Kevin G. Farrell describes himself as "an IT guy with a lot of, mostly, informed opinions about pretty much anything." This piece originally appeared on his blog, A Variety of Thoughts About Everything .
BRATTLEBORO-I went on a motorcycle ride with my nephew Ethan on June 8. It was a great day for riding, and I enjoy Ethan's company a lot. So it was fun.
Later in the afternoon, we went our separate ways - life and all that, you know.
I was heading through Sunapee, Newport, Claremont, and Charlestown to Keene and then Marlborough, New Hampshire, to go to a meeting. Had plenty of time and was taking it easy. No worries. Right?
At about 5:20 in the evening I was coming up the hill out of Newport, New Hampshire. It was one lane and there is a left-turn-only lane that goes to Unity, New Hampshire, coming up on my left. There was a car in the left-turn lane waiting to turn.
What I'm going to tell next happened in about three seconds.
I was coming up behind the car waiting to turn left, in my lane. I had about 30 feet before I would be in front of them and gone.
All of a sudden, a little white car pulled out from in front of them, turning into my lane to go in my direction.
So I panicked. I locked it up and went sideways.
The last thing I remember was being sideways, going towards the vehicle.
* * *
The next thing I knew, I was on a gurney with an ambulance crew working on me. I think that I was knocked out for somewhere between 5 and 15 minutes.
They started asking me questions, many which I was able to answer. They asked me what happened, and I could not remember.
They seem to relax a couple of minutes later when I blurted out, "That motherf-er cut me off!"
I got taken to a nearby location where I was loaded onto a helicopter and LifeFlighted to Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire. Probably because I had been knocked out.
At that hospital, we went through all the hospital stuff, questions, paperwork, etc. They did look up and call my sister, who works in the cath lab there. That was nice.
They did a full MRI of my head and neck. After that, I was rotating my shoulder - but not much, as it and my elbow hurt, and it felt like it was slipping in and out of its socket.
I reported that, and a short while later we went and did some X-Rays on my chest and shoulder.
At the end of it all, we found no damage to my head. (I am already nuts, so that does not count.) I was knocked out and no swelling or any other sign of any other trauma. Whew....
What I do have is a severe laceration and bruise on my right elbow, a separated right shoulder, some fractured right ribs, and a broken right collar bone. And I will be getting surgically fixed soon.
It could have been a heck of a lot worse. I am grateful to have gotten off as lightly as I did.
* * *
After a number of hours, I was released and came back here to recuperate. It has been ibuprofen on a strict schedule ever since.
And it is manageable.
Those of you who know me know I am not a fan of the American medical insurance system. I have railed about that before, and I will again.
But today, I want to talk about the often-underappreciated people who work on the front lines in this system. The people who take care of us.
First off, the first responders on the scene who were dealing with me in the early stages. I was really confused. They were calm and professional, getting all the info they needed while establishing that I was actually present and not dazed.
Then there was the crew in the chopper making sure that I knew what was happening at all times so there would be no surprises for me. Again, calm and professional.
And then the various medical techs, nurses, and doctors whom I dealt with. They all were running around, because it was a busy night, yet when they were dealing with me, I felt like they were With Me, if you know what I mean. Not distracted and thinking about other stuff, but present with me as a person. And calm and professional.
At no time did I ever feel uninformed or that there were things being kept from me. At no time did I feel like these folks were not fully involved in what they were doing.
Our health care professionals are often overworked and underpaid. They study long and hard to get the positions they are in, and they often rack up some substantial bills to do so. And they do an incredible job taking care of us.
And they are, I feel, vastly unappreciated by us. Those they take care of.
So when you see a first responder out and about, wave and smile - at the very least. Do the same for med techs, nurses, and doctors.
They are incredible people doing an incredible job.
Let them know that you See Them.
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