UPDATE:

Citizen ad manager in critical condition after crash

––––––––– Update 6 pm Sunday August 2: A wildly ecstatic Linda reported the hated "halo" was removed Friday afternoon. Her spine doc reviewed current x-rays and pronounced her good to go. She remains in four separate casts (two ankle, one thigh, one arm) and they will take more weeks before they are removed. She will begin a rehabilitation therapy course to improve her now weakened legs, arm and neck. Eager to get back on her feet (without casts) her usual cheery and optimistic self is just bubbling over.

––––––––– Update 8 am Friday July 24: A much improved Linda is anxious to leave her bed and return to work. Next week she sees her spine surgeon and hopes to have the date of the removal of the halo orginally expected to be 8 weeks total. Week five ends tomorrow. She is receiving a stream of visitors and phone calls. Those visits are vital to her recovery. She is thankful for the kindness of all of her friends.

–––––––––– Update 9 pm Monday July 6: Linda wants everyone to know that the
support, the calls, the cards, the flowers, have made all the difference in the world. Also, she invites anyone and everyone to drop by for a visit, even if they're just passing through. She misses the life-giving effects of West Marin community contact.

–––––––––– Update 5 pm Monday June 29: Linda was moved to a convalescent hospital in San Rafael. Linda was greatly relieved. Kaiser was threatening to send her to either San Leandro or Vallejo –– Linda dreaded having her friends face such a long trip to see her. She is at Rafael Convalescent Hospital, 234 N. San Pedro Rd., San Rafael 94903 (415-479-3450). San Pedro Road is the main road past Marin Civic Center. Linda is a few blocks east. She was moved because -- in doctor speak -- she was medically fit. She still wears the halo and casts in ankles and a wrist. She can handle a telephone with ease. A computer may be a challange and will wait a bit. Linda is so relieved to be in Marin, is in good spirits and in awe at her good fortune to survive the crash and surgery. She is cheered by all the cards, calls, visits wishing her speedy recovery.

–––––––––– Update 1 pm Thursday June 25: Linda is recovering well. she will have one more surgery today on various bones (left ankle/wrist) but after that its just a matter of recovery, rehab. she is breathing, eating, talking..and using her cell phone! by next week I suspect she will back on the internet;) her spirits are high and she is determined to get back on her feet, (literally!), as soon as safely possible...you know Linda, can't keep her down long ; )
She is still at Kaiser Oakland...by next week we will know where she will go for the intitial part of her recovery (likely a skilled nursing facility and then rehabilitation). She is so overwhelmed, as am I, by all the love and blessings..thank you!
Love,
Saskia Van der Wal, Linda's

–––––––––– Update 9 pm Sunday June 21, 2009: Linda Petersen continues to be the irrepressible, engaged and lively Linda. She is improving rapidly. She sat up on the side of her bed (with help) for a few minutes Sunday. Her docs have reduced the amount of painkillers (no more morphine) and she is alert, talking (non-stop), and responsive. Family visited during the day Saturday and Sunday, greatly improving her spirits. She will undergo another surgery Monday on her ankle. She will have a cast on each leg and her halo (for the cracked neck vertebrae) for the next several months. She is talking about helping put the paper out next week.

––––––––––– Update 10 am Saturday June 20, 2009: Linda Petersen has improved. She was taken off the ventilator late Thursday. By Friday afternoon her condition was stable enough for her to be transferred to Kaiser Hospital, Oakland. She was talking and interacting with her daugther, Saskia. She had major surgery Sunday (14th) on her lung, ribs, femor, wrist. She will undergo another surgery to repair both ankles. She is still in intensive care and cannot receive flowers or visitors. She appreciated the cards she received before leaving Marin General. Her Address is: Linda Petersen, Kaiser Hospital, 280 W. McArthur Blvd, Oakland, CA 94611.

––––––––––– June 18, 2009 West Marin Citizen advertising manager Linda Petersen is in the hospital recovering from extensive injuries after her car struck a utility pole before midnight on Saturday in Inverness. Her dog Sebastian was killed in the crash.

Linda said she was on her way home on Saturday night after helping out at an event in Stinson beach when she fell asleep at the wheel. Her injuries include fractures to her C2 vertebrae, left femur, left talus (ankle) and left wrist. Less serious are fractures of her C6 and C7 vertebrae, multiple ribs and her right ankle. Doctors said there was no spinal cord injury, but she will need to be in a special stability cage, called a “halo” for at least three months for the neck injuries.

Doctors initially believed Linda’s injuries were limited to many fractures but minimal if any internal injuries. Following a six-hour surgery on Sunday to attend the most serious fractures, her daughter Saskia van der Wal reported that doctors at Marin General discovered lung, diaphragm and heart contusions for which Linda is currently on a ventilator. Saskia, who works locally as a family physician, said Linda, who is 61 years old, could be in the ICU for “days to weeks.” When weaned off the ventilator, she will likely be transferred at some point to Kaiser hospital in Oakland.

Linda also has a son, David, who lives with his wife in San Francisco.

Linda’s tiny Havanese dog Sebastian was 16. Saskia and Dave Mitchell, who often looked after Sebastian, buried the dog in Mitchell’s yard in Point Reyes Station on Sunday.

As word got out, Linda received several visitors on Sunday who reported that – in character for Linda – she expressed a desire to dispense with the delays and get back to work.

While the ICU is always open for visitation. Linda has a phone in her room, which is connected through the ICU, which can in turn be reached through the hospital main number, 925-7000. As of noon on Wednesday Linda remained heavily sedated to facilitate the breathing tube inserted into her lungs and won’t be able to receive visitors or talk with people for several days.

The ICU said that cards, balloons, but no flowers, can be sent to Linda Petersen c/o Marin General Hospital, Intensive Care Unit, 250 Bon Air Road, Greenbrae, CA 94904.

Dave Mitchell has posted a eulogy to Sebastian on his sparselysageandtimely.com blog.

?Linda Petersen and family: David Van Der Wal, son, Saskia van der Wal, daughter,
Gwen Kutz-Van Der Wal, daughter-in-law, Linda Petersen.

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