The rest of the day I entered my survey data from the weekend to my computer. Feeling productive and happy, I went to my favorite hotel pool in Harbin to go swimming. Swimming is a little expensive here, but I found a nice, quiet pool where hardly anyone goes in the winter. Swimming is a treat which helps me clear my brain.
So today I went into the locker room. Eager to get out to the pool, I tried to close my locker, but it didn't work. The locker is wood with a small glass partition at the top. I tried to close it by pushing harder. Before I knew it, the glass had fallen off the top--and onto me! I looked down at my left arm and saw a big gash. No blood, but I could see the inside of my arm (maybe the fat??) breaking out of the skin. GROSS! I went out to the hall to call the fuwuyuan (person at desk) and by then, blood was rushing out of my arm. They sat me down, cleaned me up and put gauze on the wound. Then they told me to change my clothes. My arm still didn't hurt and I was upset because I couldn't swim (I was so looking forward to it). I changed and met them in the hall with their winter coats on. Apparently they were coming with me somewhere.
Where are we going, I asked? To the hospital so you can get stitches, they said. I protested. Despite all the sports I've played I've never broken a bone (or even had a cavity), let alone stitches! I was not going to let my first emergency room trip to a hospital happen in China. It felt fine and they cleaned it well. I didn't need stitches, I argued. No way, they said, it was serious. So I called my friend Melissa. "If I have an inch gash on my arm and I can see the inside of my arm, do you think I need stitches?" Yes! she answered. She had just cut herself a few months back in the US and had 3 stitches on her knuckle. So I went with the hotel folks to the hospital across the street.
We waited about 5 minutes, with my new hotel friends arguing to get me in there fast. I was a student and needed to get home to study, they said. We were told we were waiting for an English speaking doctor. He came and his English vocabulary consisted of "sit down."
Although I had no experience at all with stitches, he and the other doctor seemed to do things right. I got a local anaesthetic (called ma yao-numb medicine-in Chinese) and I asked about 15 times if they were using new and clean needles. They were, but they would not let me watch them sew into my skin. Probably a good idea. The two doctors asked what I was doing here. Then they told me all about rising grain prices and high quality rice in Heilongjiang until the procedure was done. I was wishing I had brought some surveys with me to have them fill out (joke).
They told me to wait 2 weeks and then I can take the stitches out myself. Well at least I will be back in the US then, just in case. If anyone knows anything about stitches, do these look right? Melissa said I probably should have had more than 2 for the size of the wound.
Oh, and the good news? The hotel paid the hospital fees and I can go swimming for free the next few times. Excellent. As long as the locker doors are fixed....
7 comments:
i've never heard of anyone having just 2 stitches, but then again maybe doctors are all liberal here with stitches.
now you'll have a cool scar to show off- think about all the stories you can tell re: jumping over fences to get to rice paddies, or how you were wrongly imprisoned in a work camp for 2 hours, etc etc.
happy holidays!
It looks like they did a bit of a pirate scar job on your arm. I would have guessed that that could use more than two stitches.
Can't wait to see you next week and hear even more gory details.
It looks like a Chinese character tattoo!
It is, actually! The character for grass. They must have known I am a nature-lover and that is why I only got 2 stitches. Three would have messed it up.
Can't wait to see ya and your new scar!
there it is in the fresh!! I hope it's healed up well!
Thank you. Its over a month later and it looks really good. Definitely still a scar, but getting better.
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