The Chainlink

Cyclist seriously injured in Berwyn

I don't have much information other than what's in the story:

http://www.mysuburbanlife.com/2012/12/04/bicyclist-struck-by-truck-...

Thursday, someone who knows the rider posted on a local FB page that he was still in ICU.

This happened 2 blocks from us and we go through that intersection virtually every day whether driving, walking, or biking. In fact, my daughter and I passed through there on our tandem shortly before this happened.  It is one of my least favorite intersections to ride or walk through. The City of Berwyn installed a red light camera there due to the high number of accidents, but it only monitors 26th street, not East Avenue.

Thoughts and prayers for a complete recovery

Vince

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Permalink Reply by Allison M. down Ogden 7.9 mi on December 20, 2012 at 11:17am

Update this morning from Kim on the Facebook: 

This morning the nurse reported that Justin's records said he was able to follow commands on his right side, but she hadn't seen it for herself yet. Just a few minutes ago Justin opened his eye a bit and I asked him to move his thumb. He was able to move it slightly on command, which is a great sign for him.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Permalink Reply by dan brown on December 20, 2012 at 11:22am

great news Allison !  keep posting updates. these are very encouraging...hand in there. how are *you* doing btw ?

 

Dan

Allison Mackey said:

Update this morning: 

This morning the nurse reported that Justin's records said he was able to follow commands on his right side, but she hadn't seen it for herself yet. Just a few minutes ago Justin opened his eye a bit and I asked him to move his thumb. He was able to move it slightly on command, which is a great sign for him.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Permalink Reply by Allison M. down Ogden 7.9 mi on December 20, 2012 at 11:35am

Oh, I'm fine, Dan, thanks for asking. We've been pretty distraught at the library, but the community has really come together to show a lot of support, and that's inspiring. People are constantly coming up to the desk to ask for updates, which is really nice. 

Some of my fellow employees and our patrons are bewildered at my continuing to commute by bicycle, and that sometimes makes me a little uncomfortable ("haven't you learned your lesson?" etc.)



dan brown said:

great news Allison !  keep posting updates. these are very encouraging...hand in there. how are *you* doing btw ?

 

Dan

Allison Mackey said:

Update this morning: 

This morning the nurse reported that Justin's records said he was able to follow commands on his right side, but she hadn't seen it for herself yet. Just a few minutes ago Justin opened his eye a bit and I asked him to move his thumb. He was able to move it slightly on command, which is a great sign for him.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Permalink Reply by Wolf-Pup on December 20, 2012 at 1:37pm

Awful. Hate that intersection.

Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on December 20, 2012 at 2:54pm

I'm glad to hear about the community support.  Also glad that you're hanging in there in spite of the responses about your own commute.  Thanks again for the encouraging updates.

Allison Mackey said:

Oh, I'm fine, Dan, thanks for asking. We've been pretty distraught at the library, but the community has really come together to show a lot of support, and that's inspiring. People are constantly coming up to the desk to ask for updates, which is really nice. 

Some of my fellow employees and our patrons are bewildered at my continuing to commute by bicycle, and that sometimes makes me a little uncomfortable ("haven't you learned your lesson?" etc.)

Permalink Reply by John Greenfield on December 21, 2012 at 10:09am

Justin's wife provided an update on his status and some more details about the case:

http://gridchicago.com/2012/an-update-on-cyclist-justin-carver-crit...

Permalink Reply by Tony Adams on December 21, 2012 at 10:17am

Of course this easy to say online, but the people who need to learn a lesson from this are the reckless, inattentive and in-a-hurry drivers of motor vehicles.

Thanks for keeping us updated. 

Allison Mackey said:

Oh, I'm fine, Dan, thanks for asking. We've been pretty distraught at the library, but the community has really come together to show a lot of support, and that's inspiring. People are constantly coming up to the desk to ask for updates, which is really nice. 

Some of my fellow employees and our patrons are bewildered at my continuing to commute by bicycle, and that sometimes makes me a little uncomfortable ("haven't you learned your lesson?" etc.)



dan brown said:

great news Allison !  keep posting updates. these are very encouraging...hand in there. how are *you* doing btw ?

 

Dan

Allison Mackey said:

Update this morning: 

This morning the nurse reported that Justin's records said he was able to follow commands on his right side, but she hadn't seen it for herself yet. Just a few minutes ago Justin opened his eye a bit and I asked him to move his thumb. He was able to move it slightly on command, which is a great sign for him.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Permalink Reply by Allison M. down Ogden 7.9 mi on December 22, 2012 at 12:18pm

Update from Kim this morning is amazing:

Justin's drain had already been removed when I got to the hospital this morning and he's doing fine.

For the past 30 minutes he has been on a trach collar instead of the regular ventilator setup. The trach collar challenges him to breathe on his own so they can wean him off the ventilator. 

The nurse said he's doing better now than when the did the trach collar for the first time last night. This is wonderful to see - he's actually breathing on his own!

One of the Neuro docs told me last night that Justin could go to a rehab hospital as early as the day after Christmas. That is all I want for my Christmas present :)

Permalink Reply by h' Zerocats on December 22, 2012 at 12:21pm

Thanks, Allison.

Permalink Reply by yaj 7.4 on December 22, 2012 at 1:19pm

Thank you all for keeping us up to date, and I am so glad to hear Justin continues to improve.

Permalink Reply by Tim Heckman on January 2, 2013 at 3:01pm

Are there further updates on Justin?  I've been thinking about him and his situation over the holidays.

Permalink Reply by Allison M. down Ogden 7.9 mi on January 2, 2013 at 7:06pm

Sorry, I've been away for the holidays but I can give you all the latest updates from Kim:

December 26: Justin was back on the trach collar and doing well when I got to the hospital. Now he's getting an X-ray of his neck. He's had a cervical collar on to keep it stable ever since the accident. They are hoping the X-ray will show his neck is ok and then they can remove the collar.

Justin's neck was cleared by the X-ray so the took the cervical collar off. Now he will be more comfortable.

December 27: Today they have Justin in the cardiac chair, which is a the hospital bed modified so he can sit up. He doesn't really have his eyes open, but he is moving his right arm and leg a lot today.

Today I went to tour the long term acute care hospital that Justin will be moving to. It's called RML and it's in Hinsdale, IL. They specialize in ventilator weaning. Justin will likely be moving there tomorrow or Saturday.

December 28: Justin has both of his eyes open a little bit and he's on the trach collar. It seems like he's making more eye contact than he had been. He's been moving his right leg around so much that he keeps kicking it right off the bed. The orthopedic surgeons just came by and removed the stitches from his left leg. His lung have cleared up a lot and he is now done with the antibiotics. He's going for a follow up head CT later this morning. He's almost ready for the next step and I'm so proud of him!

December 29: It sounds like Justin will have surgery to place the shunt on Wednesday afternoon. After that is done, he could go to RML by next Friday or Saturday.

Unfortunately, the doctors have decided to delay Justin's transfer to RML. They have decided that he will need to have a shunt placed early next week to help drain the fluid from his brain. I am disappointed about the delay but I'm glad he'll be getting a procedure that he needs. The surgery itself is fairly simple and only takes about an hour.

December 30: I was here when the doctors rounded today. They said his neuro exam is the same and they will watch him closely for any changes. They will find out tomorrow when the surgery will be scheduled for, hopefully Wednesday or Thursday. Dr. Loftus will do the shunt surgery himself.

December 31: We have another change of plans today! Yesterday Justin's doctors decided that rather than placing a shunt, they want to create a permanent custom implant to replace Justin's skull flap. The implant takes 3 weeks to make, so in the mean time he will go to RML and start the ventilator weaning. He is leaving for RML this afternoon and he will come back to Loyola in 3 weeks for the surgery.

Justin's right leg is greeting stronger. Now when he kicks it off the bed he can actually lift it back up on his own.

Unfortunately Justin's transfer has been delayed again. They found some bacteria growing in his lungs again and it will take a few days to put the right treatment plan in place.

January 1: Today we have some good news. The neurosurgery resident who has been following Justin from the beginning said he had his best neuro exam so far today. He followed 2 commands with his right hand - he gave a thumbs up and he put up 2 fingers. There are tentative plans to transfer him to RML tomorrow afternoon, because they expect to have the results of what antibiotic he needs by tomorrow morning. Of course, there is always a chance things will be delayed again so I'm not counting on it, but I'm cautiously optimistic. Happy New Year!

January 2: There has been another delay in the transfer due to a new medication that Justin is on. They want to make sure its working before he is discharged. At this point, it looks like he could go to RML on Saturday, but as we know anything can happen...

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