Life: Idiotropic

Wednesday we ran around Geilenkirchen looking for the perfect gift - which, incidentaly, didn't exsist. Elise birthday was the next day, so I frantically searched for something. I did manage to find a new soccer ball for her and a few little things that day. It was just a nice sunny morning in GK. Mom and I shopped, then we all went out for coffee and cake at my favorite konditerei. The girls love the fountain there in GK, so they played in that while mom and I took turns running into stores.

Wednesday is supposed to be pizza night. Mom had brought a bottle of Oregon wine for them since they are so great to us, so we were going to wrap it up nicely and then go over - just her and I - to have a nice relaxing glass of wine together while we waited for our take-out order. It was such a great plan. I was ready and looking forward to that time. I keep all of my wrapping stuff in the attic, so I went up there to find a gift bag. The attic door has a bolt and a key lock. I can never lock it with the key. Kirk has told me over and over to pull it tight and lock it and it just hasn't worked. So... this night, in my brilliance, I decided to slam it shut and try to lock it very quickly. Good plan, I thought, but my execution wasn't quite right. Somehow in my rush to get out of there, I slammed three of my fingers in the door. So, I ran down three flights of stairs in near hysteria and then completely lost any remnant of control while my fingers throbbed under cold water at the kitchen sink. I cannot believe how painful they were. Mom, being my mother and a nurse insisted that Kirk take me to the emergency room. Not my first choice. I still wanted my glass of wine and pizza!

The hospital was nice and clean. The emergency room seemed ok. We rang the bell. A nurse came. Kirk spoke to her in German. I told her my fingers were ok. She said "oh, no they're not." So we waited and waited.

A little girl sat near us with her parents. She'd broken something in her arm. She was filthy. A sweet girl and trying hard to be brave, but it looked like she'd been playing outside in the dirt for a while. She howled when they took her x-rays. It was hard not to cry just hearing her. It was such a painful cry. And then later we heard her as they set her bones and put her arm in a cast. She was screaming. I just wanted to give her a toy. Her parents were kind, but seemed distant - may be they were just tired. What struck me most was that after it was all over and we saw her come out at the end in a cast, her hand and arm - every visible part of it - was still absolutely filthy. And she was still sobbing - I'm guessing she didn't get anything for the pain.

I saw the doctor who spoke very good English and was very kind. I could still move them, but I had to wait again and get an x-ray too. All the staff were friendly. Got the x-ray and waited a long time because they got busy with other people with more important issues than some smashed fingers. I'd had my fingers straight over ice the whole time and that helped, but I still got those sharp pains. Eventually I got my turn again. They wrapped each of the three fingers individually and sent me home. Very anticlimactic. They didn't offer me anything for the pain. They didn't tell me how long to keep them wrapped. They didn't tell me that it is illegal to drive with hurt fingers (a friend told me later, but I was ok and just kept that hand low - a $375 ticket!)
I think may be if I'd asked, I may have gotten something for pain and a few more answers, but I didn't. It just surprised me. I think that in the U.S. they would have given me something for pain and an antibiotic right away. I was given nothing and told to get a tetanus shot because tetanus would give me "a slow and painful death." Gee, thanks.

Talking with others, it seems that the lack of cleaning the arm when setting it is common. I talked to a guy who broke an arm and had to ask them to clean it - which they did, but they weren't going to without the request. A friend of mine just had twins and she told me that she had her babies in the Netherlands because the German doctors won't even prescribe pain medicine after a C-section. Crazy.

I think the doctors are good here, but it is a different way. The prescribe a lot of herbal medicines too - some of which are quite good. Kirk is currently taking pineapple extract and pancreatic extract for his tendonitis. Wierd, but it seems to help the swelling.