| When IBR staff heard about Bill’s accident, they
contacted a Bismarck member who spent many hours with Diane. Other
motorcycle enthusiasts from various organizations volunteered physical
and emotional support.
On Sept. 2, Bill opened his eyes and answered questions by squeezing
Diane’s hand. She praised his doctors in her e-mail, saying Sanford Health
neurosurgeon Dr. Thomas Spagnolia “saved my sanity and Dr. (Walker)
Wynkoop even made me laugh.”
An orthopedic surgeon at Sanford Health repaired Bill’s
shattered wrist. Dr. Spagnolia oversaw Bill’s head and brain injuries; swelling
and blood around Bill’s brain was a constant concern. Diane appreciated
Dr. Spagnolia’s calm manner and down-to-earth explanations.
“I just try to help people without medical knowledge understand what is
happening by bringing sophisticated language into laymen’s terms that can
mean something to them,” Dr. Spagnolia said. “I felt confident Bill would
recover, but I couldn’t be sure, given the extent of his injuries, if he’d
have any deficits long-term.”
Spending long hours in the ICU, Diane observed to her email network,
“The nurses work three or four days, 12-hour shifts, with the same patient.
That gives them great continuity not only with the patient in the bed ...
but also the family, although sometimes I feel like I’m the second patient in
the room.”
From the beginning of Bill’s ordeal, Diane planned to transfer him closer
to home once he was physically able to travel. By Sept. 8, that day had come.
A medical jet service flew Bill to Nyack Hospital. Later, he was transferred
to Helen Hayes Hospital in West Haverstraw, N.Y., for rehabilitative therapy.
Sixty-five days after the accident, Bill returned home.
A year after the accident, Bill says he is doing great. In August he passed
his driving evaluation and is again able to drive. Last fall, he returned to his
job as an elementary school art teacher. Both were accomplishments that
Bill and Diane had been told probably wouldn’t happen for several more
months, if ever.
“So, four ambulance rides, three hospitals, two states, one plane trip and
365 days later, we see the end of this journey and the start of a new one,”
Diane said. “Bill didn’t win the Iron Butt rally, but he ended up in a bigger
rally, the Iron Bill Rally. This is one he is definitely winning.”
Click here for more information about Sanford Health general surgery or call (701) 323-5300. |
