Miles O'Brien loses left arm after accident

[bananas]

Source: USA Today

Veteran science and technology journalist Miles O'Brien revealed on Tuesday that doctors recently amputated his left arm above the elbow after a minor injury escalated into a serious medical emergency.

O'Brien, 54, detailed the bizarre ordeal and its unfortunate aftermath in a blog post on his personal site titled "Just A Flesh Wound."

"I had finished my last shoot after a long reporting trip to Japan and the Philippines and was stacking the Pelican cases brimming with TV gear onto my cart," O'Brien writes. "As I tried to bungee cord them into some semblance of security for movement, one of the cases toppled onto my left forearm. ... It was painful and swollen but I figured it would be okay without any medical intervention. Maybe a little bit of denial?"

The injury got progressively worse, so he saw a doctor on Feb. 14.

"The doctor told me he suspected that I might be having an Acute Compartment Syndrome. I had to Wiki it, but in essence it is an increase in pressure inside an enclosed space in the body. This can block blood flow causing a whole host of serious, life-threatening consequences."

<snip>

Read more: http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/people/2014/02/25/miles-o-brien-amputation/5817755/

[bananas]

1. "Just a Flesh Wound"

http://milesobrien.com/?p=3640

“Just a Flesh Wound”
posted February 25, 2014 by Miles O'Brien



I wish I had a better story to tell you about why I am typing this with one hand (and some help from Dragon Dictate).

A shark attack would be interesting. An assassination attempt would be intriguing. Skydiving mishaps always make for good copy. An out-of-control quad copter that turns on its master would be entertaining (and would come complete with a grim, potentially viral, video).

No, the reason I am now one-handed is a little more prosaic than those scenarios.

<snip>

[tofuandbeer]

2. That is sad. :(

[wildbilln864]

3. very sad. n/t

[saidsimplesimon]

4. Dear Mr. O'Brien, my thoughts are with you. Long time fan

[dipsydoodle]

5. That's awful.

.

[progressoid]

6. Wow. Just wow.

[Faygo Kid]

7. That's terrible news. I must admit. . .

. . . that I first thought of this guy. Too much of a Trekkie here. But best wishes, real Mr. O'Brien.

[SCVDem]

11. You're not the only one. nm

[sakabatou]

13. Me too

[loli phabay]

14. me three

[Delphinus]

15. Me four.

Best of luck to the real one.

[47of74]

17. Me five

[Warren DeMontague]

8. Geez. Horrible.

I've always liked and respected his reporting. I hope the rest of his recovery goes smoothly.

[AtheistCrusader]

9. NOooooo not Chief O'Brien!

Sorry sorry, duplicate name humor.


That really sucks. Acute Compartment is super painful. Very unfortunate.

Edit: Shit, AND someone beat me to the joke.

[Cooley Hurd]

10. Jesus! Poor Miles! A great journalist and avid aviator.

[TwilightGardener]

12. Really painful, from what I understand--medical people are trained to look for it

on anyone who breaks a bone. I remember I had to check sensation and circulation below the break quite frequently, because once compartment syndrome begins, it's a race to reduce the swelling and pressure inside the muscle tissues (which I think involves cutting into the individual muscle fascicle "bundles"--blech and ouch). Poor guy.

[bananas]

16. They tried an emergency fasciotomy, but "things tanked even further once I was on the table"

<snip>

The doctor recommended an emergency fasciotomy to relieve the pressure. This is a gruesome enough procedure on its own, but the he was clear that the problem was progressing rapidly and there was a clear and present threat to my limb.

It was getting real. Of course I wasn’t awake for the action but I was told later that things tanked even further once I was on the table. And when I lost blood pressure during the surgery due to the complications of compartment syndrome, the doctor made a real-time call and amputated my arm just above the elbow. He later told me it all boiled down to a choice…between a life and a limb.

So I woke up to a new reality in the hospital. It’s been a challenging week dealing with the phantom pain, the vicissitudes of daily life with one hand and the worries about what lies ahead.

<snip>

Read the rest at http://milesobrien.com/?p=3640

[TwilightGardener]

21. That must have been quite a shock, to wake up with no arm--just one of those weird

worst-case scenarios from what sounded like just a bruise, initially. But maybe people will be aware of compartment sydrome because of his story, it is a true medical emergency.

[bossy22]

20. it's a terrible syndrome to have

you really only have a window of less than 8 hours from onset before permanent damage takes hold. Usually after 8 hours we will amputate. Even when we catch it in time to prevent amputation there is a high risk of post-operative infection- especially in immuno- compromised patients

What happens in compartment syndrome is the interstitial fluid pressure increases to the point that it blocks blood flow to muscles and other structures. This causes muscle death as well destroying nerves.

[TwilightGardener]

23. Yup--I used to be a nurse, and while I never had anyone who ended up with this,

I remember it was part of the assessment of anyone with a broken/injured limb, especially those with casts.

[bossy22]

24. it's especially important thing to keep in mind when applying a cast

I just finished my emergency medical rotation (I'm in my final year of med school) and I must have had atleast a dozen cases where a cast was put on too soon after the injury and I would have to cut them off (the cast that is LOL). I also had the "pleasure" of assisting on a fasciotomy for a LE compartment syndrome case.

[deafskeptic]

18. That's quite an ordeal. I wouldn't wish it on anyone else.

I went thru something similar last year if not exactly like what he went thru.

In my case, I lost my right leg as a result of a severe autoimmune reaction to heparin that resulted in arterial thrombosis that caused a massive blood clot in my right thigh. It was the rapid onset kind.

My right leg could not be saved as a result. I went thru 3 amputations before my leg finally started to heal. I only have a tiny bit of my right leg left.

[TwilightGardener]

22. That is an ordeal. Hope you are adjusting and healing.

[yuiyoshida]

19. OMG...for a second I thought it was this guy...

[passiveporcupine]

25. That is something I never even heard of till now

Poor guy. I sure hope he is right-handed. And I hope he does not have any further repercussions from this incident.