A visit to the doctor

As promised, here is my blog post on going to the doctor today. It was actually my first visit in an “emergency”. While my ankle twisting wasn’t technically an emergency, we did want it seen to make sure it wasn’t fractured or something.

So, first step…call and see if we can get an appointment. The recording actually came up in English (after the Finnish and the Swedish). Essentially, the recording was that all the nurses were busy, and if the number we were calling from was the one we wanted to be called back on, do nothing, just wait until we hear it’s been recorded, then we will get a call back. Which is what we did.

I got a call back within about 45 minutes. The nurse answered in Finnish first, but then responded in English when I explained that I didn’t speak Finnish. She asked me a few questions about what happened, and then said, “Do you live close? There is an appointment in 10 minutes.” Well, no, not that close. Couldn’t get out of bed, ready and hobble to the clinic in ten minutes. The next was at 9:45am, in about an hour. Great, I’ll take that one. She gave me a waiting room number, but I completely forget it by the time I got there.

Wellu walked me there, and it was painful, but I could actually feeling it get a bit better, which reinforced in my mind that it was a bad sprain and nothing more. I got to the clinic, and up to the second floor, where I looked left and right at the banks of waiting rooms and realized that I had no idea which one she had told me. I got a nurse’s attention, and explained my predicament. She was very nice, took me in to a room, looked up my appointment and directed me to waiting room 4.

A few minutes after 9:45am, a nurse came out of one of the rooms, called my name, and proceeded to ask me something in Finnish. Once again, I revealed that I didn’t speak Finnish (although ask me the days of the week and I’ve got that covered!), so she asked all the questions in very clear English. She had me take off my shoes and socks, and examined my foot, comparing it to the other one. (In the meantime, I realized how long it had been since I’d shaved my legs and had a pedicure, which seemed to make the pain she was causing from twisting my foot around pale in comparison).

She called in the doctor, they consulted in Finnish, then the doctor affirmed that it hurt to twist it this way, but not this way. Said it was a bad sprain. Rest today, keep it elevated and in the wrap I had, put some ice on it, and give it a couple of weeks to heal up. I can walk as necessary, but not to push it. Take ibuprofen if I need it. And that was it.

Fifteen minutes later, I am leaving. No co-pay, no fee, nothing but the note I needed for missing school today. By the time I got home, it was actually feeling better. Still stiff and sore if I turned it, but it supports my weight and so on, so I’m sure I’ll live. I even took Shiva out for a walk after I got back. Then I was lazy.

Speaking of today…there were big, beautiful snowflakes falling as I walked Shiva, and even though I am tired of winter, it was a beautiful walk, with the trees and their bare branches, snow falling, a (mostly) white layer of snow everywhere. It didn’t really feel all that cold at all. One thing I love about here is that even in this weather, the kids are brought outside to play. There were about twenty of them at the playground, all wearing their reflective vests over their snowsuits, screaming and running around.

In any case, that’s about it, since I spent most of the day napping with my foot elevated and wrapped. Just like the doctor said to. 🙂