Sylvia's Journal

Another day of improvements – Axel got a brace on his torso so he was able to sit up a bit and got a tiny glimpse of the lovely view of Worcester out the big picture window in his private corner office of the ICU. He ate some pudding, but is not able to drink liquids yet, despite his afternoon chanting for Coca-Cola. He had a few more x-rays, then the orthopedic specialist gave Jim and the rundown on his bone breaks. Here’s the list as far as we know right now: fracture in cervical vertebrae #2 (in the neck), broken humerus (sp?) (upper arm), fractured pelvis (on each hip side), compression fractures in the lumbar region of his spine (this is what Joan has as well), and the small fracture in his skull. She said that none of these required any surgery – which is great news – that they will all heal on their own, although it will take a long time (12 weeks for some of it, apparently). We had quite a fun time when Jim and I first arrived – Axel was a little loopy from being taken off all his pain medication – he had us waving at the ceiling at a village full of Indians and circles. It was fun. I was really quite perplexed at his apparent lack of pain, but Cathy (one of his wonderful nurses) told us that he isn’t in pain because he isn’t moving at all. So, for the time being he’s only on a fluid drip of some sort. In the afternoon/early evening he had a procedure to put a Central IV in just under his right collarbone area so they could stop pricking his arm, which is a bit swollen from IV fluids from the night before. This was a little bit scary because the nurses have to warn about all the possible risks of this CIV, which include lung collapse and infection – they assured us that even though this was a last resort place to put an IV in, they had done it many times. As hoped, all went well and we gave him some ice chips as a treat for being such a good patient. The powers of the ice chip are magical, I must say. Sylvia had a very eventful day, with lots of flowers delivered to her room, which really livened up the room. She had a neurologist come in to take a look at how well she can move various parts of her. During this time it became apparent that she has some sort of damage to her rotator cuff – which severely limits how much she can move her arm, and which also makes it near impossible to sit up (unable to support herself). However, she did manage to muster up the energy to be transferred over to a stretcher so she could take a fieldtrip to visit her darling husband in the ICU. Jim (who has been immensely helpful and supportive) and Morsey (Joan’s husband who has been an incredible source of support for all three of them (and Jim and myself) – and who was there with his two teenage children on the ground when the crash occurred) wheeled her over to the Lakeside building where the ICU is, as I snapped photos – it was quite an exciting wheel over. We waited a bit while Axel finished getting some x-rays done, and then we united the two (see photos), they lay side by side, touching whatever parts they could (mind out of the gutter, guys). Axel said to her “I didn’t believe you were alive at first” – and exhaled with a sigh of relief. They had a lovely 20 minute visit, held hands, took a good look at one another (as best possible with Axel mostly flat on his back) and coined this the Summer of Recovery. I transferred kisses between them and then let Axel go to bed for the night after a very busy day.
I had almost forgotten that the two had talked to each other on the phone earlier in the day – Axel actually spoke some French and some Dutch to her on the phone – clearly the head is working rather well.
I didn’t get to see Joan today, but apparently they discovered a few broken fingers and toes, which they taped together. I didn’t get in to see her in time to wash her hair with the “No-Rinse,” so she had a hellish “Rinse” shampoo – next time I will try to cut them off in the hall. Perhaps tomorrow I will find some time to paint her toes, or maybe Morsey can learn how to do that (I’ll photograph that if it happens).
Some other news from 409 – my mother got a lovely new roommate who has been a smoker for what sounds like 1000 years. She called me her granddaughter and had a fit today about not getting her drugs. She’s quite a character, and very entertaining. We like her – she’s more of a hoot than the lady with the dogs. No more fun TV today – mum said every channel she tried to watch was about plane crashes or people in hospitals – booring.
Again – thanks for all the support and love and light and what not – Sylvia has read all the comments as of noon today, she absolutely loved reading them – keep em coming – it’s a direct line in.
Xoxo.
Sita

All spirits lifted today. In the morning Jim and I had a lovely time searching the aisles of CVS for ‘no-rinse shampoo’ – I didn’t even know they made this stuff…i highly recommend throwing out all your ‘rinse’ shampoo.
Mum was in relatively low spirits this morning. She had a very tough night of no sleep (which I assume was partially the fault of the 88 year old lady in the bed next door – who we learned by the way was in the hospital because her dogs dragged her into the lake….). So I tried to cheer her up by showing her the no-rinse shampoo. She told me to check in on pops, so Jim and I went to the ICU, and met Anne and Chuck in with him – they were telling him he looked like a chipmunk, it was darling. After some jest and jive and squeezing of hands, we were booted out so he could go get more xrays (pelvis). [I don’t know the result of these yet]. Back to mum, then, for a spa treatment. I started with the no-rinse. It worked like a charm, got rid of most of the dried blood on her scalp and made her feel fresh and light (as advertised). Then, after a long foot rub with various balms and ointments and creams that I found around the house (which have been lying around the house for years and years and are finally getting their proper use), I cleaned the lady like red/pink nail polish off her toes and repainted them with an equally hideous darker red shade of nailpolish – but I added an extra layer of glitter nailpolish, which really makes all the difference. She was doted on, got a scrubbed face, her nails cleaned, and then leave in conditioner. It was like a sleepy morphine party. very nice. She had some visitors during the day, a few phone calls, and seems exhausted when more than one thing is happening at the same time.
Jim went to the state police barracks in Athol to collect the rest of the belongings (dad’s wallet, mom’s purse – no camera or flight bag found), and while he was out that way he stopped at the crash site – he said it was quite a site – and he came back from his excursion even more amazed that they were all able to pull through – he said the site is pretty grisley looking – very dramatic, with a path of cut down trees, and swamp and bugs of course.
Back at my dad – the big excitement of the day – they took the breathing tube out and replaced it at first with a mask, then to one of those plastic nose plugger air things you see on tv (which mum and Joan also have). This was really huge. He started babbling like a little kitten – couldn’t talk enough! He had no idea where he was or how he got there – no recollection of even going flying in the first place. Jim and I read to him from some newspaper articles and all he could say was ‘wow, amazing,’ and ‘unbelievable!’ He was fully able to communicate with us – said he had been talking to us the whole time, we just couldn’t hear him. He was relieved to be breathing sans pipe – said to us ‘I feel broken,’ which in many ways he is – but at least not in spirit or mind. He also said to us toward the end of the day that he had felt love before, and had experienced love before, but never like this, like now. He said he felt full of warmth and emotion and was genuinely grateful for all the love people were sending his way. We stayed with him for quite a long time. I had the pleasure of sucking giant globs of mucous and blood out of his troat with a dentist tool (this was quite a remarkable experience, so forgive my mentioning it) and after we calmed him down from the excitement of being able to speak to us all, we hushed him to bed and tiptoed out. I checked back in on sylvia and she was deeply and soundly asleep, primarily because the lady next door had been taken away by her ‘piss and vinegar’ nephew.
It was really a remarkable day. It is so late right now, and I am so thouroughly exhausted – so I do apologize for lapses in my writing skills, or variable thoughts. thanks ted and charlie for mowing the lawn, thanks everyone for the food and support. time for bed.
Other news – Sylvia is free to go as soon as she can eat food – which may not be for a while, but we think she’ll be the first to be discharged. Axel is spending tomorrow getting a brace and getting his spine checked out. Tessa is arriving with Steve on the 19th @ 2:45! Lovely!