Stephen Rowland: Two hematomas are more than our fair share of trauma this summer
I stared at the picture on my cellphone in horror.
It looked like some thug had slugged my wife in the mouth. Susan’s face was swollen, parts of front teeth knocked out, blood everywhere. She had just snapped a selfie and sent it to me at work. “I don’t know what happened — I think I fell and hit my face on something, but I have no memory of it. My head hurts terribly.”
I showed that pic to my group leader and rushed home breaking a few speed limits along the way.
The CT scan at Maury Regional Hospital revealed a subdural hematoma. That’s dangerous for her because she is on blood thinners. Her blood pressure was headed upwards into dangerous territory. She was grasping her head pleading — “It hurts so bad.” That’s a scene you never want to see as a husband.
A day later, the nurses and physicians at Maury Regional had done a wonderful job in stabilizing her blood pressure, managing her pain, and counteracting the blood thinners to stop the bleeding. No change in CT scans 12 hours apart meant no necessity for surgery. She was released the next day with a follow up scan scheduled a few weeks later to make sure the hematoma was being reabsorbed.
She had simply reached down to pick up a styrofoam plate off the floor, stood up and passed out. The kitchen floor was littered with spilled Coke and the food that had been on that dropped plate. She was unconscious for at least an hour before awakening and texting me. The neurosurgeon offered a possibility — orthostatic hypotension. A simple blood pressure test from lying to sitting to standing confirmed that guess. Simply put, if she stands up quickly, her blood pressure drops and she passes out.
I bought her a heart shaped rock with a hummingbird painted on it from the hospital gift shop. She loves art and those hummingbirds that frequent our feeder outside our back window. She opened it on her hospital bed, smiled, then covered her face with her hands and began sobbing. “Look at my teeth — I am so ugly now!” I kissed her and told her she was still beautiful to me and teeth are the one thing that is easily fixable.
It was two months to the day after my subdural hematoma in a terrible motorcycle accident that she suffered a subdural hemotoma. How strange is that? There’s an old adage about “Bad things come in 3’s.” I’m not buying a plane ticket anytime soon.
We’ve had more than our share of accidents and brain trauma the last two months. In the past we had Christian friends who believed that God would supernaturally prevent bad accidents from happening to believers whom possessed strong faith. That certainly hasn’t been our experience; we’ve also known a few pastors who suffered terrible accidents. Neither does that belief hold water when compared to the biblical record.
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego had to go through the fiery furnace; Mephibosheth suffered a terrible fall as a toddler that left him permanently handicapped; the Apostle Paul suffered numerous shipwrecks; a young believer fell asleep sitting on a window ledge and fell to his death during Paul’s preaching. God didn’t prevent any of them. God was with them through the trials and accidents.
To the best of my knowledge, devout Christians need vehicle insurance policies and health insurance just like everyone else. They also tend to lock both their car doors and home doors, for good reasons.
I would appreciate a few prayers for Susan as she suffers terrible headaches from the trauma. Thanks and God bless…
This article originally appeared on The Daily Herald: Stephen Rowland: Two hematomas are more than our fair share of trauma
