harrowing story

Jeff of Ruminations in Korea hasn't blogged in a while, but he's got a hell of a story to tell. Go visit his blog, read about his most recent motorcycle accident, and ask yourselves whether you'd entrust yourself to peninsular health care if seriously injured. Here's a tantalizing excerpt.

I was wheeled into the emergency room, and was pleased to note that they were awaiting my arrival. The emergency room staff was friendly, helpful, and very professional. They took excellent care of me. They made me as comfortable as possible. However, that was all to end too soon.

So the doctor came and told me they would have to take new x-rays and perform CT scans on both limbs. They wheeled me into the into the x-ray room and took the x-rays as carefully as possible. The next stop was to the CT room, where they did their best not to hurt me anymore than they had to. After those steps were complete, they wheeled me back to the emergency room to await the doctors further opinion.

The doctor came and said that my left wrist was not that badly broken and probably should have been treated immediately after the accident. By simply resetting the bone and wrapping my hand in a cast. However, because five days had elapsed since the accident, the bone had started to heal again, and they would have to re-break it before setting it again. I said that would be no problem, and told him to shoot me up with painkillers and anesthetic and then to go on with the procedure. He informed me that it had to be done without the benefit of anesthetic.

I'm sure you're dying to know what happened next. While it feels dirty to derive narratological enjoyment at Jeff's expense, I'm thankful that Jeff is sharing this tale.


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