Just before lunch last week Friday, the
children were all playing outside in the garden. I now know that Aimee was on
the trampoline and Ethan was on the ground, am sure Ryan and Jed were also
playing the ball throwing game Ethan was part of. At some stage Aimee let out a
shrill which became an extended, aggravated cry that just didn’t come to an
end. It didn’t take long to realise that this was a tad more serious than
usual! She didn’t want to be with anyone else except ‘Mommy’, but even holding
her tight on my lap didn’t ease the crying!
It turns out that, from the ground, Ethan
pulled her arm and pulled it too hard! I’m not one who runs off to the doctor
very easily, but it was one of those situations where I knew we should have it
‘checked out’ and so after lunch Dieter dropped Aimee and I off at the local
hospital. (The hospital here isn’t as close to our house as it was in Larnaca,
but it’s a 5-minute drive – much closer than others around the country need to
drive to their local hospital! We’re blessed!)
It was just after 2pm and the hospital
could have been mistaken for a morge! It was quiet! Those passages and waiting
areas that buzz for hours on end in the mornings were empty and everything
echoed! We didn’t know it, but the new Emergency wing of the hospital had only
been opened 4 days before and we were some of its first visitors! Dieter walked
with us to the waiting area, through the double security-doors. Between the
doors is a metal-detector-thingy that buzzed as we walked through and, having
been well trained in our travels, we stopped dead in our tracks preparing to do
a re-run or a body-search. The security guard was hammering nervously on the
button which keeps the doors open, almost begging us to keep moving and get
through the second set of doors. Obviously neither the doors nor the detector
are working properly!!!
Our visit to the hospital lasted 3 hours in
total and was rather uneventful. There were only about 8 other ‘cases’ waiting
around us, most with a guest or family entourage! There was only one other
‘white’ couple in the waiting area and for a moment I felt as if I was at
Larnaca General all over again. I was the ‘outsider’, the ‘Xenos’ …… two
ladies nearby were having a rather loud conversation in Xhosa and I couldn’t
understand a word. I spent a chunk of time in the waiting areas in Larnaca
surround by locals who were talking demonstratively and I couldn’t understand
any of it! The only difference is that in Larnaca, I looked local! Here I am
local and I felt like a visitor! It was a private moment. I felt safe,
comfortable and quite welcome. It seems that the local ‘coloured’ people mostly speak Afrikaans, a language I can
fluently speak and understand, and I was soon able to understand a lot of other
conversations going on around me!
Our 3 hours was spent waiting mostly. But
in between all the waiting we did see a nurse who documented all Aimee’s
medical basics, a clerk who opened a hospital file for her, a young doctor who
was very kind and gentle with Aimee, a radiologist who took some x-rays of both
her elbows, a 2nd doctor for a more expert opinion and a pharmacist.
The verdict was that because the plates
around the elbow are still ‘open’ in children of Aimee’s age, it is difficult
to know whether there has been any damage. There was however a grey ‘shadow’
around the elbow which isn’t a good sign, so the doctor put some plaster of
paris under her arm and elbow for support and strapped it up so she could
protect it and rest it over the weekend in a sling. She was still in some pain
and the paracetemol was a great help for the first night.
 |
| By the time this photo was taken Aimee didn't feel like smiling and just wanted to go home! |
Aimee has slept in our room on a mattress
for the last 3 nights. On Saturday she lazed around most of the day, often
watching something on telly or being read to. She wasn’t too thrilled with her
new arm accessory and didn’t even want to go to church because she couldn’t put
pretty clothes on! But, on Sunday morning I washed her hair, showered most of
her chest and lower body and put a pretty denim dress over her t-shirt which
she wore with her stockings, boots and poncho from Von. She felt great and was
ready to go anywhere!
Today, after 3 days in a sling, Ryan and I
took Aimee back to the hospital to see an orthopaedic specialist and possibly
have new x-rays taken to make sure about her treatment. Today we spent just
over 2 hours at the hospital. We spent over an hour waiting in one of those
buzzing areas for Aimee’s file only to reach the front of the que and be told
that we first need an appointment at the Orthopaedic department. We walked over
to that wing of the hospital and up to the first floor to make the appointment,
and then went back to get the file. Then we spent another 50 minutes waiting to
see the doctor. There were quite a few people waiting ever so patiently and I
was surprised when Aimee’s name was called. The doctor took a quick look at the
xrays and couldn’t see any need to have new ones made. He took the sling off
Aimee’s arm and had her move it – it was so obviously much less painful. She
could even bend it to touch her nose! It was a little painful, so he’s made a
soft sling for her to keep her arm rested in for a few more days until she
feels better. No serious break or injury, it will obviously heal with some
rest. Now that’s a great relief!!
It was only this afternoon that I thought
of how peacefully everyone sits at the different hospital departments. In
Cyprus there were always people trying to jump the que or ease their way into
the doctor’s office for preferential treatment. Here there was none of that.
Everyone was so kind and caring and helpful.
Aimee’s doing much better tonight, using
her arm a lot more and its very obvious that its healing nicely! Never a dull
moment! Another story for our adventure book!
PS:
Poor Ethan was devastated that he had hurt his little sister! He
couldn’t stop apologising when we returned from the hospital on Friday evening
with a temporary cast and sling. He loves his little sister so very much!
