16 June 2007
So just when you are lulled into a false sense of security that you REALLY are on vacation on the Amalfi Coast in Italia……
You hear the unmistakable THUD coming from the Secret Garden’s tree house and it is followed by a scream that can only be Nai’a’s. I turned the corner to see Nana lying on the hard earth cradling her right arm. When I got close enough to see it I felt sick to my stomach. Her radius and ulna (the two bones that connect her wrist to her elbow) are completely broken through and you can actually see it. I looked back at Ryder and yell, “Get Michalea, we gotta go to the hospital.”
As I was carrying her back through the garden I could not help but think, thank God at least this happened in Italy and not Nigeria! So then we go to the hospital and I proceed to go through the scarily similar experience that Jena and Duncan went through when he had to be medivaced out to Paris. Being in a foreign country watching your child get medical treatment (which you hope is good enough) trying your hardest to understand the medical terms in another language.
I have to say, the Italian medical system (along with being free, thanks to socialized medicine and the Italians paying 43% in income tax) was efficient and complete. We walked in the emergency room at 6:20 pm and we were quickly taken to x-ray. When we saw the x-rays everyone in the room (there always seems to be 5 extra Italians in any given situation, giving advice) agreed that it was an ugly break. Dr. Guiseppe, the orthopedic on call tells me that the only way to fix it is to quickly “set it” and then put a cast on it. He wants me to leave the room, because I believe he thinks I am going to freak out at the procedure.
I convinced him to let me stay and hold and sing to Nana while they basically stretch her arm and push it back into place. Nana is white and screaming and I can see the terror in her eyes. But quickly it is done and her cast is on. We took another few x-rays and I can tell from the cheering (remember the standard extra 5 people) coming from the x-ray booth that it was a success. And looking at the before and after x-rays, it really was a work of beauty. You can be barely see the fractures at all! I give Dr. Guiseppe a hug even though he is telling us that we have to spend the night in the hospital because they are worried her arm might swell up and then the cast has to be cut off and redone.
7:45 pm: Nana and I are in our hospital room. We are sharing it with two other patients, there is no AC and you have to bring your own toilet paper (maybe they should raise the income tax another %). But we are good and Nana has stopped crying. Ryder brings supplies and I proceed to spend the entire night granting Nana’s every wish for “A little bit more water” or “Hold my arm” or “I want some chocolate milk”. We are finally released at 11 am and stop to get Nana a celebratory haircut at a fancy hair salon.
Some people have vacation pictures of statues and mountains. We have them of emergency rooms and hair salons… ah, adventures in Italia, Jurgensen style.
Beijos,
The Jurgensens
0 comments:
Post a Comment