A Brief Ride Up the B&W Parkway

Normally, I would not write this, because I prefer to use my writing skills for purposes of praise alone. However, the recent local accident, involving two law enforcement officers who were transported to an undisclosed Shock Trauma location, made me recall my own experience.

In early June of 2012, I was attempting to rescue a baby bird from a family cat. Wearing flip-flops, I took a flying tumble off my concrete steps, landing on my elbow, head and pelvis, in a roll. No one else was home at the time, and I was unable to move. It was 45 agonizing minutes before a neighbor found me. Since PG Shock Trauma is closest to College Park, the Emergency Medical Technicians transported me there, first. Thank goodness, the medical staff at PG concluded that the surgery necessary to my elbow and arm was too complex for them to perform.

I say, “thank goodness” because my care at PG Shock Trauma Center consisted of one three hour period when I neither received pain medications, nor had a change of soiled hospital garments. All this, while the STC nurse fretted up and down the hallway, about the amount of time it was taking to transport me elsewhere.

After a brief ride up the B&W Parkway, I had the great good fortune to be taken to world famous Shock Trauma in downtown Baltimore. While their beds are far fewer than one would guess, the surgeons, assistants, nurses and staff are truly the finest in the world. From the pink scrubs worn by men and women alike to demonstrate their genuine care, to the committed focus on each patient’s wellbeing, they are clearly the best of the best. What a difference!

My Orthopedic Surgeon was Dr. Andrew Eglseder, a US News Top Doc. A check of the Internet made me understand the scope of his surgical skills, by the gratitude of a young man who could return to the minor league ball he loved, after having suffered considerable wrist and leg injuries. Others thanked him for reattaching severed limbs. What followed my surgery was eight months of rehab, occupational and physical therapy, and carefully monitored follow-up appointments with my surgeon and his marvelous assistants.

I can’t thank Dr. Eglseder and his staff, one of whom has been with him for 20 years, enough. I only hope that the two officers who where injured in the line of duty shared my second experience, and not my first.