Bio Accident and Runaway Heart

It started with the car accident on January 5th. We never made it to Keith’s cousin’s funeral. The driver that hit us and flew away, totaled our car. We ended up spending the next several hours in ER. No broken bones but very bruised and sore. My left leg looked like it had been dragged five miles on gravel road.

We went home to heal. Only my leg didn’t heal. It got infected. Thankfully, my neighbor Rachel is a nurse who chose to keep my situation under surveillance. She had me go in to see a doctor. It was infected all right. A shot and I returned home with meds. Only they didn’t do the job. My friend Rachel next took me to the CHI health clinic for two shots and a different medication. This one worked. I began to heal.

Only some situations developed and I pulled muscles. That hurt. Rachel kept monitoring, but I could see she was concerned. I had my yearly wellness check and labs coming up. She suggested I request an EKG. When our doctor came through the door, one glance at her face and I knew we weren’t going home. I spent the next three days in the hospital for a heart that was trying to gallop away.

My veins are not fun to tap, yet the heart doctor wanted not one, but two IVs. Took one, two, three different experts before that happened. We kept my other arm as a pin cushion for all the blood they drew. Lots of medical personnel in and out of my room. My friends and my sister-in-law visited. Our kids called and Keith kept them apprised of what was happening. I wasn’t dying so asked our kids not to come.

Was given new meds to try and make my heart behave and finally got to go home. Rachel continued to keep an eye out for me, especially since my legs have started to swell a bit. That first three-day hospital stay, turned into almost a week in the hospital the next time because of breathing problems. Finally, home with meds the doctors hoped would get my heart in rhythm again. They didn’t do the job so I went in for a procedure to shock my heart into rhythm. So far so good.

I told Keith, “It all started with the car accident.”

He corrected me, “This was revealed because of the accident.” He is right. I might never have known about my heart without all that went before and had Rachel not been keeping an eye out for me. That is a blessing.

Don’t know what my heart may do. But this I know. I am not alone. I am surrounded by family and friends. I also know God who created my heart will not desert me. Whatever happens, I know He’s got this, and I am safe within His loving arms.

© 2022 Carolyn R Scheidies

Column published 3/20/2023

Feel free to share.

Blog Making community a better place

Anger only simmers problems until they explode. Keeping track of supposed insults or ways you might have been dissed or slighted doesn’t solve any problem. And why assume the worst in those around us? Why not leave behind the negative assumptions and begin reaching out instead?

When it snowed, my contractor brother was paid by businesses to clear parking lots with his little caterpillar. He loved his little cat, but he did not stop with paid jobs. Keith would start clearing our sidewalks and Paul would come and clear the driveway and walks. He did the same for other friends and neighbors—including ours. We didn’t even know.

It wasn’t until Paul was gone we learned he sometimes cleared our neighbor’s drive and they didn’t know Paul was my brother. With health problems, Keith is unable to clear our drive and sidewalks any longer. However, our neighbors are taking the torch and clearing our walks. We are so blessed. When I called to thank them, they brought in supper. Talk about passing it on. They do.

A couple of years ago I went to get the paper at the front door. Only it wasn’t right at the door, but further away. I can’t bend down and usually simply kick it inside where I can use tongs to retrieve it. An elementary-aged boy was riding by on his bike. He saw me and the paper. In an instant, he was off his bike. He ran up, grabbed the paper and thrust it into my hands. Before I could stutter a thank you, he was riding away. He saw a need and responded, not expecting anything in return.

After we had our car accident in January that totaled our car and caused massive bruising on my left leg, I wouldn’t even have realized something was wrong but for our friend and nurse from a block away who decided to keep checking on me. She discovered the leg had gotten infected and made sure I sought medical intervention twice, since the first medication didn’t work. She continued to keep an eye out when I pulled several muscles due to circumstances.

Before I went to my yearly labs and wellness check, she strongly suggested I ask for an EKG. I did and it revealed a serious heart situation that ended up with me in the hospital for three days. Who knows what would have happened if someone hadn’t reached out.

How much better to focus on doing good instead of zeroing in on what others might have done wrong. Of course, to make this work we have to be able to learn to graciously accept as well as give of our time and efforts. This elevates the positive and gives us the satisfaction that getting angry and tearing down will never do.

Want to make your neighborhood, community, the world a better place? Look for opportunities to reach out, to lift up and serve. Pass it on.

© 2023 Carolyn R Scheidies

Column published Kearney Hub 3/7/2023

Feel free to share

Bio The Car Insurance Saga

It started with our car accident January 5th. When we got hit, I thought a bomb had gone off. Instead, a car hit us so hard it spun us around and then disappeared down the road. Thankfully, there were others nearby who assisted us as our minds were rather muddled. They called the police and an Allo truck pulled us out of the intersection.

Next, I knew an ambulance parked near and we were asked about going to ER. We did and were there for several hours. Thankfully, no broken bones, but lots of bruising. My left leg from knee to ankle looked like I’d been dragged ten miles on a bad road. Eventually, we were allowed to return home. Friends picked us up.

Of course, we contacted our car insurance company, and the saga began. They declared our car a total loss. It took some time, but we received a check and went to check out cars, ending up with a similar car, but a year earlier than our other one. (It also had very low mileage.)

All this happened in January and February first, the date of our car insurance renewal was coming up. Though the car had been totaled and Keith signed the title over to the insurance company, they kept sending us renewal notices listing both cars. No! No! NO!

Finally, after several phone calls, Keith thought he had that problem handled, and we looked for a corrected renewal notice. Not long thereafter, we received five envelopes from the Insurance company. I began to open them. The first listed both cars and insurance at twice what we’d been paying. Not again! I opened another that said if we were getting rid of a car to see it was taken off the insurance. Really? Like we hadn’t been trying.

The next letter I opened listed just one car and it was the correct one. The cards, too, were correct. Oh good. I could pay the insurance and move on. But wait, I still had two letters to open. The next one was set up, not as a total payment which we’ve always done, but as monthly payments. The total was off, and we wouldn’t be making monthly payments. The last letter held no cards but did have a cost for six months of insurance. The cost was much less than the letter that appeared to have the correct information. Ridiculous!

I called the local office and asked if the left hand knew what the right hand was doing. I laid out the information in the letters. Confused her, too. She said she’d get back to me. Late afternoon another agent did call me back. I gave her a synopsis of the problem. This time she was able to unscramble the problems and came back with a totally different cost, which she said was the correct cost for six months. I didn’t give her a chance to change her mind. I got a card and paid right then. An email confirmed the purchase.

I am thankful we are recovering from our injuries (but not until after dealing with an infection from my leg injury). I am thankful we were able to replace our car, and I am thankful for a local agent who could make sense of the mess made higher up by insurance agents in the company. We didn’t need this hassle and wished that ended the car insurance saga. But… the medical side of it meant lots more paperwork. The saga isn’t quite over, but it is slowing down at least. I’ll be thankful to move on.

© 2023 Carolyn R Scheidies

Feel free to share