EDIT: Redid the links, so I hope they work now. I'll test them after I finish editing the post. For those who can't get the links, long story short: Had a wreck in my squad car en route to a residential alarm call. Injuries sustained - broken neck in two places, four broken ribs, messed up cheek with compressed jaw bone, and broken left clavicle (shoulder bone).

Well, I'm not doing so hot right now. I am back home with my sister and other officers coming by very frequently to check on me and make sure everything's okay, which it is. My sister is over every morning to help with the bathing (I wear shorts!), and she makes my meals. Just thought I'd post links to updtate some:

http://baycitytribune.com/story.lasso?ewcd=88a9825b74a829cd

http://baycitytribune.com/story.lasso?ewcd=e4a6e6bf0e0158c6

http://www.matagordaadvocate.com/news/2009/may/07/deputy-recovery-after-accident/?news

I have a hisotry of hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), but in the chopper they said they had to pump some insulin into me, which would be a first. The thinking is that my blood sugar went out of whach and caused me to pass out, hence causing the accident. My squad car went airborne over a ditch, passenger's side hit the opposite side of the ditch, and the car went airborne and rolled twice through the air before coming to rest on the tires. I apparently got thrown all over the car and ended up on the passenger's side. They had to cut the car in half (top from bottom) to get me out. They said I was moaning, yelling, and fighting them, so they popped some kind of drug into me and gave me a paralytic to keep me from moving. I don't rememember any of that. The wreck happened in the afternoon, but I don't remember any of the whole DAY! My patrol sergeant said I told him twice that morning I wasn't feeling well and I actually fell down at the office once when getting out of the car. He said I didn't look so hot. I don't know as I don't remember.

The neck surgery went well and is healing very nicely. The doc said one more degree in either direction, or mishandling at the scene, and I would be either paraplegic or quadraplegic. So I am VERY thankful that it's not as bad as it could be. The ribs only hurt really when I sneeze, cough, or something like that which puts some stress on them. The worst thing at the moment is the clavicle break (left shoulder bone). There is a lot of pain and weakness from where the left shoulder meets the neck down to the left elbow. A lot of that is normal, but I have to go to a "shoulder specialist" in two weeks to see if yet another surgery will be needed on that. Crossing my fingers and hoping not. My whole body just aches like hell and plain hurts in some places. They said time and healing will resolve it, and I'm hoping I'm back to work in 2 or 3 months or less if I can pull it off. They're saying a minimum of 4, but I'm going to do the best I can to get back a lot sooner.

Anyway, just thought I'd do a quick update here with what's going on with me. Please ALWAYS wear your seatbelts. They can be tactically bad things for those of us who are street cops. From now on, I will always wear mine no matter what. I will just remove it when I'm only a couple of blocks away from whatever call I'm responding to at any given time.

[This message was edited by Mac McIntosh on 05-23-09 at .]

I was wondering if you were unrestrained, the seat belt anchor broke, or what; when you described flying all over the inside of your squad. Glad to hear you're ALIVE.

Take it slow Mac. Don't rush the comeback. You're not a young pup anymore I bet (grin).

Okay, checked the links after editing the post and they seem to work fine now. Don't know what I did on the original wrong.

No, I'm definitely no young pup anymore. I'm not old by any means, but I've been around the block a few times and my body feels it. Then again, doing what I do for a living puts strain on the body over time with all the tussling we get into, and sometimes a bit more.

I get what you're saying about not rushing it back. However, I've only been back home for a week now and this sitting around the house is already beyond old. It gets horribly boring. And they're saying THREE to FOUR months of THIS!? Man, that's gonna be a looooong haul. I'm just ready for it to heal up already so I can get back. However, it's not like I came away with minor injuries, so I'm not going to be stupid either. Heck, I'm lucky to be WALKING even with the assistance of the hand braces right now. It could have been so much worse and I am very blessed that it wasn't.

Incidentally, daytime tv is HORRIBLE!

I do have them down to a couple of months instead of 3 or 4, so that's at least a lot better. Just need things to heal up and a couple of issues to resolve, and I'm good to go.