My wife's car wreck!

[Tony T.]

On March 18, 2003 my wife was involved in a car wreck which was determined by the local city police officer that was not her fought. A locally known lumber company truck which name I won't reveal hit her on the right hand side while passing her on the shoulder right before a intersection. There was a car in front of her turning left with a signal on and she turning right with a sigal on. About a second more and her vehicle and her would have been T-boned. The truck hit her vehicle right in front of the passenger side door as she was making the right hand turn. Done $5800. 00 dollars worth of damage to her 99 Jimmy. Now according to the police officer in the State of Texas it is legal to pass on the right if it can be done with caustion and not cause a accident. The driver of the truck was issued a ticket and report determined he was at fought. The insurance company for the lumber company is dening any liably to the accident. We had to have her vehicle fixed through our insurance. Even though she had nothing broken the doctor's determined she had severe whiplash and a MRI determined three herinated dics in the neck with multiple trigger points on the back muscles. She has a lawyer but it seems that since she has no fractures of bones they can't understand why she hurts all the time. I mean this has gotten to be a big problem, about 80% of her time is in bed. It has really changed our lives. There's a lot more to this,but I'm tired of typing right now. :-{}

 

[lschultz]

Sorry to hear about your wifes accident. Hope she gets better. I know how a wreck can change your life. March 18(I think I have trouble remembering things)1998 I was in a wreck. Hit a tree and totaled out my 95 Dodge. I was out of work 11 months and some weeks. Did not have a seat belt on,been drinking,about 1. 5 miles from the house,on my way home in the early morning hours and it happened. Friend of mine wifes was on her way home from the camp house and she found me. They took me to one hospital(wife had me transferred to another hospital in Austin)and said I was just drunk but the wife knew something else was wrong. Stayed in the hospital around a month and then they transferred me to a rehab place. I had bleeding on the brain and had to pretty well learn how to do everything over again. Then about 6-8 months after wreck I had to have surgery for a diaphragmatic hernia(think thats what you call it)that was a result of the wreck. Other than cuts on my face,chipping a tooth,broken rib,dislocating my knee cap,nearly having to have surgery on a disk in my neck,brain injury I come out of it but I ain't the same person. Took nearly 5 yrs to come around sort of like I use to be. I am surprised my wife did not divorce me for what I put her through and my kids to. I use to have a lot of trouble controlling my temper. Surprised I did not get fired from my job. Just be patience with your wife,you will have to give a little extra and things should work out. I have said enough the main concern is your wife.

 

[Cowboy Medic]

If your lawyer is not salivating at the chance to go after thses guys then you need another lawyer. If fault has been determined then they should be paying both the medical and the repairs.



As for your wife's pain, it would have little to nothing to do with bones being broken. Herniated disks and muscle spasm (trigger points) are the primary sources of pain in automobile related injuries. If she is still having debillitating pain this long after the injury then she needs to be seeing a neurosurgeon for more definitive care. (if you are already doing this then great).



Basically when a person is involved in a motor vehicle collision, there is a significant energy transference taking place. When this energy is tranferred to the body the movement of tissues will cause many small tears. For most people it would be a small ache for a few days that goes away as the body naturally heals itself. However if the tissue damaged is the nerves, especially in the afferrent pathways (the nerves that go from the brain to the muscles to activate them), then that can cause random or even constant firing of those pathways, causing the muscle to spasm and then in turn cause a pain response ( mostly due to the constant muscle tension). Often a few weeks or more of rest will give them time for inflammation to reduce and then the effects become diminished. In your wife's case I would suspect more permanent damage has been done and surgery will be required to eliminate the neural discharges and to give her relief. Possibly just a trigger release. Where they take her to general surgery and place her under sedation followed by a dose of neuromuscular blocking drugs such as succinylcholine or pancuronium. These drugs completely block the ability of muscles to activate, causing a total relaxation. Many times doing this can relieve enough tension that the muscles will not return to a state of spasm. Other options may include deadening certain nerves to stop them from firing. Of course there are many other things that are possible, but I would be seeking out more opinions and options until you find a reasonable solution.



I would encourage you to get second opinions, if you are not already recieving treatment and evaluations along those lines. Physical rehab can be an option as well depending upon the severity of the herniations and their location.



There is absolutely no reason for your wife to be suffering that much from these types of injuries. Pain management is one of the highest priorities in medicine thse days and for good reason, the vast majority of the time it can be controlled. Keep pushing and see that she gets the best care possible.



Good Luck



Jon

 

[Scot]

The law also says that you cannot pass in an intersection. Lumber truck should have gotten a ticket for that.

 

[Tony T.]

Cowboy Medic: Thanks for the medical advise and Scot the driver did get a ticket, but last we heard was trying to get out of it. Now at the seen of the accident the tow truck driver that towed my wife's Jimmy told her he was familier with the lumber truck driver that in the last 2 year's he had been involved in three other accident's. I don't know if that's true or not, looks like a company would not hang on to a driver like that to me. My wife told the officer what the tow truck driver had said, and she run a check on the lumber truck driver, only to show no accidents. Kinda strange after what the tow truck driver said. Any way she is still going in for phyiscal therpy treatments for now. Not helping to much according to her. Next is probally seeing a orthropedic surgeon. As far as sticking by her I have to I have to much invested, we've been married twenty-four year's now with two kid'os. I think every thing will work out in the end, hopefully her getting better.

 

[Cowboy Medic]

Hope things get better for you. My cousin's wife was in a bad accident this summer and is going through alot of rehap and surgeries still, so I kinda have a view on what you are going through.



Most of all I just hope you guys find ways to continue enjoying life, no matter what, it is always too short. Good Luck!!



Jon