The Accident: Part 2

 

The Accident: Part 2

USS Scott DDG-995 January 1992

To back up a little into the first part of the story. I had a dislocated left hip, a big gash to my forehead, and a painful chest. My left leg was bent at the knee at about a 45-degree angle, and I could hardly move it at all. I am not totally sure how long it was like that, but it was excruciating and uncomfortable.  While on the helo ride, a pillow or rolled-up blanket was providing some support.

By the time we land, I am really shivering. So, inside the hospital, they wrap me in hot blankets. That felt amazing. Off to x-ray to get my hip looked at. While waiting, I get an administrator asking me questions. He wanted my passport too. I tell him I am active duty US military I don’t need one. He tells me to enter the Kingdom of Saudi Ariba you do. We had a short back and forth until the Navy Doctor showed up. He told the guy in no uncertain terms, leave Mr. Adams alone. I wish I could remember that Doctors name.

The X-ray tech wants me to lay my left leg flat. It had been in a bent position since the accident. So, we try to get it flat. It's not happening. Talk about pain. I know I said some horrible stuff when they were trying to get it to lay flat. But, it could not make it. The doctor told the guy to just take it as it was. Although I was rather cold, I was sweating like crazy from them trying to get it flat.

The Navy doctor, a Commander, I think, was very comforting to me during the whole thing—a very nice guy.

I am still on the x-ray machine when an English Doctor comes in and shows me the x-ray. He confirms there is a dislocation, and there is a fracture to the head of my femur. He tells me what is going to happen in the OR. I was so high on pain meds at the time.

The medical staff at the hospital were also very friendly. While waiting for the OR, the nurses were all friendly and keeping my mind off the accident. Just before I was off to the OR, a nurse wrapped my wedding ring in tape. I was given a shot and told count backward from 100.

I look at her and go,” Seriously.”

“Yes,” she replied.

So, I start, “100, 99,” I yawned. When I hit 98, I was in a room hooked up to all sorts of stuff. I had expected my left hip to be cut open, but it wasn’t. They had reduced the joint and put me in traction. There was a large pin through my shin bone. I was still totally naked.

Much of what I wrote about the accident was given to me after the fact by people there. I have some short-term memory loss from that night and really do not recall much fo it. What I do remember is very vivid and remains with me. Like when I woke up after the accident tasting blood. That is the most vivid memory of right after the accident. The events in Tabuk are much clearer in my mind. Several interesting things happened while there.

 I was starving when I woke up and wanted something to eat. I am not sure why, but I was not allowed anything to eat. I was visited by a Saudi military officer; he was very amiable. We spoke for a while, and he said he would get me something to eat since I mentioned I was hungry. An order of tea and toast arrived about 10 minutes after he left. I was not a tea drinker, but it tasted amazing. He would stop in a couple times a day to make sure I was doing okay.

The next morning they brought me in a full breakfast, but I had a horrible night. I threw up a couple times and was very restless. Breakfast about pushed me over the top again, but I held back. I did eat some of the fruit and toast. The eggs just did not look like I could get them down. To my surprise, there was bacon. It was on the well-done side, and I could only get down about half a piece.

The Saudi officer returned again and spoke with me. He seemed upset that I was not eating. The nurse told him I wasn’t feeling well. He kept pushing me to drink the milk they had for me. He told me it was lemon flavor. I tried to politely tell him I did not feel well. He did get me some tea, which I had no problem drinking.

A little later that day, the two guys from my taxi came to see me. They were flown to the hospital on a separate flight that same night. The one guy, the Damage Controlman, looked like he got the hell beaten out fo him. The one side of his face was just all swollen and black and blue. The other guy had messed up ribs. Both of them were able to return to Scott and their Navy careers.

At the time, I did not know, but I was actually in ICU. The bruise on my heart caused concern, but I was not told until I got to Germany. While there, I had several nurses who worked 12-hour shifts. I had two Americans, one Indian, and one Australian nurse. The Australian nurse was my favorite. She called me James, and with her accent, it sounded so lovely.

There was a large group of doctors who came to see me several times. One of them was a female Saudi military doctor. The Navy doctor and the British doctor I met the first night were there too. The female doctor spoke to me the most. She wanted to make sure I was resting well and feeling okay. The nurse told her about me getting sick. She said it was probably a mixture of pain meds and the anesthetic from surgery.

This was one of many instances when a female medical person came to check my left hip and the pin in my leg. And, each time, they flipped the covers up, offering a good view of me to whoever was in the room. The female doctor moved over to my left hip and stopped before the covers were pulled back too far. But, hey, she is a doctor, and she’d see it all before. My hip felt like it was on fire most of the time I was in Tabuk. It was also very tender to the touch, and she happened to hit ti in just the right spot.

Right after the doctors left, one of my nurses came to see me. “Right or Left?” she asked.

“What for?” I asked.

She holds up a syringe, “For this. The doctor said you were in bad pain and ordered it.”

She told me what it was, but I forgot. I looked at her and said, “How about the right since my left is the one I hurt.”

She explained that I would feel the stick them slowly tingles would start to radiate from the injection. I would then drift off to sleep. She pulls back the cover smiles, and says, “sorry, I forgot you don’t have anything one,” The shot goes in, and nothing happens.

“Anything yet?”

“Nothing,” I say. 

She rubs the spot of the shot. “Anything?”

I nod, “Yeah, tingles.”

She smiles and talks, but I hear nothing as I yawn. I opened my eyes 12 hours later!

One day the Indian nurse came in with a basin of water. “Time for a sponge bath,” she told me. Since I had never been in a hospital before, I was not familiar with have one. She started off on my chest, arms, and back. Then without any hesitation, pulled back the sheet and started washing the rest of me. Well, that was rather interesting. I guess the pain meds kept things calm down there. I will admit, I did look forward to those from then on.

I forget how many days I was in Tabuk, but it was time to head up to the Airforce hospital in Wiesbaden, Germany. One drawback of the pain meds was I could not pee. And they had me on IV hydration. I told the nurse and doctor, and they tried to get me to go in the ambulance, but no luck. At the airport, we had to wait for the plane to be refueled.

The Navy doc and Airforce doc were talking about me and what was happening. The Navy doc told him about me needing a catheter since my bladder was about to burst. They spoke for a while, and the Navy doc comes over to see me. We talked for a moment, and we shook hands. I was now the responsibility of the Airforce. We will pick up there in the next segment.