My Very Dearest Mary
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
My very dearest Maria: This is day five following your heroic deed and the injuries you received in saving Jenna. I decided to keep a log starting today to – well, record your status and mine as well. Before I go further, you should know that I am proud of your deed but devastated emotionally given what happened to you. I hope you never remember the physical pain you are suffering. I will always remember my mental pain. I remember when I left to go the company I consult for that is Beta Analytics International (BAI) and from there to JCITA (the Joint Counterintelligence Training Academy) you were still cozy in bed and I kissed you goodbye—it was a very sweet kiss. Here’s what happened. On Tuesday, 12 October 2004, you and Pauline did your usual thing walking the park along Beach Drive with Jenna. This day, however, you started out later than usual because the air was a little nippy. Pauline pushed the baby stroller going toward Connecticut Avenue via Beach Drive and you pushed the stroller for the return trip. Fate would intervene at the Beach Drive and Cedar Lane crossing. As you crossed with the green light in your favor and with the little walking man lighted for your lawful crossing, a pick up truck making a right turn from Beach Drive onto Cedar Lane struck you at about 10:15 AM– he hit you hard, actually launched you which in some respects was a good thing as he did not roll over you. The man, John Purcell, said he was blinded by the sun and did not see you. He did hear a thump after he hit you, he said, and pulled over to see what happened. Before you were hit, my wonderful darling, you had the presence of mind to push the stroller with Jenna out of the way. You did not step back which would have saved you but would have killed Jenna. With your action, she only suffered a bruise when the stroller tipped over after hitting the curb. You are a true hero – the police said so, the print media and TV too. Every channel had your story on it as did every local newspaper. NBC4 was kind enough to send me a copy of the tape. They even reported the incident on the news in Madison, Wisconsin. Jackie and Jeff, Jenna’s parents, publicly proclaimed to all (TV and print) 1 that you saved their child who otherwise would have been killed. You are a hero to many now but you’ve been my hero for always so how could you be anything else now. You saved my life many years ago and for that I bless you and as you’ve never doubted, I love you with all my heart and soul. Your injuries were super-traumatic. You received a skull fracture and blood ended up on the brain (we do not know the state of the brain injuries at this time). The bones forming the left occipital cavity were broken; seven broken ribs (the docs called them “thrashed”) on the right side and two on the left with both the lungs punctured; your pelvis and your clavicle were broken too. No legs or arms broken or internal organs harmed (except the lungs) but you did have internal bleeding. You almost didn’t survive but being close to the area’s trauma center helped. You were rushed to Suburban Hospital which fortunately was only three miles away. I was at JCITA and people had trouble reaching me as no cell phones are allowed in the facility. I got to the Suburban Hospital at about 1:30 PM after a high speed run in our car for 35 miles. Niko beat me there by ½ hour. Needless to say we were both traumatized – maybe not of body but certainly our minds were hard hit. Your first day in intensive care was spent patching you and working on stabilizing your condition. It was touch and go. On day two it was determined that you were still bleeding internally and a thoracic surgeon was called in – he stopped the bleeding (we thought) and he filed your splintered ribs to smooth them and then tied them together with suture thread. He also repaired your lungs by excising some of the really damaged tissue. Later it was found that you were still bleeding. The pelvic area was suspected. They used a specialized imaging technique with dye (called interventional radiology) to find where you were bleeding. They located where it was coming from and squirted a gel (sort of caulking) and sealed off the bleeder. No more bleeding. It is called an “ Angio-Seal,” it is a vascular closure device that is inserted with 2 an anchor and a collagen sponge both drawn together with a suture. Within 60-90 days, the anchor, sponge, and suture are naturally absorbed into the body. Day three was a downer. The pressure on your brain was building up and a neurosurgeon was called in. He operated and a very large and a somewhat smaller blood clot was removed from the right side of your brain. They placed a catheter onto your brain’s surface to monitor the pressure. Things were scary as we couldn’t determine if the operation would have an adverse impact on your functions. Dr. Leonard Rubino, the surgeon, was optimistic. Day four was pretty quite. You were stable. They gave you an epidural to control pain. During the entire period described above, your family and many friends were nearby in the ICU waiting room. Dini and Will flew in from Wisconsin the night of the accident. Nick and Nina were here every day too. The outpouring of love and support would have been something for you to see. All of the Vidos family came and even Mike participated by ordering pizza from San Diego for us to eat at the hospital. Joe and Debbie came twice and during their second visit brought a big bagful of sandwiches. Joe came alone on Saturday (Debbie had a meeting) with crab cakes. Mary and David (Nina’s sister and brother-in-law) brought a gigantic tray of goodies and Kathy Adams cookies and pretzels. We shared with other families in the ICU waiting room. Pauline brought doughnuts one day. Harry and Mary Anna came and so did their daughter Maria. Pauline, Jackie, Jeff and Jenna came several times too. Bob and Kathy Gleeson and folks from work came. Here’s a cute story. On Tuesday following the accident, the police used your key to enter our house in an attempt to locate me – they did find a business card for BAI. Becky, one of the Montgomery County Police Officer’s who really likes you (she was first on the scene) said that the officers entering the house were so impressed by the neatness and cleanliness of our home they told all of their fellow officers. So, now you have a Montgomery County reputation as the cleanest, neatest home in town. 3 I have been on an emotional roller coaster – I get high and can’t stop talking and then very low with lots of crying. After all, you are my soul and my love. Your pain is my pain. As I write this on day four I am watching TV (not really watching much, my thoughts are with you and I’m writing this by hand at this point – computer later). I have no Maria near me to hold her hand. Woe is me!!!!! Day 5 (Sunday, 17 Oct)–Dini and Will went back to Wisconsin in the morning. I spent the day in your ICU room and will do so from now on. I set the little walkman CD player with earphones to play Greek singer Eleftheri for you. Since we used to listen to him so much while driving in the car, my hopes are that you might hear his voice and feel better. I also read some Nora Roberts to you but didn’t get the feeling that you were listening. I guess I need to take the books back to the library soon. Your numbers (BP, temperature, breathing) were good. The catheter was removed from your brain as your intracranial pressure is under control. Towards the end of the day your BP went to 180/94 and you fever to 104.2 –scary for me. They worked hard to fix this and when I left for the evening you were on a downward trend. I ate dinner with Niko and Nina. I called Dini and she checked with the hospital and all was well – BP down and fever 101. Whew!!! Your responses to the neuro check were good. Yea!!! Day 6 (Monday, 18 Oct)–in terms of your recovery, there were few changes today. The neurosurgeon seemed upbeat though and he doesn’t please easily. We hoped that you would respond to us yelling your name but you did not. In the morning your BP and fever were low but began to creep higher during the day. It was brought under control. You were given two units of blood and insulin as your sugar was high. The ophthalmologist came and dilated you pupils. Your left eye looked better than when you came to the hospital but you pupils did not react as well as we had hoped – we were told not to worry. Tonight you are to get a CAT scan. 4 Father John came and gave you a health blessing (Father Steve came twice earlier and did the same).