Well it is a good thing I have good health insurance because otherwise I dont know if I could have gotten surgery today… oh wait it was about 5 dollars to go under the knife. I had an ingrown nail that was infecting my finger and it really hurt. As I was waiting to go in for the procedure this old man who had been in a motorcycle accident came in unconscious and bleeding. I waited with a few other patients and tried to chat it up.
As they were about to give me anasthetic I realized that they werent going to poke a small hole and drain the puss, but rather they were going after the nail. However, I wasnt really ready for that and I got a little bit dizzy. However, it would have really hurt if they didnt give the anasthetic. Also, when he was about to give me the shot I touched the syringe so they had to get another sterile one. I was impressed and also reminded that I dont know a lot about medicine. I should stick to public health and health systems.
Anyway, they yanked the hangnail out and bandaged me up. I am home now with a throbbing finger and I am going to take a nap. Otherwise all is well in Africa…
January 29, 2009 at 7:39 am
wow… i’m surprised by how careful they were with you, getting a new sterilized needle and everything! i doubt i’d get the same care here in nepal. you should post a picture! and maybe you should hold off on the hernia surgery giving if you get dizzy with an ingrown nail, p.
February 7, 2009 at 2:05 am
Peter– Glad to hear you fared well with your major surgery.
I have always wondered about the subtitle of your blog here. “A maladroit attempt to do something good.” Did you just like the word maladroit or are you not giving this a good attempt? Always remember that even a less than skillful attempt to do something good is FAR better than no attempt at all. When you walk away from this adventure you will have the satisfaction of knowing that you have changed at least one person’s life by assuring your houseboy (or whatever the politically correct term may be) a chance to be educated for another 2 years and have set an example for him to follow in years to come. Good work.
On a lighter note, the Super Bowl was the best I can remember even though I could care less about either of the teams.