We walked back and were directed to a nursing station where I told them what had happened and how I was feeling. Thankfully, there was a nurse there that spoke some English and he created a folder and sent me back to a door in the patient waiting area, that was closed and locked. You put the folder in the slit of the door and waited until they called you. Surprisingly, we didn't wait long, and then a nurse opened the door and didn't necessarily call my name but looked at me and beckoned me her way. I guess she didn't really have to say my name since I was obvio the only person in the room with an American name.
We went into the room and as she closed the door, the door locked. She asked me some questions in broken English, I answered her using gestures as well. I was then guided to the back of the room where a patient bed was and a curtain. She instructed me to lay down and then I wrested my shirt up, unzipped my pants and she began placing EKG leads on me. But like only three. I knew this was different but it was not place to say a freaking word. Then she hooked up the leads, and I swear to you, they looked just like jumper cables!!! Seriously, a red one, a green one and a yellow one. What the heck? I hoped she was grounding me well. LOL
She got the information she needed, handed me the paper and said it looked good. Next I was taken to a patient room, mom following me of course, and instructed to wait for the doctor. The only thing that was similar to our patient rooms here was the bed. Otherwise the rest of the room looked like an office. She had already taken my blood pressure, so we just sat and waited.
Soon a beautiful looking Israeli man came in, introduced himself, pronounced my name fairly good and asked where I was from. I told him to which he replied, "I'm studying to practice medicine in the America." Oooookay....... For some reason, that did not give me any vote of confidence. He gave me a gown and a few minutes to change. Then he examined me. And when I say examined me, (where so much of the pain was coming from under my right breast) let's just say, it was different than a typical exam in the US. Let's say, he was very thorough.
He then sent us for an xray. It got a little dicey, in that everything was in Hebrew, he spoke some English fairly well but there wasn't anyone else around us then that did. So we followed his instructions until we were lost. And then we just kept wandering until we saw someone and simply said "xray" and he pointed us down some halls. We actually left the one building through some doors and entered another building. It was so confusing.
We finally made it and a technician called me in. She had me stand two different ways and took two scans. That didn't feel right either, but hey, I just did as I was asked and again, I am in position to question them.
After a wrong turn or two, we made it back to the main area and after sitting in the hall for several minutes, I knocked on the locked closed door to ask them where I should wait, and was directed to some chairs outside the exam room. If you think hospitals in general are great people watching places, you should try a hospital in Israel. We certainly didn't get bored. At one point, a police guard brought a man in that had his feet and wrists shackled. That was interesting. Seeing an older woman clothed in her full burka rushed in by EMT's with a worried family after them was the perfect reminder that as much as we might differ in language culture and religion, we are really all the same. Nothing different about that worried family than mine would be. Again, another moment of feeling bonded to these people.
Finally doc called us in, said there were no broken ribs (which surprised me at the time, but later makes sense) that it was a "contusion" and that I was good to go. We went back out to the patient waiting area for them to bring me my paperwork. While we were waiting, the nurse who had treated me, walked past and made eye contact. I smiled, and when she came back, she had a foil packet with a pill in it. "Take this" she said. I asked, "What is it?" To which she replied, "for your pain" I asked again, "BUT WHAT IS IT?" I got her same reply but louder "FOR YOUR PAIN" I suppose we were both stuck in that mode of 'if-I-get-louder-she'll-understand-me'
At that point, I realized I wasn't going to find out what it was, and she kept pushing it towards me so I shrugged and took the pill. In hindsight, I realize that was pretty stupid. It didn't look like anything I recognized, lot's of different things are legal there, it could have been anything! Actually, it was more like swallowing a tic tac. No relief, no anything. It was probably just acetaminophen.
She then brought my bill and a credit card machine. Of course the amount looked HUGE in shekels, but it ended up being quite reasonable. A little over 300 US dollars. I think I'm gonna submit my paperwork to my insurance to see if I'll get reimbursed! Hopefully, they have someone on staff who can read Hebrew. :)
didn't see his note about my rotator cuff until now
Our taxi driver took us back to the resort, I messaged my husband and based on what diagnosis I got from the beautiful Israeli man, I was nothing more than banged up and should feel better soon. Mom and I dropped exhausted into bed.
Next chapter, we'll get to the actual tour activities for Day 10
**Follow up. I never did feel better for the rest of the tour, no improvement whatsoever. After coming home to an Urgent Care visit, ER visit, several xrays and a MRI - it appears that the partial tear I already had is a little worse and there is now a full thickness tear elsewhere in that shoulder. Seeing an ortho tomorrow to decide what's next. Surgery is a strong possibility. It's now been over 4 weeks since the accident and I just want to be out of pain. I've already done cortisone injections for over 4 years, they no longer work. I did PT but it made things worse, I'm not even caring any more if surgery is my only option, I just need it fixed.**
1 comment:
Hopefully this will bring relief.
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