Right after I posted that yesterday, a couple of nice medical students came in and changed the dressing on my leg. I finally got to see the aftermath, and at this point I think I’m too freaked out to really be upset by it. The knee is pretty swollen and the incision down my left leg is huge. I can’t even think about what they were peeling away and what they were doing underneath. But they seem to have done a good job, because I’m healing faster than they expected.
Then I went down to ultrasound to get checked for more blood clots. After they found the post-surgery pulmonary embolism, they wanted to make sure there weren’t any more clots floating around inside me. And they wanted to rule out the possibility that this was a preexisting thing, rather than the direct result of getting my tibia destroyed by a State Dept. SUV and having surgery to fix it. The very nice ultrasound person, Maria, didn’t find any clots. The good news is that I think I like the soothing feel of ultrasound gel. The bad news is that none of this should be happening in the first place.
Just as an aside to DC residents: You’ve seen the street sign that says something about how in DC, the law says pedestrians have the right of way, haven’t you? It’s not like a traffic sign, with block letters and bright colors. It’s very muted and has a fancy font and all that. It might even have trees on it? I know I’ve seen it here and there. If you see one of those, could you take a picture and send it to jim at dailycaller dot com? The closer to 22nd and M it is, the better.
A quick clarification for Eric Boehlert and anybody else who’s confused: I did not claim Secret Service hit me. I said I was told Secret Service hit me by people who would know. Namely, the paramedics who took me from 22nd and M to Georgetown University Hospital. They said they didn’t know if I realized it, but I’d been hit by CIA or Secret Service. Probably the latter. So I passed along what I was told, and said I wanted answers if it was true. It turns out the paramedics were off by a few federal agencies, but they were in the right ballpark. And the Daily Caller made the clarification the minute there was news. Apparently I shouldn’t have said anything about this, in order not to offend Mr. Boehlert’s sensibilities. But I haven’t been paid a visit by Secret Service, which I choose to interpret as a sign of no hard feelings on their part. Maybe not everybody demands perfect knowledge of every atom in the universe from the guy who just got hit by a car. Everything I’ve said about this has been in good faith, and I resent any implication otherwise.
I now have crutches, a walker, and a wheelchair. It’s good to have options. I’m awesome with the walker, pretty good with the crutches, and I haven’t tried the wheelchair yet. I’ll probably need that to get around outside, especially in all this snow.
Have you seen the website for the U.S. Department of State? It’s lovely.
Send out your good vibes to my friend Traci Skene, who fell on the ice and hurt her elbow. She and her husband Brian are good people.
They’re probably letting me out of the hospital today, if I can get out of here before DC’s daily blizzard. And then I can look forward to months of physical therapy and blood tests, a huge hospital bill, and a jaywalking citation. And the guy who drove the State Dept. SUV that hit me is… ???
(Thanks to the mighty Mark Hemingway for the photo. Also in the room were Michael Moynihan and his lovely wife Joanna, Peter Burns, Jack Simms, and Mary Katharine Ham. It’s good to have such friends.)
P.S. It’s just a hat. It’s just a piece of home. I don’t even follow sports. I couldn’t even stay awake for the Super Bowl, which is the only football game I watch all year. And it’s better than the rat’s nest that was underneath after almost a week of not being able to wash it properly. I didn’t want to talk to MKH like that!