Surgery

On Tuesday afternoon, Jack and I took the metro to downtown D.C. to meet Jim at the zoo. When I got off the train I had a new voicemail. I assumed it was from Jim telling me he was at the zoo already or that he was running a little late. It wasn't. It was from a girl who found Jim shortly after he had a pretty bad bicycle accident. Jim was riding his bike along an asphalt path to meet us when he hit a bump and his front tire came off. Jim went over his handlebars and landed on his face. Luckily he was wearing his helmet. He did not lose consciousness, and was able to take the cell phone out of his pocket to call 911. He could not talk, though, so he gave his phone to a passerby to talk to the 911 operator. A pediatric resident happened to walk by and Jim gave her my phone number. She called me and waited with Jim until an ambulance came (around 30 minutes later!). Jack and I got in a cab and met Jim in the ER at George Washington University Hospital. I had my camera with me to take zoo pictures, but I ended up with bloody Jim pictures instead. Knowing that not everyone wants to see those, I will not post them. If you would like to see pictures of Jim a couple hours after the accident, email me and I will send them to you.

Jack and I spent several hours in the ER with Jim. He had a chest x-ray and CTs of his head, c-spine, and maxillo-facial bones. He has a lot of facial fractures, but thankfully his brain, spine, and eyes are fine. I asked the ER attending if I could stay with Jim all night and he said yes. So, I contacted the wonderful family we are staying with in Maryland and they met me at the metro station where my car was parked. They took Jack back with them and I headed back to the hospital. After talking with Jim for a bit, I went to the waiting room where I could get cell phone reception and call Jim's and my parents. When I returned to Jim, they were ready to move him from the ER to a holding room (there still was not a free room on a surgical floor for him). The woman transporting him told him it was well past visiting hours and I could not come with him. I broke down crying. She took Jim up to his room, and I left the hospital. It was close to 11:00 p.m. and I made the 45 minute (without traffic) drive back to Maryland. Ugh.

Yesterday, Wednesday, Jack and I took the metro to the hospital and spent the whole day with Jim. Jack was a trooper - stuck in a small hospital room all day. He did a great job of entertaining himself and staying out of the way.

This morning I left Jack with the family in Maryland and I came down to the hospital to be with Jim all day. We are currently waiting for them to take him down to surgery. His surgery is scheduled for 12:00 or 12:30 p.m. It should last about 3 hours. They are going to wire his jaw shut and put in plates and screws on the mandible. He may also need some maxillary plates and screws, but they won't know until they get into surgery. They will also stitch up a couple big gashes and fix his broken nasal septum. They may be able to take the wires out after surgery. If not, he will have them in for 2 - 4 weeks. I will try to update the blog shortly after, but please keep Jim in your thoughts and prayers.