A lady who should have died manages to defy the odds stacked against her...
We really had a bad one come in today at the hospital, and it still has me feeling shaky and upset.
Every time I close my eyes, I can still see the pain-riddled face of the lady in question, and I still see the macabre sight of the blood soaking the gurney she lay on and her pale, flaccid, seemingly lifeless body. She looked more dead than alive.
It had been a rather quiet day at the hospital (nobody had died during the night, and every one of my patients was doing well or was holding their own if they were in poor to critical condition), and I was busily putting in the last patient report into my computer, when I heard the tones that signalled an emergency case was coming in, and then Wilma Edginton's smooth, silky voice on the loudspeaker paging for "all available help to the E.R., STAT!". I then heard my name being summoned, and I could tell by the urgency of Wilma's voice that the trauma coming in was a bad one.
Even though I am physically disabled and use a cane to walk, I can move pretty quickly when the time calls for it; and this was one of those times. I quickly made my way to the emergency room area, and I then barked orders for everyone to "be good and ready" when the trauma case DID come in.
About two to three minutes later, the ambulance pulled into the trauma bay, and the doors swung open with a loud "BANG!", and the gurney was quickly wheeled in. On the stretcher/gurney lay a woman in her 40's, and she was alive--but barely. She had been intubated, and she was being assisted with her breathing. She had two I.V.'s going, and i was shocked to see the amount of blood on the gurney and the fact that she had nothing below her knees. Her legs had been amputated somehow, and it absolutely sickened me.
"This is Windy Thundercloud, aged 48, a Native American female", the paramedic said as we transferred the woman onto the treatment table from the stretcher/gurney. "She was run over by a train and suffered an obviously life-threatening, traumatic injury to her lower limbs. Both legs were amputated two inches below her knees when the train's wheels ran over them. She apparently slipped and accidently fell onto the tracks just as the train was approaching, and she didn't have any time to get out of the way. Vital signs are, as of five minutes ago: Pulse--thready at best, but still going--, B.P.--60 palp--, respirations--12 breaths per minute with assistance--, and temp.--94.2 degrees, skin is clammy, diaphoretic, and pale. She is in shock."
We cut the woman's clothes off her limp, lifeless body until she lay naked and vulnerable under the bright lights of the E.R., and we did a thorough exam of her body. She was just barely clinging to life, and we knew we had to get her off to surgery immediately. I had Brenda call for Dr. Benton Harlowe, our top orthopedic surgeon, to get an operating suite ready, as we had an amputation case coming in, needing surgery. I inserted a nasogastric (NG) tube into the woman's nose and down her throat, to her stomach, and turned it on; and more lines and wires were quickly placed into Windy's flaccid body; and once she was ready, she was then sent immediately to surgery.
If she survived, it would be a miracle.
She had already suffered tremendous blood loss, and she was in very critical condition. I silently said a prayer for Windy, although I had only met her upon her coming into the emergency room a few minutes earlier.
It turned out that Windy Thundercloud was in surgery for over 4 hours. Somehow, despite the horrific injuries she suffered and the massive blood loss, she had miraculously survived and pulled through surgery; and she was now resting comfortably in the Orthopedic Intensive Care Unit (OICU), where she had been put into a drug-induced coma. Currently, she was in extremely critical condition, and it would be at least several more days before she was considered to be "out of the woods", and when she WAS out of danger, she would, more than likely, have a very long recovery period ahead of her. The next few days would tell us the entire story as to whether Windy Thundercloud would pull through her ordeal (and the surgery) or not.
A page-turning novel about a relationship between best friends that is interrupted because of betrayal , deceit, sexual promiscuity and pregnancy happens!
We really had a bad one come in today at the hospital, and it still has me feeling shaky and upset.
