Bone Hospital | Taking Our Time

2/26 – When we woke up this morning, Jim said we’d waited long enough for my arm to feel better. Time to take action! We looked at our map and saw a hospital within walking distance. Jim copied out the Chinese words for ‘shoulder’ and ‘X-Ray’, and we set off down the road. We walked into the hospital, teeming with parents and children. The nurse at the front desk let us know this was a children’s hospital, and she went and got a lady who spoke enough English to tell us we needed the Bone Hospital. She wrote out the words in Chinese so we could show the taxi driver.

15 minutes later, we walked into another hospital. There were lots of people limping and in casts and crutches, so we figured we were in the right place. The nurse checked us in using my passport as ID, and issued us a plastic card that would be swiped for each transaction.

We waited in a hallway until we were called in to see a doctor, who concurred that I needed an X-ray. He called over a young resident who spoke some English, who took us upstairs and instructed us to wait until we were called. He asked if he could take our picture, as we were his first foreign patients!

Within an hour, my X-rays were done, and we waited until they were developed, then brought them back to the doctor on the first floor. He showed me where my upper arm bone (humerus) was fractured right below the shoulder. He called the young resident back, and he said it didn’t need an operation or a cast, just don’t move it for three weeks. Jim asked if we could purchase a sling, and the young doctor took us up to the tenth floor to be fitted for one. Here’s the happy result!