My Mrs in a coma after car crash
I made a wee post about this in another thread but a few people wanted me to keep you updated so heres the full shpeel.
My girlfriend was involved in a head on with a Vaux Movano and her Saxo over two months ago. She was trapped in the car for nearly and hour and was unconscious but breathing.
She was heading from my house to hers when the accident happened. Still unknown what happened. All we know is she wasnt on her phone and her car was mechanically ok.
The extent of her injuries were - both feet broken, both thigh bones broken, pelvis broken, right humerous (upper arm) broken, elbow broken, both lungs collapsed, ruptured spleen and an extent of brain damage which we do not know. Her brain was heavily swollen to a very dangerous level.
She had her spleen removed the night of the accident and was put onto life support with a ventilator. She was induced into the coma when she went in but was unconscious prior to this.
Two days after the crash she was moved form Dumfries & Galloway Royal Infirmary (Dumfries) to Edinburgh Western General as she would not wake from her coma.
There she stayed for around 2 weeks until they moved her the Infirmary in Edinburgh, as it has a better orthopaedic (bones) department where her legs and arm where pinned and plated and put into casts. She now has metal bar running down the full length of her thigh bones internally.
Back to the Western where she has stayed up until now where she was kept in Intensive Care.
She started to breathe on her own after a period where they 'weened' her off the ventilator.
She was then moved one step down the ladder to High Dependency (same as Intensive Care, but less 'intense') where she is now fed directly through her stomach wall by a drip, and her ventilator still remains to enter in the front of her neck (tracheostomy) to keep her airways open.
She does react to pain (heart and respiratory rates go up). Her pupils wouldnt dilate but recently one has slightly. This is due to her brain being swollen, but we hope this will progress.
She also yawns alot which is a wierd sight! She flexes her left hand and arm and on the odd occasion, she opens her eyes for a while, the closes them.
There is a fair bit of movement but slowly getting better.
Her GCS (Glasgow coma scale - measurement of how severe someones state of coma is lowest being 3, highest being 15) is usually at a 7-8ish. When she came into the hospital she was a flat 3, unresponsive and needing breathing aid.
She is stable at the moment and seems to be very gradually improving week by week.
She was due to come back down to Dumfries today but there were no beds available.
Not having a car makes going up to see her VERY difficult for me, but i phone at least twice a day and see how shes getting on. Hopefully she'l be down here again soon so i can see her more regularly.
I suppose thats it really. Shes been in a coma for 2 months and 6 days.
EDIT: If anyone has any question, feel free.
Drive safe people.
