Coyans in the Czech Republic

Den v nemocnici...a day in the hospital

Yesterday was a really interesting day for me (Krista). As many of my fellow Facebookers can attest, my husband has purchased for me a new bike. This is great as I can join him on his many bike rides into the city from our town and we can avoid the mosquitos by cycling much faster than their blood-thirsty bodies can fly. So, yesterday we went on an excursion to the city along the river Vltava which flows through our town . It was a lovely day for a ride and our destination was the farmers market. A few meters from the farmers market I sped out of control and hit a post and then proceeded to fall to the ground entangled in my beautiful, new bike. Dazed, I stood up to examine the damage only to be confronted by a peculiarly misshapen digit on my right hand. My ring finger was sticking straight up into the air, quite the opposite of how God intended it to lie. I yelled out to Danny (who was several meters ahead and had only seen the ending of my accident,when I fell to the ground on the tourist-filled, medieval cobblestone street) saying,"I broke my finger!" His response to me was incredulity...how annoying! So I stumbled over to him as I had sustained other injuries to my legs and shoulder, and quite frankly "gave him the finger". I was then vindicated as he became queasy just looking upon it. Imagine my suffering knowing that monstrosity belonged to me! Suddenly, the shock and adrenaline came over me and I lay on the sidewalk shivering, sweating and trying to stay conscious. Dan asked if I could walk or ride my bike...inside I just laughed..how could he even ask such inane questions when I was barely able to squeak out "help me, Danny". Normally, this would not have raised such a conundrum but our situation was thus: far away from the hospital, no car, fainting wife on the ground, hundreds of tourists around who speak German, no idea what number to call for an ambulance, and a husband who so deperately wanted me to get back on my bike so we could get out of here. Then Good Samaritans came by to lift me up, call for help, give me water and stay with us until the ambulance came. I had attracted quite a crowd of German tourists who may have thought this was one of the stops on their tour when, suddenly, one came to the forefront announcing that not only did he speak English (I speak no German save for a few rude words) but was also an orthopaedic surgon. He asked my permission to set my finger to rights and he did!...it was like a miracle. Even the paramedics were in awe. Then the pain came and was I ever glad to get in the ambulance. Dan escorted the bikes home and promised to come for me at the hospital. It was a nice ride in the ambulance and the paramedic who attended to me was very warm and caring. I told her how embarrased I was for having an ambulance come just for a broken finger but she said that I was being silly and just last week they had received a call from someone who had been bitten by a mosquito. Upon arriving at the hospital, we were met by an orderly with a wheelchair which was exactly this, a desk chair with wheels on it. Something like an old steel chair from some 1950's office to which casters had been stapled. I was wheeled around the emergency room for x-rays (two breaks in my finger) and fitted for a cast, shoulder brace and poked and prodded among my various bruises and contusions. The doctor then came in for me to sign release papers (Hey, wait a minute, don't I get offered pain meds? What kind of country is this??) Signing was a hoot as I am right-handed (broken) and my left hand is basically just for decoration. He laughed at my signature as it looked like the work of a drunk platypus. He also presented me with my bill. Two things to remember: 1. Last time I was in the emergency room in the US we paid $4500 for our 20% co-pay and that was for just 4 hours in the ER. 2. I have Czech insurance, of course, and this is socialized medicine, but I did have an ambulance ride...that's gotta cost alot, right? Well, my bill was for 90 crowns which roughly translates to $4. Unfortunately, I did not have my wallet with me so he said with a friendly smile, "No matter, the state will pay for it." Now I understand why people feel free to call on an ambulance for bug bites. All in all, a good day...Only problem, I can't write, can barely type (this is taking me over an hour) and school starts for me next week...How am I supposed to write lesson plans?