Eleven Fractured Ribs!

Well, I do feel better now. We had a good long talk with Julie this morning – almost 45 minutes before the connection broke down.

She has been up walking a bit but the physiotherapist says she has 11 broken ribs – 6 on one side and 5 on the other. And apparently she has 2 lung punctures and they are not healing as quickly as the hospital would like. She still has her chest drainage tubes and they will have to stay in place until her punctures heal. She also has a lot of internal bruising – apparently Ryan said her back is all black and blue. I suggested that he get photos in case they later need to prove some of her injuries.

We had thought she might be discharged to the hotel for a few days but apparently she will only be discharged to a hospital so Ryan has to contact the insurance company who will have to arrange for a medical person to escort her home. Ryan’s mother is a nurse but apparently the medical person cannot be related to Julie. She has been told that she will probably have to be in quarantine for 2-4 days upon arrival back in Calgary. She did receive blood so there is a concern for HIV and other diseases.

Julie says she does not remember anything about the accident and no one is allowed to tell her about it. The last thing she remembers is being in the parking lot and getting ready to get into a car to go back to their residence after their dinner outing.

 

She says she is not hungry but that is in part because the food is not what she wants. She said the toast is like Texas toast – very thick and about the size of her IPad. Two slices of that for a sandwich are somewhat overwhelming. She asked for baked chicken and they brought her a boiled chicken leg. She asked for steamed vegetables and she got vegetables that has been steamed then fried. Not big things when you are feeling fine but hard to deal with when you don’t feel well to begin with. She said the hospital is trying hard to find something she will eat but it just hasn’t happened yet. She said she is really thirsty but that is because her body is trying to replace the blood she has lost.

Her other big complaint is that the hospital clothes don’t fit. The pants aren’t the right size and to put on the tops backward for modesty, they just about choke her. Because she has been bedridden, she has been wearing adult diapers but they too don’t fit properly so she can’t move around without fear of displacing them.  

Ryan has been invited to a wedding this evening so Julie is a bit miffed that she can’t go too. They had to take Ryan out and get him some Indian clothing. Julie says he bought a Canadian hoodie before he left Vancouver and he has been wearing it ever since he arrived – apparently he gets better service with it on. Julie also said that he is attracting attention wherever he goes because he is about 6’2” tall and most Indians are 5’10” or less so he does stand out in a crowd.