RICHARD'S STORY

January 12, 2007 was a snow filled day in the Eugene, Oregon area.  Richard Hughes decided to fetch his snow shovel from the loft in his garage.  He set up his metal extension ladder on the concrete floor and climbed up.  However, he hadn’t checked to make sure the ladder was stabilized, and when he started down, it slipped and he fell, landing on top of the ladder on the concrete.  He initially thought he was just winded, even though he couldn’t walk.  He was able to crawl into his house where his wife, Lana, heard his moaning.  She knew something was seriously wrong and insisted on calling 911.

Within four minutes, the Eugene fire Department was at the house, checking his vital signs.  They could tell right away that Richard was having problems with his spleen so when the ambulance and paramedics arrived there was no hesitation about rushing him to the Emergency Room at Sacred Heart for immediate treatment.

Examination quickly showed that Richard’s spleen was badly damaged.  In addition, he had three broken ribs, two breaks in his clavicle, another break in his scapula and a broken thumb.  His emergency surgeon, Dr. Snell Fontus, told Richard that they were going to have to “go in” to look at his spleen.  This surgery revealed a severely injured organ that Dr. Fontus removed.  However, not long afterwards, a second round of surgery was necessary because Richard continued to bleed. During his three days in the Intensive Care unit, Richard received 13 units of red blood cells, along with several doses of platelets.  Each unit is approximately 1/3 of a liter; the average person has between 5-6 liters of blood in their body - Richard got a lot of new blood!  Platelets are essential as they control the clotting factor of blood, but only last a few days in the body or when kept at room temperature.  The red blood cells are refrigerated until transfused and the platelets cannot survive in these conditions.  To help Richard’s body control the bleeding, he required platelets.  Since most of his own blood had been replaced, and as the units he received contained no viable platelets, he received several doses of platelets. 

In his mid 60’s, Richard is an avid hiker, cyclist and yoga practitioner.  Doctors credit his amazingly swift recovery to his extreme fitness.  But that fitness also caused him to start getting restless during the four days he spent in the regular ward.  He insisted on being allowed to get out of bed and start walking around, even though he admitted he needed help to start.            

Since then, however, he has regained his health and is now hiking 5 miles a day, including up Eugene’s Mt. Pisgah, and is back on his bicycle.

The spleen is an organ in the abdomen, located just under the rib cage on the left side.  Because of its location, it is a prime target for injury from a heavy blow to the abdomen from a sporting mishap, car accident or fist fight.  The spleen helps fight infection, filters unwanted materials such as old or damaged blood cells, is part of the immune system and acts as a reservoir of blood.  A ruptured spleen may pour a large amount of blood into the abdominal cavity and surgery is needed immediately to prevent life-threatening blood loss.  This in turn will result in low blood pressure and not enough oxygen can reach the brain and heart.  Immediate blood transfusions are then required to maintain adequate circulation.  Without infusions and surgery, the person could go into shock and die.

The person can live an active life without a spleen, but is more likely to contract serious infections.  Doctors therefore recommend a pneumonia vaccine, as well as yearly flu vaccines and other preventive methods.