Using a nom de plume, Emily shared thoughts with a reporter regarding comments made by Mr. Bollinger, the president of Columbia University, toward President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran. Look for "Red Samaniego" in the text.
Update on my father as of Sunday night (9/30/07)
I've uploaded some pictures or my father at http://www.flickr.com/photos/blo/sets/72157602215960230/. If you don't care to see them, don't look.
To recap to this point, go to: http://blog.blomain.net/2007/09/my-father-was-in-serious-car-accident.html
Per conversation with Aaron, his night nurse, dad's very sleepy. The cardiazen (hopefully I recalled that accurately) administered to moderate his dysrhythmia is working as the irregular heartbeat is slowing and becoming more regular. This morning I saw it fluctuate between 137 and 150 or so. This evening it was down to the 90s.
Orthopedia has recognized a zygomatic fracture, that being of his right cheek bone. Neurology is pleased with his progress and condition as there is lots of room within his skull if he experiencing brain swelling. An MRI of his neck and head is tentatively scheduled for Monday @ 8a.
Note: CT scans are broad pictures able to show larger trauma, distinct organs and fluid areas, and bones. MRI scans can show much more detail of, for example, soft tissue damage. I am not a doctor, so correct me if I'm wrong.
His vitals are stable and the swelling is down a lot. They fed him around 3-4p and he was tolerating it. Food is good as it provides protein to help his head injuries. More plasma was given tonight (4 units) to continue reducing the bleed times (the time it takes for a cut to begin clotting). They will be rechecking his blood type as he has had most/all of his blood replaced and they want to ensure no antigens have become present. They replaced/provided his potassium as that was low.
His brother and niece were connected with a church in El Paso with a minister by the name of Patrick Shing (from the Church of Abundant Living Faith, I believe). Pastor Shing went to visit my father with dad's niece and brother along with a church member who works at the hospital, a pediatrician named Dr. Lynda Lin. Dr. Lin reviewed his chart while there and I'm grateful to have another person familiar with the details of his case. They stayed with my father for about two hours reading the bible and praying together. Many thanks to them all.
Pastor Shing has offered to help me with accommodations when visiting El Paso again. I'm incredibly grateful for the generosity from him and his church members.
Many of you know of my spiritual life. All the people willing to offer love and support are absolute examples to me of the spiritual connection we all share. Call it friendship, kindness, common courtesy, or moral obligation -- the willingness to choose to turn thoughts and intents toward the well being of my father (or anyone else) is a true example of spirituality for me. You are all also making my spiritual life real and full. Many, many thanks.
URGENT: If anyone is able to make contact with members of Calvary Evangelical Free Church in Essex Fells, NJ, please do so and pass on this information. My father was a very active member of that church and he has many long term friends there. I'd like to make them aware of his situation. Also, my father spent two years with the Peace Corps in Slovakia around 2002-2003. If anyone can make contact with members of the Corps, again please pass this on. Generally speaking, my father knows a great many people in this world across many boundaries. Over his 79 year, this man offered his energies in the form of service to others. I'd like to spread the word of his situation to allow others who care for him the chance to share their support.
My father was in a serious car accident
Here's an email I sent to many friends and family, posting here for posterity:
First off, many thanks to the flood of support from all of you. I've read your names and messages to my father so he's heard your support out loud.
I'm in El Paso with Sarah awaiting our flight back to San Diego. I will be returning to El Paso on my own at some point this week to continue addressing issues here.
There are a number of you that have not been updated very much this weekend. Frequent updates were sent to my father's direct family, but I wanted to summarize the situation for all concerned. I'm going to be somewhat detailed, but hopefully that won't bother or offend. If you don't want to be updated like this, please let me know.
On Thursday night, my father was traveling west on I-10 in Lordsburg, NM, about 140 miles west of El Paso, TX. Witnesses say that he was passing a vehicles in the left lane when his car lost control and rolled several times across the median, finally landing on all fours in the eastbound lane. He was life flighted to Thomason Hospital in El Paso and he's been in the ICU since.
When he arrived in the emergency room, he had lost a lot of blood, so much at one point that his blood pressure reduced to the point of his heart stopping. This lasted a total of eight minutes, but they successfully resuscitated him.
He has many fractured bones including his left clavicle, left scapula, two ribs, his thoracic vertebrae (T4), his left radius and ulna (wrist), and the right side of his skull. He is listed in critical condition, but stable. His most current issue of concern is dysrhythmia, an unstable rhythm of his heartbeat. It is not surprising, but the staff is watching that and hoping to stabilize it asap.
The latest decision this morning will be to remove his sedative, but it's a type that will leave his body slowly. They would like to induce consciousness and see if he will begin responding to staff. He's been under constant sedation since admittance in order to prevent movement and inadvertent injury. They do want to offer the opportunity for him to move on his own and to orient him in other than a very flat laid out position on his back.
He had fluid in his lungs, but that has been draining and progressively reducing in volume -- good progress. He had fluid in his abdomen, and they performed exploratory surgery which ended quickly after only thirty minutes with benign findings -- a good sign.
Neurology saw bruises on his brain in CT scans. They may causes seizures for him later in life due to their location, but they will not require surgery and the plan is to allow them to heal on their own -- a good thing.
Osteopathy (bone specialists) have accounted for all fractures at this time. They will decide how to address the wrist fractures. The thoracic fractures seem stable enough and those, along with the rib fractures, will be left to heal on their own -- uncomfortable, but good as they are stable.
He lost a lot of blood, but he's had a complete blood transfusion and is continuing to be administered blood products. He is still on 100% oxygen and his breathing is assisted for now as breathing on his own might complicate matters due to the effort for him.
I think that covers his physical condition. Very broad estimates suggest that he will be in intensive care for the next week or two. As a 79 year old person, he'll be recuperating slower than most. We are considering the best location for him to begin therapy and recuperation upon achieving the ability to relocate.
His brother and niece, Sally, from Long Island arrived yesterday around 5p and they had a chance to visit him last night. They will see his this afternoon and will be leaving tomorrow morning. I've been in touch with dad's wife, Charlotte, in NC as well so she's aware of the situation.
Sarah and I have to board the plane in minutes. Thanks again for all the well wishes. More to come.
Peace and love to you all,
Burt
PTSD, Paul Haggis, and truth in military health care
Someone commented on my "Limbic Hijacking..." post the other day. I also had this review on CHUD sitting minimized to be read at a later date and, after reading it, found this blurb to be disturbing and inciteful:
Haggis: ...A soldier yesterday was saying, "When I went in for help, my immediate senior, who was on the same career path as me, said, 'You have two choices: you can get help or have a career.'" So he didn't seek help, and he ended up going nuts in Iraq. They brought him in, and he finally saw an Army psychiatrist who said, "Yes, you desperately need help, and we're going to get you help." What the Army did was throw him in the brig. They put him in solitary confinement for three months with a straitjacket and a helmet. That was their treatment.
Q: You're kidding me.
Haggis: Now, this is one of their top guys! This isn't some screw-off. This is a tough son-of-a-bitch who's there fighting and doing all of this stuff. He was an officer.
It bothers me when people deny the realities of others, yet I tolerate it at times because we're human and, on a smaller scale, I can reconcile individual incidents with my own personal affect. That we, as Americans anyway, do this institutional denial of reality to people, especially those who've been placed in the situations (like Iraq) that force trauma (like PTSD) -- this absolutely disgusts me.
Who the f*ck are we to impose such brutality on people like this? I suppose it's the same people who are able to reconcile this war in the first place. After imposing our sense of righteousness upon a whole other country, treating individuals (only 52,000 or 300,000 -- depending on which number you choose) like this is just a stone's throw.
Gross. Just gross.
And, shame on us.
The Five (Tibetan) Rites
My friend, Duff, showed me the Five Rites yesterday as a form of exercise. They were stimulating calisthenics and simple enough to do regularly. According to him, the story was that these were found by a seeker of the Fountain of Youth. I just googled "five rites" and here's the first hit. Suffice it to say that on a physical level, I can see these forms touching on the basics in the body: upper, lower, abs, balance, etc...
Cool stuff, and so simple.
I just adopted a dog!
He's a dude. He came home yesterday after getting snipped at the Animal Shelter and I haven't had a chance to photograph him yet. Soon, faithful readers, soon.
I can't help but be moved by his presence, though. He's really affectionate, he hasn't barked yet but, instead, he has this backward snuffle that he does when he's excited or when he's snoring. Really cute!
More later.
The wonderfully beautiful life of a cat
I had to help put down our family cat today. His name was Hsiao-Hsiao, loosely translated from Chinese as "little, little one". When we got him, the name was very appropriate. and we thought he was part Siamese, part Patio kitty. What we've come to understand is that he was a Tonkingese, related to Siamese.
He was "the coolest cat" according to many people who met him. He was completely comfortable being buds with all the neighbors in the various places we lived. He joined my life shortly before I married. He was the family pet from then on with only a few pocket animals and a turtle to have shared space with. He stayed with me after I became single for a year or so, then returned to live with his mother since Christmas 2006.
He inspired grumpy cat voices, a very ornery French kitty persona, countless squeaks, oohs, and ahhs. He was adept at playing paddle ball as long as the ball was a cat toy. He was finicky about his catnip. He graced us with his presence when we walked to the mailbox around the corner by assuming a jungle kitty stance with deft nonchalance. He would wake a neighbor at 2a to let him in. He was quite comfortable chilling in the neighbors living room when he wanted. He was very patient. He liked his butt scratched and patted.
He's been on a managed diet for a while now, but recent tests showed his liver capacity at 25% that of normal. His tests also showed such elevated levels that he'd been living with the low functioning for a while, something that would have been pretty uncomfortable.
When he passed, he was in the company of his mom, his dad, his sister Sarah, and his grandmother Judy. We stayed with him as he lay down peacefully. He is laying next to other family pets -- Moe and Crackers. He left this plane at noon today, September 1, 2007.
To me, his life with us represented love.
More pictures are at Flickr.
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