Shawn, you hit it on the head with the bicycle accident example. Before I was on warfarin, I had a bad crash on my bike a couple of years ago (I crashed into a dolly loaded with kegs of beer... don't ask). I was ok, but I was pretty banged up with a cut up foot and a giant hematoma on my hip that took months to resolve. Anyway, since I've been on warfarin, anytime I think about getting on my bike, I have a flash back to that accident and all the blood and bruising, thinking, God, what if I'd been on warfarin? I get a little freaked out still when I get on my bike. But that again is another reason I wear the medical alert bracelet.

Want to talk about karma??

I read this discussion on Friday morning. Friday night, I went to get a root canal (tell me I don't know how to party down on a Friday night! Face and tongue numbing anesthesia whoo-hoo LOL). When I left the dentist, it was snowing like crazy.

Making my way home, inch by inch, I was being so careful ~ thinking of this discussion. I was on my way down a snowy hill when a car coming up started sliding towards me...all I could do is sit there and wait for the impact. Thankfully, she stopped before she hit me and was able to reverse enough that I could get by her....

BUT not before the guy behind me rear-ended me. *sighs*

It knocked me into the steering wheel. Thankfully the air bag didn't deploy but my own (thanks to genetics, very healthy) airbags took the brunt of the crunch. Because it was so treacherous in that area, we drove our cars a little ways down the road to a bar parking lot. The police had been summoned by someone and arrived shortly.

I'm laughing about this now because that's how I deal with things sometimes, but please don't think I'm making light of the situation. The cop asks me if I'm ok. I tell him I think I'm fine until I realize that I'm drooling (remember the root canal and MASSIVE amounts of anesthesia?) Yeah, so I put my hand up to wipe my face and without thinking I say, "I'm ok but I still can't feel my face." The policeman asked me if I had hit my head and before I responded, he's telling the other officer they need to get me to the hospital RIGHT AWAY!

I'm looking at his face...he's all in a panic and it's starting to worry me ~ was I covered in blood that I didn't realize?? I didn't hit that hard! Then I realized what I had said (DUH!! LOL), so I tried to explain to him that I just had dental work done and THAT'S why I couldn't feel my face, but after answering that I was on Warfarin, I was told I had to go anyway...it was their procedure.

The hospital did an x-ray and scan and didn't detect any internal bleeding but I was advised to watch for bruising, nausea, lightheadedness and pain before they sent me home.

Once I finally got home from my night of hell, I reconciled that it was probably best that I did go to the ER, if nothing more than peace of mind. I still don't think the ER docs did a really thorough job of explaining what I should watch for in terms of internal bleeding (I read more online than they told me) but having the tests performed did make me feel better.

Yesterday I had a headache and my neck was sore, but no bruising anywhere, so I think we're good. :) The lesson I DID learn though is be sure you have that medical alert info on you somewhere. I've been on this Warfarin for six months and haven't got the bracelet because I thought I wouldn't be on it that long. If I hadn't been able to speak for myself on Friday night, I could have been in a world of trouble. The first thing I did when I walked in the house was get online and order a bracelet.

In hindsight, I guess I didn't have a fear of an accident but was certainly more cautious than I have ever been. The blow up sumo suit sounds interesting Ferr! LOL Not sure how I would have explained THAT ONE to the cops though!!

A girl walked into the bar drooling, wearing a blow up sumo suit.....yeah, that's a joke waiting to happen! LOL

Cynde,

As much as this forum is intended to share knowledge and suggest ideas among those of us who have suffered a PE, I am amazed as you truly went above and beyond by going out on your own to conduct this personal crash experiment to test the responsiveness of your local law enforcement and EMS personnel, and to simply to provide additional insight to the rest of us PE Peeps!! (Haaaaaa!!!!!)

Seriously, it's good to hear that the officers who responded were looking out for you. And as I mentioned before, even if it didn't seem that bad to start with, but you start to feel like something is amiss you should tell the officer. His or her response should be to have EMS come out to check you out. And even if there was no police investigation, you can still call 911 and ask for a med unit.

Most important, I am glad to hear that you are OK after all of this! Apparently you passed your karma on to the Chargers today! (For those not American Football fanatics, Cynde's Steelers whupped the Chargers!)

And now that Cynde has given us this demo... Remember kids - Don't Try This At Home!

Jim

Cynde, I'm still laughing at the prospect of finishing the joke about the drooling girl in the blow up sumo suit, I'm wondering what the officers that I work with would do if faced with a girl in a sumo suit and drooling no less, I can only imagine.
Glad you fine.
Hugs
Ferr

I think about the potential for a car accident and internal bleeding, but haven't worried about snowy conditions since I live in Phoenix, AZ..... although we have very hazardous driving conditions with the locals and snowbirds!!? If I were in an accident I would probably take a quick trip to the ER as a safety precaution, but I'm already extra paranoid about all this internal bleeding stuff! Cynde- I'm so glad that you're ok. You really didn't have to go out for a real on-site demonstration. Watch out for the snowy roads and remember to be a defensive driver (as my dad always taught me) Be safe everyone! The first week I got home from the hospital- I had a huge costco size container of paper towels and kept it right in front of my bathroom.... just in case I passed out- I figured it would cushion the blow from a fall. Wow... I've come a long way in seven months~ :)

Thanks all! Hey, anything I can do to make sure everyone is safe :) Um, STILL not volunteering for the bungee thing yet though! LOL

Hey Jim ~ I heard tell that Steeler win was JUST for me! ;-) Wondering about the Ravens match-up next weekend though...someone else is gonna have to pull that one off, I believe I'm officially retired from "taking one for the team!"

Ferr, I can only imagine what the cops I work with would respond to the sumo suit too (just the image makes me crack up laughing!)

Lori, you and me both! I never thought about putting paper towels outside the bathroom as a cushion LOL My biggest thing was carrying the phone with me everywhere I went in the house for weeks. Can't tell you how many times I threw the phone in the washer with the laundry I had carried downstairs! LOL

HUGS all ~ have a GREAT week and fingers crossed, no accidents :)

Glad you are feeling well, Cynde. I think about car accidents sometimes too...also worry about hitting my head too hard (especially since I have 3 boys...and they like sports...and are very active...might get bonked with a baseball sometime or accidentally get in the middle of some wild play/wrestling :) Funny what you say about the phone because I do the same thing....especially in the beginning...my cellphone is/was always with me :0)

Oh... glad your football team won...kind of ;) I am a Minnesota Vikings fan, but since they are out of it, I am enjoying watching the Arizona Cardinals make a run at it....they've never made it this far before....we Arizonans are not used to a winning football team! Sports have been my distraction from all of this PE junk from the beginning...2 days after I got out of the hospital I was at a Diamondbacks game. My oldest son played on the Little League's All Star team last summer....it was so much fun to watch...really helped me through because I was always going to practices/games and socializing, cheering.

GO Eagles!!!!!
Well, I have been a Pats fan forever, but... :O
Then it was Go Titans, :( That one, I still don't understand...
Yes car accidents are a no no, get checked out at EMERG regardless of the minority of the impact, GET CHECKED OUT.
Glad you are OK Cynde.
I can also picture that, a drooling sumo wrestler...and on top of that, "I can't feel my face..."

Dero,

Your a Patriots Fan, now I'm disappointed (Go Bills; well maybe next year that is) :)

Beecute, I never had a car accident while on Coumadin, however, I did have a pretty exciting Mountain Bike accident during a race up in Sugarloaf, Maine. Bent the handlebar on my three-day old bike after it impact (and broke) my collarbone. Also had cracked my helmet. Was on therapeutic dose Coumadin at the time. Anyways, am on low dose coumadin for life but still bring quite the first aid kit with me; just in case, when I go riding anymore.

Regards,
Tom in Connecticut

Beecute: I understand your fear of a car wreck. Since we both live in Atlatna we take our lives in our hands everyday just dribing to work! I had a near miss before Christmas when two drivers were fighting for the lane beside me and one nearly collided with me until i could dodge to the side of the road. It just kept praying...Dear God don't let him hit me please!

OMG... I've driven in Atlanta before...I think that 85mph was the slow lane :)

Beecute and Peaches in GA: I've driven in Atlanta too...sending the blow-up sumo suits to you overnight express!

I think the key is to be cautious and alert, but I find when I go into it with fear, the anxiety is exhausting. Would rather save that energy for things to be enjoyed :)

Cynde,

I think you have a great mindset. It can be very difficult considering what folks have been through here to be upbeat. But, like the Prevent Defense often does nothing but prevent teams from winning (gotta keep the football analogies going at least through the Superbowl!!), if you constantly focus on the potential for disaster you can miss out on the good and simple things to enjoy in life. (I guess I could have stuck with football and said "miss out on an opportunity to score", but with the myriad of interpretations that might elicit it might take this thread way beyond potential excitement of being involved in a car crash;))

I think the bottomline is if you constantly think you are going to get hurt, you could paralyze your mind so badly that the delay it builds into your normal reactions pretty much ensures that you will undereact to something you could have normally avoided, and you do get hurt. But, if you put that energy into believing you were meant to survive and to thrive (it also helps to believe that you have a purpose for your survival, maybe one you are not aware of just yet, but a purpose just the same), you will!

Jim

In other words, if you keep on thinking you are going to get into an accident, OF COURSE you are going to get into an accident!!!
I learned that in my first year of mountain biking, you have to let go of the fear, otherwise you WILL crash and trash yourself.
But yes, keeping the football in here, GO EAGLES!!!!
:)