. . . the Ball Won . . . a Stalemate
I guess the titles of recent blog postings don’t make much sense so I’ll explain things a bit. Monday morning I went in to visit the Embassy’s doc (Ruth Anne - I wish all docs were as practical and down to earth as she is). Things didn’t look good - the swelling had increased, as had the bruising (with some thin red lines running up and down the inside of my finger), and my range of motion was decreasing. Ruth Anne squeezed and prodded my finger, pain wimp that I am I tried not to grimace too much, she had me move my finger and then said, “Well, there’s no obvious break, but then that’s good news and bad news.”
Long story short, the finger was bruising and swelling as if it were broken. She was concerned that a spur had broken off the knob of one of the finger bones that meet the knuckle. So what I was looking at was either a serious sprain, or a chipped bone that would take even longer to heal and a possible trip to an orthopedic surgeon if it didn’t heal correctly.
“I want you to go to JFK (the hospital, not the airport) and get an x-ray of it. What does your schedule look like today.” “Well, today is pretty bad - meetings at 11, 1, 2, 3 and 4.” She rolled her eyes. “And you have your pack out tomorrow, right?” “Yeah, but the movers said I don’t have much stuff and that they should be done by noonish. Can we make an appointment for mid-afternoon tomorrow?” “We’ll try.”
I got a finger splint to hold my finer in a natural position, to be worn at all times except while bathing (“and definitely wear it to bed, you won’t believe how easy it is to re-injure your finger in your sleep!”).
As I was leaving Ruth Ann said, “Tomorrow, remember that JFK is a third world hospital. It’s not as bad as some I’ve seen, but don’t expect US standards.” “Got it, I’m in LIberia!”
We scheduled an appointment for 2pm the next day and the movers were done by 12:30. So off I went with one of the Embassy FSN nurses to JFK. How should I put it . . . Ruth Ann was right. It was old and run down - not filthy, but not clean by any stretch of the imagination. No way would I want somebody doing surgery on me there. Fortunately I was only there for an x-ray.
The x-ray technician seemed competent and was a nice enough guy. I was thankful that the lead blanket was large, and that he advised me to make sure that all the parts of my body were covered up. I certainly didn’t trust that the dosage and direction of radiation were within prescribed range - the machine looked as old as me and . . . well I’m kind of breaking down so . . . .
After about 15 minutes the wet x-rays came out and the radiologist and I stood looking and joking about parts of my hands that are likely to give me trouble as I get older. I made a joke about already getting “older” and we both looked around (we seemed about the same age) at the young people in the hallway and he said, “Yeah, they have no idea . . . .” We both laughed. We were joking because very quickly it was clear that the x-rays were negative. I explained to him Ruth Anne’s concerns and he was careful to check them out, but definitely negative.
Fortunately Carrie, the FSN nurse had a phone camera and took a couple of shots and e-mailed them to me.
and
The next day Ruth Anne confirmed the diagnosis and told me how to treat my sprained finger.
One of the advantages to having medical work done in the third world is that you pay third world prices. L$ 2,450. Approximately 1/10th of the average Liberian’s annual salary. US$31.00. And I got to keep the x-rays. Maybe Ann will want to hang them in her office - remembrances of one more of Dan’s excellent adventures (check that one off, I have no desire to ever “have” to visit a developing world hospital again!).
So why was this a stalemate? I won the point, the ball didn’t break my finger, but I’m in the splint full time for two weeks, part time when I’m active for two weeks, and I’ll have to do finger stretching exercises to get my flexibility (which is now at about zero) back. I’ll be home well before I’m fully up to speed, which means no more volleyball for me here in Liberia!