Update on Motorbike Accident

NOTE: If you haven’t read the previous entry and photos on the motorbike accident, it would probably be best to read and look at those before reading this entry.

Well, it has been four weeks since the motorbike accident, and we are continuing to slowly recover. I have been thinking about how it is interesting how the human mind works. As Tré and I continue to discuss the accident, we realize that there are segments of the accident missing from both of our memories. For me, I remember the sound and force of the impact on the side of the bike, but I cannot remember leaving the bike, flying through the air, or the initial impact with the pavement. I cannot remember anything about that segment. What I am curious about is whether or not I had any conscious thoughts about what to do as I landed. When my memory restarts, I was rolling on my side with my forearms over my face with fists clenched. I remember my head hitting as I rolled and finally coming to a rest about 10-13 meters (30-40 feet) from the bike. On the other hand, Tré can remember being airborne, doing a front flip, and landing on his back. In retrospect, we have come to be thankful that he had on the backpack with our beach towels, etc. – it might have saved his spine and neck from serious injury. His memory is missing other segments of the accident. So anyway, I’ve been thinking about how it is interesting how our mind blocks out different things, and wondering if we will ever remember those segments.

Our surgeons advised that we not return to school, so we have had an additional two weeks off. It has been nice to regain the week spent in the hospital during our 3-week holiday. We are now in our fifth week off from school though (that includes the school holiday). I feel that it’s going to be hard to return at this point. Being thankful to be alive, we’ve been trying to enjoy life as best as possible. Simple pleasures rather than grand adventures. I have to keep my foot elevated most of the day due to pain and swelling, and I cannot get it wet or dirty, so that limits my activities. I can either sit at home, sit at the beach, sit at a restaurant, etc. I don’t enjoy sitting around the house, so we’ve mostly been sitting at the beach. We drive to the beach on our rented motorbike with sidecar that allows me to drive without using my left foot/leg at all, and hobble on our crutches down to the beach. On the beach, there are booths that rent beach chairs and umbrellas, and sell refreshments. We are now regulars at one of the booths, and they are taking good care of us. I refer to them as our “beach nursing staff.” They bring us drinks, fresh tropical fruit, practice speaking Thai, and help keep my chair free of sand for my foot. They’ve been wonderful! Oddly enough, the woman who runs the booth witnessed our accident and called the police to report that a van had just hit a motorbike. Strange… Anyway, with my good balance, skill using crutches, and the help of the beach chair, I am able to keep my foot clean and dry. :) I sit and read, practice Thai, eat tropical fruit, nap, sunbathe, talk with friends, and listen to and watch the waves. Life could definitely be worse. I have to admit that I am envious of Tré though. His incision from surgery was completely healed after two weeks, so he’s been able to get wet and sandy at the beach for the past two weeks. He sits and plays in the sand with his friends and floats around in the water. He enjoys being in the water (pool or ocean), and has remarked, “I feel almost normal when I’m in the water!” It is good therapy for him. I am anxious for the day that I can get wet!

MEDICAL UPDATES as of January 13th
Ashley: The deep lacerations on my left foot are continuing to slowly heal. The large laceration on the top of my foot that was not stitched up is gradually filling in and continues to show no signs of infection (but still looks gross). The small incision on the top of my foot from the surgery has healed fine. They removed the stitches from the deep laceration across the bottom of my foot, and it is closed up, but still very tender. I had x-rays today, and my surgeon says the bones are about 70% healed. I continue to be in constant pain (ranging from dull throbbing, to painful throbbing, to someone sticking a knife in the bottom of my foot), apparently, due to nerve damage. Anyone know anything about this??? Currently, I can move all of my toes except my big toe. It does not respond to my efforts to move it, but my surgeon is hopeful that I will regain the ability to control it. There appears to be nerve damage to the ball of my foot as well. Only time will tell if I will be able to walk, balance, and run normally once again. Keep your fingers crossed. If you have any tips on reducing scarring, please send them my way!

Tré: Watching him, you cannot tell that he has a broken femur. He has to pull up his board shorts to reveal the 10-12 inch incision to prove it to many people. I had run into acquaintances and was explaining our accident/injuries. The couple looked out at Tré goofing around on the motorbike, and asked, “You have another son?” I replied, “No, just the one.” Amazed, they did a double take, and said, “He has a broken femur?” He is moving around very well with his crutches, and does not have any pain unless something were to hit his leg. With the plate and 8 screws in his leg, a cast is not necessary. This has allowed him to go in the water and to get sandy which has made his condition much more tolerable. He had x-rays today, and the surgeon said the bone is about 80% healed. It looks as though the bone is healing properly (alignment, etc.), so hopefully he will have a speedy and uncomplicated recovery. He is starting to worry and ask questions about the surgery in 6-8 months to remove the plate and screws though.

We continue to be fortunate to have many wonderful people caring for us. Our retired neighbor has been wonderful about driving me to the hospital for daily and/or weekly inspections of the wounds. There are pictures below of others from our community who have been very helpful and supportive. Especially, our Thai friends and acquaintances in our community have gone out of their way to offer support (help with transportation, delivering things to our home, etc.). We appreciate all of the emails from friends outside of Thailand – we apologize for the lack of time we’ve spent in responding. My father has continued with his daily phone calls to check on our progress – his support and concern is much appreciated.

Photos:
1. X-ray of Tré's left femur with plate and 8 screws taken 4 weeks after accident.
2. X-ray of Ashley's left foot with plates and screws in the 2nd and 3rd metatarsal bones in the foot (not toes) 4 weeks after accident.

3. Ashley's feet 4 weeks after accident.

4. Bottom of Ashley's foot four weeks after accident.

5. Rented motorbike with sidecar that allows us to get around town to get food, to the beach, errands, etc.

6. Hobbling around on our crutches at our local beach (Nai Harn).

7. Our "Beach Nursing Staff" - Deng, Golf, Nina, and Bowl. They have been taking great care of us at the beach, and we have become friends. Last week, Nina had us to her new home for a Thai celebration - I will add pics of that soon.

8. Tré's favorite ice cream vendor, Deng. Tré's been rationalizing that he needs the ice cream for the calcium!

9. Golf (pronounced more like "Gaup") with his electronic Thai-English dictionary. We've been having fun talking in English and Thai and learning new words at the beach.

10. My favorite massage therapist, Aud. He's been taking good care of my body and trying to resolve all the aches and pains! Also, he's been a great help in learning to speak Thai.

11. "Linda's Restaurant" - Pang and Linda, at our favorite restaurant in Phuket. They've been feeding us wonderfully healthy and delicious food to aid our recovery.

Motorbike Accident

On December 17, Tré and I were involved in a motorbike accident. It currently ranks as THE scariest experience of my life (and Tré’s as well). We are thankful to be alive.

DESCRIPTION OF ACCIDENT:
As we were driving our motorbike at about 60 km/hr on one of the main 4-lane roads, a 15-passenger van pulled out into our lane as it was attempting to cross the road. I braked, swerved, and honked in an attempt to avoid it. It hesitated and I thought we were going to make it past, but at the last moment it continued forward and hit us from the left side with its front bumper. I can still hear the sound of the impact, and it sends chills through my body. It is amazing how many thoughts can pass through your mind in such a short period of time. I remember thinking in disbelief, “F***, I can’t believe he just hit us.” The impact sent us flying into the opposite lane with on-coming traffic. Thankfully, on-coming traffic did not run us over! The bike came to a rest about 3 meters (10 ft) from the van with the van’s bumper lying on top of it. Tré landed very hard in a sitting position about another 5 meters (15 feet) from the motorbike. I was thrown from the bike, flew through the air, and rolled on my side about 10-13 meters (30-40 feet) from the motorbike. As I came into contact with the pavement, I felt my head hit, and I remember thinking that I was glad I had my helmet on.

When all movement stopped, I could hear Tré screaming. My first thought was, "Shit, I can't believe we're alive." My second thought was a feeling of horror not knowing what I was going to see when I looked up for Tré. I was relieved to see him sitting and hear him screaming - he was alive and conscious. His leg was broken at the thigh and bent in a direction that is not normal. He was terrified. Not having looked at my body, but knowing I was unable to walk, I crawled to him. There were quickly 15-20 bystanders to help us. They called for an ambulance, comforted Tré, and gathered our belongings. After I reached Tré, I looked down at my throbbing foot to see that I had a 10-12 cm (4-5 inch) deep laceration running the length of my foot in which bone was visible. What I later found out was that there was a 7 cm (3 inch) laceration across the bottom of my foot as well. I could tell that we were both going into shock (shaking, losing consciousness, feeling cold, etc.), and kept asking bystanders, “Shock, you understand shock?”

An ambulance arrived probably within 10 minutes (although it felt like 30), and we were put in the back together. Terrified, we held hands tightly as we both struggled to stay conscious. We were taken to the Phuket International Hospital and treated. Our neighbors (an older English couple) came right away to be with us in the emergency room, and stayed with Tré when they had to separate us. I can never thank them enough for their support! It seemed like an eternity before we were given any painkillers, but the morphine shot in the butt, finally kicked in and brought some relief as we waited for surgery. We both went into surgery at the same time – a few hours after the accident.

DIAGNOSIS:
Tré broke the femur (thigh bone) in his left leg. Amazingly, he had no scratches or lacerations on any part of his body. They had to do surgery on his leg though to align the bone. He has a plate and 8 screws in there now. He was really brave through all of this even when he was in a lot of pain. Following the operation, he lost too much blood, and required a blood transfusion. There were 22 staples closing the incision in his thigh. In 6-8 months they will need to remove the plate and screws since he is still growing.

I broke two bones in my left foot (not toes) – the 2nd and 3rd metatarsals. They operated on my foot and put in two plates with two screws each, and spent an hour removing tiny bits of foreign material from the lacerations. I have long and deep lacerations on the top and bottom of my foot. The surgeon is mostly concerned about the lacerations with the possibility of infection. They have not completely stitched them up. Everyday, the surgeon removes the bandages, cleans the lacerations, and inspects them for any sign of infection. They have had a plastic surgeon look at my foot as well. Amazingly, I have few other scratches or bruises.

HOSPITAL STAY:
We were in the hospital for seven days. It seemed like forever. As the typical stereotype of hospital food goes, the food was horrible. We are eternally grateful to our many visitors! Several days, we had between 10-12 visitors. Most foreigners living here don't have family in the area, so it was nice to experience that people pull together when someone is in need. Thanks and appreciation to: Vichan; Marge & Archie; Angelica; Audrey, Skip, & Barbara; Ailsa; Deng & younger brother Deng; Kuhn Jan; Alan & Jeanne; Luisa; Samuel & his mom; Jeab; Louie; Deiter & Pawn; and Samantha. We can’t begin to thank you enough. Many thanks to all our friends in far-away places as well for the comforting comments, well wishes, words of wisdom, and/or loving thoughts. Especially, thanks and appreciation to my father for his daily phone calls and loving concern!

The Thai man who hit us came to visit four times as well and brought gifts. Apparently, this is unusual in Thailand. Often people just drive away from the scene. He has spoken with the police, has taken responsibility for the accident, and is making arrangements to have our motorbike repaired at his expense. So, we're fortunate to have someone responsible and caring involved in the accident.

The Thai staff at the hospital was very attentive and nurturing as well. My surgeon, in particular, was very comforting and attentive. Also, the International Liaison, James, was a tremendous help and made the whole ordeal much less confusing by helping with insurance, communications, etc. In addition, he even brought in his PlayStation from home to help keep Tré occupied.

We had an interesting distraction in the hospital for a few days. One of my high school students was admitted to the hospital following a motorbike accident as well! He was very lucky, and did not crash into anything – just wiped out on a rainy night. He sustained minor lacerations requiring some stitches to both hands. He was in the hospital overnight, so, Tré got to hang out and party in his room with five of my high school students. They ordered lots of food, played PlayStation on the plasma screen TV, and watched movies.

CURRENT STATUS AS OF 12/28/08:
We were released from the hospital on December 23rd. They were planning on keeping me in the hospital an additional 5-7 days. However, they agreed to release me with Tré on the condition that I return to the hospital everyday for my lacerations to be cleaned and inspected by the surgeon. Thank goodness for Tré’s speedy recovery! I was getting down, had basically stopped eating, etc. I wouldn’t have done well with another 5-7 days. The day we got released, I walked 3-4 km on my crutches, and took the bus to the beach. I felt incredibly better just being able to see the ocean, hear the waves, feel the warmth of the sun, and to get some exercise (which made me hungry finally).

We’ve been unable to find an automatic car to rent, so to get around for now, we have rented an automatic motorbike with sidecar. I can drive it since it has the sidecar attached on the left-hand side of the bike. I don’t have to use my left foot to shift or to balance the bike. Talk about “getting back on the horse.” It’s scary, to say the least.

Tré ~ The incision from the operation is healing well. They removed the 22 staples today. Tré was surprised at how relatively painless that process was. The surgeon said that he can start going in the water on Monday, so he is thrilled and looking forward to that. He is getting around on his crutches pretty well, and has been off of painkillers for several days now. There are no signs of infection. We just need to hope that the bone and leg heal properly, so they don’t have to redo the surgery. Please keep your fingers crossed or pray – whichever you prefer! The surgeon told him today that his wounds will heal faster than mine, and that he should be helping to take care of me (rather than the other way around).

Ashley ~ I continue to go to the hospital everyday for cleaning and inspection of the lacerations. Currently, there are no signs of infection and the lacerations continue to slowly (emphasize slowly!) heal. At this point, they have decided not to completely stitch up the wounds, but to let them fill in and heal naturally (due to fear of too much tension on the surrounding skin). They have had the plastic surgeon inspect my foot as well, but they are continuing to wait to see how it heals. When they unwrap it, it looks really nasty!!! This healing process of the wounds will probably take another two weeks. That’s just for the wounds. There are also the two broken bones in my foot to consider. Hopefully, they’ll just take the typical 6-8 weeks to heal (unlike the 5 months that it took my hand!). Right now, their main concerns are infection, nerve damage, and tissue damage.

Psychologically, Tré seems to be doing pretty well. He doesn’t seem to have any apprehension about being back on a motorbike, and is still asking for me to buy him a motocross bike! Boys!?! Me on the other hand, the accident keeps replaying in my head. I can hear the sound of the impact with the van. The constant throbbing pain in my foot is a constant reminder. I worry about the effect on Tré of breaking such a major and crucial bone. I feel guilty for not being able to prevent all this pain. Parental guilt. It keeps me awake at night – hence the fact that I’m up writing this at 4am. Thank you to many of you for your words of wisdom on processing this.

Overall, we are thankful to be home, together, and ALIVE! That is our current “motto.” We’ll continue to add updates on our progress. Please just keep sending your well wishes that it’s progress and not complications! :)

Photos of Motorbike Accident

1. In the emergency room before surgery. Judging from the smile, the morphine had finally kicked in!

2. Tré waiting for surgery.
3. Ashley's foot several days after surgery.

4. Bottom of Ashley's foot several days after surgery. Yuck!

5. Tré's thigh with 22 staples about five days after surgery.

6. Our terrific nursing staff!

7. Tré in physical therapy ~ using electrical current to stimulate bone growth.

8. Tré learning to use his crutches on stairs.

9. Christmas at the hospital ~ An unusual Christmas this year.

10. Ashley's surgeon with Tré on follow-up visit to remove staples.

Cultural Diversity

The amount of cultural diversity in Phuket is amazing! We are rapidly making up for the 10 years spent in (the very non-diverse) Bellingham. :) We frequently spend time with groups of people that speak limited English. I play beach volleyball with a group of people from Russia, and I constantly lose track of the score because they count in Russian! We have a group of friends from Holland, and another group from Hungary. Then of course, there are our Thai friends. We have a number of friends from England as well. They might as well be speaking another language for as much as we can understand them! Are they really speaking English? :) We have decided to see how many languages we can learn to count to ten, and to say hello and thank you in. We already know English, French, Spanish, and Thai, so we’ll try to add Dutch, Hungarian, Russian, Korean, and… Anyway, it’s pretty interesting to be surrounded by people from all over the world, as well as, so many locals. We’re learning a lot!

“Chan rian pood Thai”

I've been making a concerted effort to learn to speak Thai the past few weeks, and I can now hold a several hour conversation in Thai! I made myself several stacks of flashcards 3-4 weeks ago, and I have been practicing and memorizing them while at the beach. Then I practice speaking with several local friends such as one of the Muay Thai trainers at the gym around the corner, my massage therapist, folks from the neighborhood at our local breakfast spot, one of the Thai dive masters on the scuba boat, etc. I have found it more helpful to practice with folks that speak limited English because it forces me to figure it out. My Thai friends that speak good English are too quick to help. Anyway, I'm very excited!!! However, since the folks I’ve been practicing with are mostly male, I’ve had to make a point of learning a few key phrases such as “just friends” and “no, I don’t want to have s**.” Key phrases… :)

Leopard Sharks and Diving

Yet again, Tré has had the, “best day of my life!” He’s mildly obsessed with sharks (along with motorbikes and cable skiing – don’t get him started on those two topics!), and has been anxious to see his first shark while diving. His dream came true as we dove with five leopard sharks this week! Life seems to just keep getting better and better for him here in Thailand. We spent two days scuba diving this week as we worked on earning our Advanced Open Water PADI certification together. Highlights of the dives included seeing five leopard sharks, using the diver propulsion vehicles, diving to 30m (~100 ft), and doing headstands on the bottom (practicing buoyancy). Unfortunately, the visibility was not that great though. For the holidays, we bought ourselves a new toy – a digital camera with underwater housing – and had a lot of fun using that for the first time! As a result, enjoy the pictures and videos!

Interesting Tidbits of Information

Sorry it's been so long since we've updated our blogspot! We've been busy enjoying life here in Thailand. Our typical week consists of running on the beach, swimming, hanging with friends, watching sunsets over the ocean, playing beach volleyball, eating delicious Thai food, practicing speaking Thai, driving the motorbike, and getting massages. Overall, it's a good life! Oh yeah, there's a bit of school, work, and homework mixed in with all of that as well. Don't want you to be too envious! :)

Anyway, we've been compiling a list of some things that we've noticed about life here that we've found amusing, interesting, and sometimes confusing.

INTERESTING THINGS
There are elephant crossing signs along the road.

At stands along the road, they sell fuel in reused whiskey bottles for the motorbikes to use. There are also stands with big drums of fuel with gravity pumps. Typical, "modern," gas stations are full-service only (no self-service). With the motorbike, I spend $5-9 on fuel per week.

The record is currently 10 people on a motorbike with sidecar! There were so many it was challenging to get an accurate head count. There were 4 on the bike itself plus 5-6 in the sidecar which included a woman holding a toddler, a mother holding a nursing infant, plus 2 other adults.

For napkins at restaurants, they have rolls of toilet paper inside decorative tissue boxes sitting on the table.

Tré is getting so used to driving on the “other” side of the road, that he is now driving on the left in car racing video games, and is getting into accidents.

Quite often, public toilets are the “squatter” version. There are little hoses next to the toilets to use for rinsing after going to the bathroom. They can also be used for hosing down the bathroom when cleaning.

Language is an obvious difference when living here. People speak Thai. Most people (but not all) speak at least a little English. Written Thai uses a different script rather than the Roman alphabet. Many signs (roads, businesses, etc.) are written in both Thai and Roman characters.

Traffic drives on the other (left-hand) side of the road. In cars, the driver sits on the right-hand side of the vehicle. Most controls are the reverse of American vehicles – stick shift on the left, windshield wipers on the left, turn signal on the right. Although, the foot pedals are the same.

Houses do not have ovens, clothes dryers, or hot water heaters – it’s too hot here! Traditional Thai cooking does not use an oven, we hang our clothes to dry, and there are small water heating units on the wall of the shower to warm the water if needed.

There are wonderful outdoor markets every day of the week where you can get fresh produce, clothes (jeans, underwear, shoes - everything), DVDs, prepared food, household items, etc. Just about anything!

The Thai currency is called Baht. One US dollar equals about 35 Baht.

Cell phones are called “mobile” phones.

Can’t drink “tap” water from the faucet. To drink at the house, we buy huge containers (maybe 10 gallon?) of drinking water for 10 Baht (about 30 cents).

When writing the date, it is written as day/month/year rather than month/day/year.

Like the rest of the world (other than the US), Thailand uses the metric measurement system. Metric is so much easier, we cannot comprehend why the US has resisted converting for this long!

Thai cats are tiny! All our Thai friends keep asking, “Why is your cat so fat?” Tré gets defensive and says, “She’s not fat, she’s just bigger.” Our cat, Cookies, is 2-3 times bigger than the Thai cats. For those of you that were around when we were planning our flight here, the 8 pound weight limit for cats in the cabin now makes sense...

The area we are in is quite modern. There are large stores like Wal-Mart and Fred Meyer where you can find all types of things. There are American fast food chains like KFC, McDonald’s, 7-11, etc. There is a large 4-story mall with familiar stores such as Levi’s, Esprit, Bath and Body, Nike, etc. I was surprised to see all these big stores and familiar companies. As in the states, we are avoiding these places! There are plenty of smaller shops and food stands to get just about everything that we need.

Infrastructure is good. The roads are high quality. Houses have reliable electricity, water, and Internet access.

When women ride on the back of a motorbike while wearing a skirt, they ride "side saddle."

PHOTOS above: Thai and Roman script (yes, we're in a tsunami zone), a fuel station with gravity pump, water heating unit on the wall of the shower

That's it for now!