of blankets, but you do see the meds! ha

After another half hour of not being able to move, my friends called 911 and told me afterwards (mostly because I had told them a hundred times that I didn't need/want an ambulance). Alas, it was too late, and it was already on the way. So they came, strapped me to a board, put a lovely neck collar on, and took me away.

Funny story about the ambulance that may only be funny to nurses. When I was in there for the 20 minute drive, my pain was so bad they gave me fentanyl (best. stuff. ever! My pain went from an 8 to a 2 in like three minutes) but they had to start an IV in the ambulance. One of the EMTs tied the tourniquet on my arm (far tighter than I had ever had before or needed to be) and left it on my arm for about 2 minutes. Ouch. Meanwhile, the other EMT took my vitals, including blood pressure. When he took it, he asked if I was nervous. I told him I wasn't, but asked why, and apparently my blood pressure was 168/104 and he thought it was because I was nervous hahaha. Nevermind I had a noose around my arm for two minutes making it hard to pump blood ha.

This was in the hospital before they took me for x-rays. I have oxygen in this picture because in the ambulance my oxygen saturation levels dropped to 86-87% (normal is 95-100%) so they threw me on 4 L of oxygen.

Thankfully, all scans came back clean, and I was able to go home. yay!

When getting discharged, they made me go out in a wheelchair because I really couldn't walk well, as you can tell haha. Eric (who had driven up to Heber from Provo) thought this was remarkably funny and wanted to document the moment. haha.

So there you go. My first ride in an ambulance. It's about the same significance as my first step, first tooth, and first kiss. More or less. And even though I am ridiculously sore, walk like a cripple, and have no idea when I'll be able to function again, at least I got to ride in an ambulance. AND keep the hospital pants that are one size fits all--including all obese patients. boo-yah.

Moral of the story: If you're going to play "chicken" with an ATV, you will lose.



Update: The ER doc just called me this morning (Sunday). The radiologist called him very late last night and thinks I may have a fracture in the posterior process of one of my cervical vertabrae (aka my neck area) and recommended a CT scan. Wouldn't that come with neck pain though? I'm not having any pain in my neck...?