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Tue Sep 05, 2006 12:58 am  |
Agent 00-CAT, and everyone who's PMed me, thank you for checking up. below is the story of my search for rehabilitation (or reeducation as it's called here) in france. other than the ongoing pain and frustration of breaking what has to be the absolute worst and most difficult to heal bone in my body, i am finally happy and at peace with it. i WILL heal!!!
i was searching on the web to try and find medical terminology to see if was different in french from english. i found the perfect page, a seminal examination of the elbow, available in both french and english. most interesting was the name of the hospital, translated as 'institute of the hand' (an institute purely dedicated to upper limb surgery and rehabilitation, one of the premier places in all of europe) and the fact that the doctor/professeur had published extensively (good chance of some english). better yet, it was practically in my backyard (well, a half hour walk over the seine  ).
so with the balls of oblivion and butterflies in my stomach, i went there yesterday. after making sure the only french-speaking secretary understood that i had *not* just broken my elbow, and that it was not an emergency, i somehow charmed my way through the system (no appointment -- which i explained was due to my lack of french) on my sheer audacity and patience (it was an all-day affair of waiting). i managed to see the exact doctor (spoke *perfect* english) i wanted to see (who had written extensively on elbows), get through radiologie for new x-rays where no one spoke english), and find a place for rehabilitation three days a week for the next several months with someone who knew what they were doing. i honestly doubt i could have found a better place to be, even had i stayed in the states. and everyone was perfectly lovely (other than the look of amazement at the amount of bling i had in my arm and the obvious feeling that they thought i was a bit fou -- french for crazy/mad, which i am  ).
so once again, all the people that trash the french are full of sh*t. they're glorious and warm and welcoming and helpful -- as long as you treat them with respect, politeness, and a little bit of moxy. even my fear of going to the market has been allayed. here, you need to bag your own groceries. the minute i pull my arm out of the sling to to so, i get waved away and the cashier does it for me. despite my embarrassment, it just warms my cockles! and seats are offered to me on the metro, most usually by muslims, so there goes another stereotype down the drain (though we needn't discuss this as it borders on taboo political). i couldn't be happier that i came back here to recuperate, and have an even greater love for france and the french, even/especially the dreaded parisians. walking back from the institut, i gasped at my first site of the tour eiffel and knew i was where i belonged (soft music, scene fades out as heroine raises arm to feel the healing powers of the sparkly lights  ). |
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Tue Sep 05, 2006 5:04 am |
So sorry to hear about your elbow and pain.  Please get better soon.
I am having a consult in a week to have my ankle repaired (screw, tendons, muscle). I am scared to death. From what I have been told it will be a six month recovery then rehab. I have been to countless doctors and finally found one in Boston that can handle my case.
Wishing your a speedy recovery.  |
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Tue Sep 05, 2006 5:30 am |
thank you, winnie. i'm so glad you found somebody that can handle your case! constant pain is definitely *no* fun and although surgery isn't pain free  , it will hopefully finally fix your injury and ultimately leave you pain-free.i think it helps, too, to go in with a strong positive attitude (rather than being told there is no other option as in my case). i'll be here to hold your hand (in the virtual sense) and if you ever need anyone to bitch to, i'm your man. um, woman. um, a woman who obviously had no right to be on rollerblades at her age (according to all the looks i got). you should see their faces when i tell them i want to be back on my bike by spring and, oh, do you think i'll be able to start climbing again by then???  |
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Tue Sep 05, 2006 5:56 am |
| la vie en rose wrote: |
| so once again, all the people that trash the french are full of sh*t. they're glorious and warm and welcoming and helpful -- as long as you treat them with respect, politeness, and a little bit of moxy. |
That's exactly what I've been trying to tell my compatriots over here in the UK! I was in hospital for a couple of months in France and (apart from one unbelievably horrible nurse in the Emergency Heart Unit), I was treated with such compassion and care that I cried when I was discharged! At my lowest ebb whilst there, one of my favourite nurses trooped into my room, bringing a couple of colleagues with her. They then proceeded to perform what can only be described as a comedy show especially for me, doing the most hilarious impressions of the consultants and doctors. Despite the pain and fear I was feeling, I ended up nearly falling out of bed with laughter. They even helped me with my French A Level course and indulged me with discussions on the various merits of Shakepeare and Molière!
I'm so glad you've found what sounds like the perfect place for treatment. I always found the French medical institutions to be highly professional, hygienic and skilled. They beat the heck out of the hospitals over here, where everyone's too scared to be ill in case you end up dying of something you pick up whilst being treated!
Best of luck with your rehabilitation. With your strength of character and resolve, there's no way even a broken elbow's going to keep you down for long.  |
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Tue Sep 05, 2006 7:21 am |
La Vie en Rose; c'est fantastique!!! I'm so glad you found *THE* doctor. How amazing is that. Good luck in rehab. And YEAH, go roller-blading, get back on your bike and go climbing!!!!! You go, girl!
I'm also pleased that your experience (majorb too) of the French medical system is so good. There's a really good fun book written by an Australian journalist about the begnning of her stay in France. I'm blanking on the name, it;s a very touching book and she talks of how some attitude gets you into lots of places in Paris. |
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