The Adrenaline Wears Off...

So as the journey continues...

Having never had a car accident before or a concussion or lived in the Denver area (where I was now located), I was at a loss. Friends from all over gathered resources. Other than incredibly emotional, exhausted, and shaking a lot, I felt pretty good, considering the circumstances. People kept telling me when the adrenaline wore off I might feel differently. Eventually they were so right on.  Four days after the accident, after my totaled-car had been cleaned out, and left behind, and I had been driven from my post-accident-stranded-in-a-hotel-room site to a friend's in Lakewood, I started to feel really beat up. Random pains began to appear all over my body. They came and went. My neck ached. My right arm throbbed. It didn't work very well. I could hardly sleep on my head. The pressure from lying on it was nauseating.  A constant pressure seemed to be building inside. Then my head felt like it was going to explode out through my skull.


I walked out of the bedroom and straight to my girlfriend who had come to stay with me post accident. "I need to go to the hospital," I blurted.  I'm not sure I have ever known and communicated something I needed so directly.  We did a little online research of area trauma centers and emergency rooms and headed to St. Anthony Hospital. It was close and had a Level 1 Shock Trauma Center.


Mind you, I am not good in hospitals, ER's,  Dr's offices, dentists, physical therapy, etc. Stepping into one of these places is always a huge challenge. But my bruised brain was about to explode. It was radiating so much heat that my friend could feel it with her hand about 8 inches from my head. I had constant vertigo. It was time to step inside the hospital walls.  


As we waited to be seen, I breathed through an old panic response. I had fainted in ER's before. I didn't really want to faint this time. (What if I fell and hit my head?) Luckily the ER was slow that Thursday night. When the Dr heard what happened he immediately braced my neck. Now in addition to the exploding head I was practically choking. My friend was alternately cracking jokes and checking to be sure I was conscious. A CT scan was ordered. 


OK. A bit on the CT scan. That thing is weird. I could feel the waves of whatever it was they were using to scan my brain. Literally like I was sitting inside of some concentrated radio waves that were all aimed at me. It took all of 6 minutes and I was wheeled back to my exam room.  In a bit someone came along to remove my new collar. Then left. This seemed like a good sign.

Soon it was revealed that I had a severe concussion, (whiplash) strained neck and shoulder, and something not good with my 'brachial plexus'. Good news! No bleeding in my brain. No fractures. It was a powerful moment of gratitude. 

I returned home with the RX to rest, a prescription for muscle relaxants (what are they?) and strict instructions to my friend to keep on eye on me and see if I began acting strange. For anyone who knows me, I think you will appreciate the humor in this last instruction.


Clearly, I would need resources.  The first help would be from a distance, my shamanic practitioner and energy healing friends. Michaela McGivern, Amy Priest, Bonnie Serratore and all the Contemporary Shamanism folks, my hometown Healing Drum Circle, people I didn't know who were friends of friends. They  started doing healing on me from afar. Next I would need, PT, Chiropractors, SE, Dr's, Massage, Energy Healers, who and what else?

How did I begin to decide? First, friends and I gathered a list of possibilities. (THANK YOU ALL!)  Then I did the logical thing (much to my girl friend's horror).  I muscle tested to determine who to go see. After a number of Yes, No, Yes, Yes, No's, the lucky winners emerged.  More on each of these as we go along.

It made a better hat, plus I felt more like a queen this way.
But get that thing off my head too! It's just not comfortable anywhere....