Osso Rotto
This morning my husband broke his arm.
His "radio" (radius) near the elbow is fractured. We spent a good part of the day at the emergency room fixing him up in gesso. The x-ray technitian even said it was a "bella frattura".
What happened? Well, he was riding his bike when a car cut him off. He braked and went head first over the handle bars landing on his elbow. He wasn't wearing a helmut but he wasn't going too fast either. The white fiat didn't even stop to see if he was okay. Let's just say Romans are crazy drivers. This is a given. And everyone chastises us for riding a bike in the city but honestly, if he was on a motorino it could have been a lot worse. I cannot tell you how many bad (and I mean BAD, lots of blood and gorey details kinda bad) motorino accidents I've seen in Rome in the past year and a half that I've lived here.
The bike has a minor scratch which is good but this is the THIRD bike we've had involved in an incident. Maybe someone's trying to tell us something. The first one was stolen. The second was badly vandalized by kids in the neighborhood who jumped on the frame and tires one night when I left it outside overnight. My mistake. I just hate hauling the bike up 5 flights of stairs. And I hate the autobus even worse. They say things happen in three's and this is the third so maybe we're okay right?
Right?
Isn't there some sort of hex symbol I'm supposed to do to ward off the bad luck? Something involving the index and pinky finger?
Okay enough of my whinging, my husband has a broken arm. I've never broken a bone in my life so I can't fully relate but(madonna!) he was in excrutiating pain. There was also a dislocated shoulder involved and he pretty much admitted it was the most painful thing he's experienced in his life.
Well, to make a long story short we spent a long time in the emergency room where they took loads of x-rays. The doctors were great and very professional despite the long wait. We walked out and went to the farmacia to buy some pain medicine. The whole thing cost us 7euro.
I'm still trying to wrap my brain around this one. !!!!7 EURO!!!!! x-rays, cast, medicine and all. This would never be possible in the US. Even if we had had insurance this would not be possible. It just doesn't happen in the united states.
I love free health care. But I love my hubby even more and I hope he has a speedy recovery.
posted by avery at 9:04 PM
9 Comments:
yeah, in these cases free health care is the best... but try making an appointment for a visit when you have an eye infection- the waiting list is like 6 months. by that time my eye would've rotted if i hadn't gone to a private doctor. or try making and OB-GYN appointment, 3 months waiting list... that's just WRONG. again, either you wait until your innards fall out or pay extra money for a private doctor. sad but true... at least here in rome!
Yes, I agree making a doctor's appointment only to wait 4 months is so frustrating. I hate that about Rome, and Italy in general. But when it comes to emergencies I've only had positive experiences and the doctors have always been great. Maybe we've just been lucky...
The same..ish thing happened to my partner in September. He was knocked off his motorino and the car drove away without stopping. Did your husband get the cast the same day? Mine had to wait 12 days befor they did anything, with no painkillers or anything with 3 broken bones in his leg.
Nikipos,
Yes he got the cast the same day. I cannot believe your partner had to wait 12 days without painkillers or anything.!!!!How horrible. That's insane, poor guy. I guess we've been really lucky. I'm starting to think of Italy as a roulette wheel...place the bet and hope for the best. maybe you win, maybe you don't. If you win it's good and if you don't it really really sucks.
So sorry to hear that your honey has a broken arm. There seems to be a lot of that going on as my Mom just broke her leg (the tib part of the "tib fib" the night before Easter. Hope he is feeling better soon.
Our taxes might be high in Italy, but you have to LOVE the health care here! I have always been impressed with the cost AND the quality of health care in Italy!
One last thing, I LOVE your profile picture. It is so funny that I laughed out loud! Too cute!
Cyn
I am sorry to hear about your husband's accident, but I am glad he is doing alright and got help quickly and cheaply!
I'm still in shock about the 7 Euros. Hope your husband has a speedy recovery.
In response to Cynthia Rae writing "the cost AND the quality of health care in Italy"... girl, i don't know what part of italy you live in but QUALITY is the last word that comes to mind when i think of italian health care. quality is nearly IMPOSSible to come by, in rome and in the south in general. i have a billion and one horror stories i can tell you (my own & and my friends')... it may be cheap but it sure ain't high-quality!
Oh! Sorry I'm late on this one but I'm doing my catching up on your blog. Poor Tony!! Ale broke his arm skiing once and told me how incredibly painful it was. He had to do physical therapy afterwards. Hope he is feeling a little better now.
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