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A Deer Hit Me

Really, I didn't hit a deer. It hit me! I never made it to Villanova on Friday night. I left for to take Tom his suit with my windows down, enjoying the breeze, and listening to the Pet Shop Boys. I was around the corner from home when two cars were coming toward me. They started slowing down and moving a little erratically, so I slowed down thinking they were drunk or just plain stupid. As I was passing the second car…. WHAM!!! I thought the second car went into my lane and hit me from the side. I stopped the car in the middle of the road. A little dazed that I just had been in an accident, I sat up a bit more and noticed blood coming from the left side of my forehead. I had a sweatshirt on and pulled off the left half of it and pressed it to my forehead to put pressure where the bleeding was. With my other hand, I picked up my cell phone and started calling 911. I slowly got out of the car and started walking to the two cars behind me that were originally coming toward me. They stopped, thankfully. They asked if I was OK. I said yes, but that I was bleeding and making a call to 911. They told me a deer hit me. I said, “That was a deer?!” I was totally shocked, thankfully though not in shock. I really stayed in control the entire time. I handed the guy that stopped my bloody cell phone to tell the dispatcher where we were and that I needed an ambulance, while the lady that stopped, who was a nurse, looked at my head. She confirmed that I needed stitches. I figured as much as I knew there was a lot of blood, but chose not to focus on that.

The police came first and talked to the two other people while I sat on the side of the road waiting for the ambulance. The other two people (they were so nice!!!) confirmed that I was going very slow and that the deer hit me from the side. The ambulance came and the people asked where I wanted to go…. I knew my choices: the local country hospital or for a few minutes more the largest trauma center on the East coast, Christiana hospital. Yes, in northern Delaware is the largest trauma center on the East coast. I don’t know why, but several nurses even from out of the area have told me this. I, of course, told them I wanted to go to Christiana. I wasn’t in shock, I hadn’t been unconscious, hadn’t lost too much blood, and I really wanted a good plastic surgeon to sew up my face. I called Tom and told him where we were going, but he had to borrow a car from one of his classmates to come get me. He also called our friends K & G as they were closer to come be with me. K is an OR nurse and works with a lot of plastic surgeons, so I was curious for her opinion as well. Funny thing is Tom did ask me on the phone if I had gotten his suit out of the trunk. I told him that wasn’t important right now, and he’d have to wear a different suit. When he came to the hospital and saw my injury, he did admit he didn’t realize it was so bad when I talked to him on the phone. At the hospital everyone was very nice. K & G arrived at the same time as Tom, but K helped by asking who the plastic surgeon on call was. From the looks on everyone’s faces, I could tell I was messed up pretty bad. I felt fine other than the pain on my head, which by now started to go numb and the numbness extended back to the back of the top of my head. It’s still numb that far back. The current theory is that the deer knocked off and shattered my side-view mirror, which hit my forehead and according to the really, perky male nurse… cut almost to the bone! I put my hand up and told him to stop and tell me now more. I didn’t want to see or hear about it until they finished putting me back together. I had a cat scan which turned out fine and the plastic surgeon that K did know put me back together. He was very nice. I was extremely nervous as I’ve never been injured in an accident of any kind. No stitches, no broken bones, I don’t count the stitch from my laparoscopies. I was under sedation for those. He and I talked while he stitched me up which calmed me down. He didn’t really count how many, but Tom estimated about 40, including the internal ones. I need to go see him on Thursday to have them taken out. It really doesn’t look bad. I may have a scar on my left eyebrow going up from my temple to my hairline. My left eye was swollen shut this morning, but got better again after I put more ice on it. I’ve also developed a black eye that goes down to my cheekbone. This will look great to visit Phoebe’s new kindergarten teacher. I feel like I should put a big “A deer hit me!” T-shirt on so people won’t know I’m not a victim of domestic abuse. I just wish the deer would stick to eating my day lilies and leave my car and face alone. And like I told the ambulance people, “It was really nice meeting you, but I could’ve lived without the experience!”

Comments

Anonymous said…
Oh, my....
I'm just glad you are okay.
Billie
Shal said…
Oh my gosh! Glad that you are doing okay now, mend well! So sorry to hear about those abusive deer!
S said…
Oh Heather, I'm just glad that you're okay! Rest up and hope all goes well with the follow-up...
Ann Howell said…
Yikes! So glad that you're okay! That must have been a scare and a half. Take care of yourself... and maybe find a big pair of Jackie O shades to wear in public, lol!
Anonymous said…
I'm so glad you're ok. That sounds really scary.
Julie said…
Wow! I'm glad you're alright. Darn deer! Could you imagine if you had not slowed down, and those other drivers weren't there to be driving erratically.

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