Friday, August 05, 2011

Again? Seriously?!?

So, my life had been going merrily along when...BOOM!!!  Or, more exactly, CRASH.  Like the last time, I'm relatively ok, but this time I'm a lot luckier to be this ok.

I was driving through Missouri with a friend, on our way to a staff development conference for APO.  I was in the left lane going West on I-70, about an hour East of our destination of Independence, when the car in front of me swerved into the right lane, revealing a tire tread in the road.  I swerved into the right lane and back into the left after the tread, but in the process, I lost control of the car and fishtailed.  There was an embankment to the right sloping down to a frontage road and continuing down on the other side of it.  There was no guardrail between the road and the embankment, and the car went over the side and flipped upside down.  The car flipped right-side up again and went across the frontage road, coming to a stop pointing down the hill on the other side.

We were taken on backboards to the nearest hospital, with me texting people on the way since the police officer had found my phone.  I knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that as soon as I could reach a Brother that was in Independence, we would be taken care of.  They did a CT scan on me and let me off the backboard when it came back clear.  My ankle hurt, so they did an x-ray and deemed it sprained when they didn't see a break.  As sprains go, it's not that bad...I've been walking some of the time without the air cast they gave me.  I had itty bitty glass shards in different places, and the doctor told me they would work their way out over time.  The biggest issue there was that I had several shards in the bottom of my feet!  My back wasn't hurting badly at the time, but it definitely has been hurting since.  I have been very glad for the meds he gave me!!  I've been trying to not take the PRN pain medication during the day because it makes me sleepy, but I took one at lunch today and another at dinner.

I was right about my Brothers taking care of me/us.  In an amusing twist, the one who picked me up from the hospital that night (and even held off on the smart-assed comments!) was our Program Director for Risk Management.  One Brother made arrangements for DH to get from the airport to the hotel (he flew in because of work), and 2 others gave me clothes to wear for the night and the next day.  A Region Director took us to empty my car, get my prescriptions filled, and get my friend from the hospital.  While we were waiting for the meds, he suggested going to the craft section of the Wal-Mart and getting an X-acto knife so the surgeon present at the conference could remove my glass shards!  That was the first thing to make me really laugh at the situation. 

We ended up finding a cheap flight home for me, and now I get to deal with the pain while I wait for State Farm to determine how much they will give me for my car so I can replace it.  Yes, the car I got just 3 months ago.  I had put my stickers on it (including one that had been VERY hard to find) just the night that we left for Missouri...almost feels like I jinxed it.  I do want to try to get another Elantra, since I was very impressed with how well it held its shape as it flipped.  I felt my head hit the top of the car when we were upside down, but it wasn't very hard and didn't even seem to leave a bruise.  The main casualties ended up being the car, my friend's glasses, and my engagement ring (the latter two flew from the car and could not be found in the long grass on the embankment).

4 comments:

  1. Oh my gosh! Scary! I'm so glad you're ok :) sad you lost the car and the ring, but sounds like you were very very lucky.

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  2. You didn't say you lost your ring! Was it insured?

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  3. There's some sort of insurance policy specifically on the ring, but I'm not sure it covers loss, might just cover damage. If that policy doesn't cover it, the homeowners' policy certainly will.

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  4. Oh my goodness! I am SO glad that you are ok!!! I'm sorry you lost your car and your engagement ring. I can't imagine how that must feel. I love you Jessica! I'm glad that you're ok!!!

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