Yesterday started off as any other normal day, except I was excited. My plans were to go to lunch in Sedona with an ex-co-worker and then from there I had an appointment with a Dr. Mahanti for a consultation on getting my eyes Lasiked. It was an appointment I had been looking forward to for over a week.
I got ready and left the house earlier than necessary to meet Nancy for lunch. It was going to be Chinese...yum. I was dreaming up all the yummy dishes that I would nibble on. About 1/2 way to Sedona on hwy 179 which is an itty bitty road that is always congested with tourists driving slower than the speed limit,about 4 cars in front of me was a car stopped trying to make a left turn onto an obscure road. There is no turning lane for this road, so traffic had to stop and wait for him to turn. It was a blind spot in the road for most of the traffic and since people were riding close there were a lot of short stops. I looked into my rear view mirror and saw the woman behind me also stopping and at a safe distance, so I immediately relaxed. Suddenly BOOM SMASH SCREECH...
I was hit from the rear. I remember stomping on the break as hard as I could to keep from hitting the guy in front of me. I felt the car skidding forward and I remember thinking "WHAT THE FUCK!" I was pissed.
I pulled over to the side and was shocked to see that the car in front of me just drove off. I hadn't hit him. Thank God...I got out to check the damage and found that the woman behind me had also been rear ended, which in turn made her hit me. The car that caused the crash was completely crumpled in the front...Definitely totaled.
My first instinct was to call Mike. He told me what to do. I got back in my car and just kind of sat there dazed...It had happened so fast. I began almost immediately to feel a pain in my neck and numbness in my fingers. My stomach was also nauseous. About five minutes later the paramedic were there. Asking me rapid fire questions..."What's you name...How old are you...Squeeze my finger.." Another voice talking at the same rapid speed his questions overlapping the first voice "Can you wiggle your toes...Don't turn your head...Were you wearing your seat belt...?"
It was all so confusing. There was a man in the back seat holding my neck to prevent me from making any movements and all I remember thinking is "I hope I don't have bad breath, I really need a piece of gum."
They decided they needed to stop traffic to get me onto the back board and out of the car safely. The paramedic asked me if I could lift my butt off the seat so that he could place the board beneath me, and from there I was going to be swung his way. Now mind you, I was wearing a neck brace by this point and I could only see what was right in front of me. The paramedic in the back seat of the car grabbed my legs and spun me around so I was facing sideways in the drivers seat on this board. The man holding the board in the street kept saying "Now lay down, I've got you. Just trust me" But I was so scared. The man in the back seat pushed me gently down by my shoulders. And then I was staring at the sky. I could only look left and right and now I was being strapped to the board all safe and secure... Except I didn't feel safe. Mike had come to check out the car for me and was talking to the police and I could hear him yelling. The police wanted me to make a statement right then and there, but I didn't want to talk. Suddenly I was being lifted into the ambulance. It was so surreal, here I was staring at the ceiling of the ambulance and watching it roll by, just like in the movies. The lights were so bright but I couldn't not look at them.
The paramedic placed something on my finger and a blood pressure cuff on my arm. He was leaning over me and once again I was concerned about my breath and was beginning to feel claustrophobic because I was strapped so tight on the gurney and the ceiling of the ambulance began pressing down on me. My breaths were shallow because of how tight the straps across my chest were. It felt like an eternity before we began driving.
About 20 minutes later we made it to the hospital. The gurney was rolling smoothly across the polished surface of the hospital floor. The urgency in the paramedic voices had mellowed out and I could hear them talking to the nurse about their families.
After waiting in a room alone for about 10 minutes a doctor came in and began to gently unravel me from the confining restraints of the back board and neck brace. If he had waited another 5 minutes to release me I probably would have begun screaming maniacally. It felt so good to be able to breathe deeply again. Now that I was free from my restraints, my head began to think more clearly, and I realized that I was all alone. I could hear the other victims families in the room next door and it struck me how alone I am out here...If Mike and I weren't getting divorced he would have been by my side, but it was the decision I made to be alone. I guess deep down I had hoped he would come be with me anyway. A lonely tear rolled down my cheek, the first sign of moisture in a long time. A doctor walked into the room and I quickly wiped the tear from face. I wanted them to know that I was tough, not a cry baby.
They released me about an hour later and I called Mike to pick me up. He brought me to my car and I went to the pharmacy to get my pain killers and headed home. Needless to say, I missed both y lunch date and my eye appointment. It was a cruddy day, but today is a whole new day and I plan on trying to make the best of it. I contacted a lawyer and made an appointment to see a chiropractor today. We shall see what comes from this.
