Warning: Slightly graphic post ahead…
Well, Wednesday was supposed to be the big day. I had been waiting all spring for my appointment with Dr. McGinnis. It was our first consult to prepare for a summer IVF cycle. I was so excited. I took off the entire day to make sure I wasn’t rushed, and Tim and I were planning on going to lunch afterward. I dropped Ben off at daycare and headed to Morgantown. I was about 30 minutes early, so I thought I would go to Michael’s (they were closed). I got gas at Kroger. I had forgotten my hair clip, so I went into Walgreen’s to buy a new one. I got to my truck, realized that I needed scissors or a blowtorch to get the clip out of the packaging, so I went back in to ask the clerk to help me out. I put my hair up in the parking lot. A glance at the clock revealed I had 10 minutes until my appointment. Perfect. Tim was meeting me there.
I got in my truck and waited to turn left out of the Walgreen’s parking lot onto Pineview Drive (the clinic is only a couple of blocks down the road on the left). Traffic was fairly heavy. A guy in a car waved me through since he was just waiting for the light. I looked left, and didn’t see anyone in the turning lane; looked right, and no one was coming. I proceeded with my turn.
I was wrong about no one coming from the left. Suddenly, a big white truck grille was about 2 feet from my door and coming fast. Next thing I knew, I could taste blood in my mouth and people were yelling and running at me. BRAKE! People were saying. All I could do was cry. My car was still in gear and drifting. I stepped on the brake and cried harder. Blood was everywhere (it turns out, it was all from my nose). Someone reached in my window and put my car in park. Someone ran and got me a rag. I felt something trickling down my back. I thought it was blood. I felt it- I had auto glass in my shirt and in my pants.
After a few minutes of me crying and people standing around staring, the ambulance came. I kept telling them, through my tears, that I was fine, just upset, and that I just wanted to get out. They asked me what day it is (I had to think about it but came up with Wednesday). They asked me how old I was. I said 31 or 32- I couldn’t remember. They put a neck brace on me. They wouldn’t let me move. More sirens… another ambulance, police and a fire truck. The other driver was fine, it’s just protocol in bad accidents. They couldn’t get me out of my truck without cutting the door off. More crying.
Then came the worst part… They had to put a white sheet over my head to protect me from debris as they cut the door off. I knew that Tim would be coming along at any minute for the appointment and of course I hadn’t been able to call him. I got hysterical when they put the sheet over me and kept trying to pull it off. The rescue workers were not very happy with me, I’m afraid. They gave me oxygen. At one point when I lifted the sheet I saw Tim in front of the truck crying. I put my hand up to tell him I was OK. I must have started crying more because the rescue workers said, “tell that guy to move back, he’s upsetting her.” I said, “tell him I’m OK!”
They pulled me out of the truck and onto the backboard. They loaded me into the ambulance and took me to Ruby (strange, since we were closer to Mon. General, but I guess they have some sort of rotation worked out). While in the ambulance, they cut off my clothes. I felt completely not in control of my life.
When I got to the hospital, there were about 20 people standing around me working on this or that. I got an xray and a cat scan. I was still crying. Finally, the tests were done and we just had to wait on the results. Tim was allowed to come see me. Then the trooper from the accident came for a visit. He cited me for failure to yield right-of-way. More crying.
After what seemed like an eternity, they brought my discharge papers and told me I had a non-dislocated broken nose. They gave me the number of the facial surgeon but said there is nothing they can do for it anyway. Thankfully, it looks fine! They let me wear 2 hospital gowns home.
I was going to have Tim just take me straight home and come back later to get a rental car, but when we passed Enterprise, I felt well enough to drive. We went in (me still in my hospital gowns) and rented a car. I drove home. I tried to sleep but couldn’t.
Four days later, I am still sore, but feel incredibly lucky it wasn’t worse. I still don’t remember the impact. If one thing can be learned from this experience, it is to put your seatbelt on before you put the car in gear. I ALWAYS wear my seatbelt, but I have a bad habit of “saving time” by buckling it after I have started moving. So, embarrassingly enough, I wasn’t wearing my seatbelt at the time of the accident. I probably wouldn’t have broken my nose if I had been wearing it.
And, no, I don’t believe in omens, so I rescheduled the doctor’s appointment!
