After all the walking yesterday, Manjas foot really needed a break and I could really feel my legs too. So we slept in until about 9 and got ready for breakfast by 9:30. It really was a fantastic spread, which we enjoyed sitting in the morning sunshine and met the farms guard dog “Rocky”.
The next few hours were spent with feet up, relaxing and reading. We talked a bit about how Manjas foot was going and we decided that maybe it would be worth having it checked out. A friend of hers even recommended a german doctor and with a german health insurance card you can get treatment without a problem. So in the afternoon we headed over to the local medical clinic, where we were registered and then sent to Emergency. The triage nurse called for a “Nacha? Nancha?” but given we were the only ones in the room we figured she meant us. When she pointed to the screen we understood: Reception had spelled her name “Nanja” and the “j” in Spanish is pronounced “ch”. The triage nurse took the bandage of Manjas foot, took one look and got a serious face on, asking us to move into the next room while she was already dialing a number. Not 10 minutes later the most casual looking dude rocked up to take a look. Turns out he was a doctor (wearing what I can only describe as sneakers and jogging pants) and he decided that X-Rays would be prudent. These, however, are not available at the medical clinic. He would give us a note and send us over to Emergency to the Islands main hospital. I was cool as a cucumber, and totally relaxed the whole time. Not tense at all.
Completely at ease…
Thinking that it may not be possible to get an appointment today, Manja asked “Do you think we should go today?” to which to Doc looked at her incredulously and said “Yes, I think it is a very good idea to do this today”. I really do love these types of miscommunication, while I was maybe just a little tense because I don’t deal well with injuries on other people, that made me giggle a bit.
While the nurse bandaged up Manjas foot, I went with the Doc to get the paperwork. When we got to his office I had to smile – turns out he was a paediatrician, either that or children just love to draw for him and stick their pictures on his walls. 😂
When I got back Manja was bandaged and ready to go, so we headed off on our drive to the Hospital – almost all the way on the other end of the island… Â Well, so 25 minutes away. When we got there we could take our pick of carparks – as in parking structures – which all had vacancies. We chose the closest to emergency and headed on in. We showed the doctors note to the reception person, who started to take down Manjas details and as he was doing so a door was ripped open behind us and someone jelled “Nacha?” Â – We knew this game by now, but she wasn’t even checked in yet! Talk about efficiency.
Turns out the person calling us in was the Hospitals triage person, who took a look at the note and sent us back to the waiting room. We sat down and were called up again not a minute later, this time by an orderly who plonked Manja into a wheelchair and drove her over to the X-ray room. 5 minutes later we were back in the waiting room, X-rays complete.
For contrast here to those who don’t know: The german system is much less effective than this. The Australian system isn’t this good either. This place has being a hospital tuned to a fine art.
Now we were processed, it appeared that the system understood Manja was in no danger. People with lacerations and wheelchairs were treated before us, even when they arrived after us. We settled in preparing to wait for quite a while, but only had to wait for about 1.5 hours before an orderly wheeled Manja to a doctor. He checked out the X-rays and pronounced “Nothing broken. Soft tissue only”. He proceeded to confirm we did everything right for this injury and it would take 3 weeks or four to heal. Woohoo! Dr. Simon to the rescue! Now, let’s all agree to never ever come to Simon with medical stuff because he is seriously grossed out by it!
I was quite elated and Manja had spent her time waiting wisely and found us a nice restaurant to head to for dinner, called the Boat house. Today was cloudy and a bit colder, so we were glad to find it had a table inside, right next to a heater, when we arrived. Â It was really nicely themed with an old-school driftwood naval style and was a really lovely dinner. As the hours passed, we left just before sunset and got back to the hotel just after dark. A blog entry later, we dropped into bed.
Really glad that nothing was broken 🙂 and you two manage to make the best out of any situation 🙂