I was
walking with the Scouts from the log cabin to the main part of the scout
grounds along a rocky, muddy and wet path in the middle of the forest. I
stepped on a rock, slipped to the left and went over on my ankle. Falling down
on top of it didn`t help either. At the time, I couldn`t decide whether I was
more upset about my mud covered jeans or the searing pain through my ankle and
outside of my foot! Luckily I was wearing walking boots, otherwise I`m sure the
outcome would have been much worse.
At the
time, I was walking alongside one of the scouts called Hugo. When I fell, he
called to Aurianne, to tell Samuel, to tell Anna that I`d hurt myself! I
decided to cut out the middle man and using all those projection techniques I
have acquired through 10 years of singing training, called out to Anna. As Anna
recounts, she was walking and suddenly heard an echoing voice through the trees
saying “Anna, I`ve hurt my ankle”! Anna and the scouts kindly helped me to my
feet and Anna helped me back to the main camp. Luckily the pain subsided after
a little while and I was able to walk by myself.
By the time
scout camp had finished, I was sat in Eric`s car with a very painful foot,
asking Anna to distract me from the pain by talking about random things. I was
also feeling sorry for myself that I probably wouldn`t be able to go to the
Halloween party that evening. But did that stop me?! In retrospect, I should
have stayed in and looked after my ankle, but other assistants from Quebec had
come to st Georges for the Canadian Assistant`s party at her house and I decided
that I couldn`t just not go. After a glass of port, I could no longer feel the
pain and went to the party. This was most definitely not helpful, but I didn`t
want to miss out on the fun!
In the
morning, my ankle looked like a clubbed foot and many jokes were made about
this as the swelling was ridiculous! I spent the day icing and resting but it
didn`t make much difference. All of my housemates were nursing hangovers so
they weren`t able to go to the shop to get me a bandage. Luckily Pascal popped
around and he very kindly went to Dollarama and got bandages, ice packs, heat
packs and even a knee support...ominous!
The swelling!
Luckily
Monday was my day off, so I called Stephane and warned him that I was going to
go to the hospital (as he would have to pay for it). He advised me to go to the
Clinique Familial but to get there before 8.30.As none of my housemates could
drive me because they had to go to school, I ended up walking to the Clinique only
to find out that by the time I got there just before 8.30, there were no
appointments left. Definitely unable to walk, I called a taxi and went to the
hospital. I arrived at about 9 and didn`t leave until just before 4. As I had
been to the hospital with Jen a few weeks before, I knew that I need a hospital
card, so I set about sorting that out first. Under Mum`s direction, I had
already called the insurance company and had all my papers and passport with
me. It was also very fortunate that in the front of my school planner, I had
mindlessly written all of my details in the front when I was bored one day, so
when it came to giving the secretary all of my details, all she had to do was
photocopy my planner. Well done me!
The secretary
wanted an upfront payment of $570 for going to A&E. I tried to explain to
the lady the instructions of the insurance man, which were that I wasn`t to pay
for the treatment, but they were to call the insurance company and they should
deal with each other directly. As this was not the norm, the secretary didn`t
believe me and things became very stressful, especially as I didn`t want to
mess up making an insurance claim later. And so began the long process of
trying to get hold of Stephane. He had told me that he would take his phone to
class so that if I needed him to pay anything, he would be able to speak to the
hospital on the phone. However, Stephane had left his phone in the car. I then
called the school office and they took a message for me. I explained to the
secretary that Stephane would come and pay for me in his break and that seemed
to please the secretary.
I was then allowed to go to the Emergency
Room, where I was checked out by the nurse immediately. She poked and prodded
for a little while and decided that it was worth filling out another form on.
She asked me to describe my pain as the box has to be ticked on their system. I
had no idea what any of the words on her list meant! I kind of tried to
explain, but the problem was that my ankle didn`t hurt continuously at this
point, it was just really swollen and I couldn`t really move it. I ended up
telling her that the pain moved from place to place.
I then had
to sit in the waiting room along with a crazy guy that tried to engage me in conversation,
a woman on an IV drip, a man with a big bandage around his head (a la Mr Bump!)
and a woman with a urine sample, waiting to go back in to give it to the
Doctor. It was ridiculously overcrowded and there was no phone signal either.
When Stephane asked me what it was like going to the hospital here, I told him
it was like being in Africa. I guess it made even our NHS look good. Luckily he
found this funny as a big topic of conversation here is how bad the hospitals
are here, even though people pay lots of tax. My sec 1 class the following day
told me that you have to make hospital appointments 4 months in advance. I
joked that I`m going to book an appointment for January now, just in case anything
happens and they all agreed that it was probably a good idea!
I was seen
by the doctor after 4 hours and he gave me crutches and he thought my foot was fractured.
This is the logic of people here...I was carrying a bag, a coat and numerous
forms...How on earth was I supposed to use crutches?! I then had to go and have
5 x-rays and then wait another hour to get the results of the x-rays from the
doctor. I couldn`t understand what he said was wrong, but I understood that it
wasn`t fractured or broken, so I guess it`s sprained.
I then had
to go back to the secretary with a dozen more forms and I told her that I
couldn`t pay yet as Stephane still hadn`t got back to me. I tried calling the
school and they said he would call me back when he finished his class. The woman
called the school herself and said that she couldn`t let me leave the hospital
until the bill was settled, so she took my passport and told me to sit where
she could see me. I remembered that a friend from choir worked at the hospital,
so I asked the receptionist to call her, and she came and found me. She spoke
to the lady that had taken my passport and told her that I wasn`t out to cheat
the medical system and I got my passport back. Lousie Rachel also gave me some
money to go to the cafeteria to get some lunch as I hadn`t been able to eat
since 8am.
Stephane eventually
arrived and paid. We had to sort out a medical report that I needed to make the
insurance claim. They gave me a receipt, which listed everything that I had had
done, but there was no diagnosis on there, so I guess I am going to have to go
back. They are so disorganised that I doubt they even have it on file!
That
evening my ankle became much more painful and I was at choir at the time. The ladies
from choir gave me pain killers and anti-inflammatory pills and then Louise
Rachel took me to her house and gave me some prescription drugs, which she had
been given samples of because she works in the health clinic!
Luckily my
ankle is now on the mend, a week later and hopefully I will be able to walk
again in no time!
xx
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