On Wednesday we went for another x-ray and a more permanent cast to be put on at the local public hospital (why do we bother with private health cover in this town? The local private hosptial does nothing but (some) elective surgeries and maternity). We got the x-ray done (easily, thankfully) then went over to the outpatient clinic for HB's review by the orthopaedic surgeon and new cast. It was soooo crowded. HB went to sleep in my arms.
The orthopaedic surgeon had a thick Asian accent and struggled with his vocabulary when he was answering my questions. I asked about bone density (this is HB's second break) and after holding the x-ray up to the light (!!) declared it to be within the average range.
Hmmm. DH and I are going to get a second opinion. Our GP is going to refer us to a local paediatrician for blood tests and a general review.
We then went in to the plaster technologist for a full cast. They have run out of the internal waterproofing for the cast in HB's size! Oh well. HB chooses a blue cast and is very impressed. I was a bit shocked to see that his broken leg was twice the size of his intact one. He did very well but I'm not looking forward to our review in 3 weeks when the saw will come out for removal - HB is still scared of the electric mixer!
Three days later and I am rehearsing for an evangelistic puppet show while DH supervises HB in the bath. We have to stop abruptly because the bag we cover HB's cast with in the shower is full of water.
Uh oh.
I shove the towel down as far as I can but this is obviously quite a futile exercise. We are resigned to going back to the local hospital and waiting again when the cast becomes so smelly we can't stand it anymore. When I picked him up to put him at the table for dinner it dripped out onto my leg. However, when I spoke to the GP again she said they can do it at her clinic. Hooray (handy to have your GP at church!)
HB is still taking painkillers every 6 hours but at least we've progressed from Painstop (codeine) to Neurofen (ibuprofen).
You have private health insurance up there so that if you find out that you've inherited your father's dodgy heart valve, you can get in to see a cardiologist of your choice, in a location of your choice (e.g. Brisbane where you can stay with family, rather than Townsville where you have to pay an arm and a leg for accommodation) without stressing even more about the cost (although cardiologists are not known for being inexpensive, even with PHI).
ReplyDeleteAnd then one day you can have surgery in the hospital of your choice, having the procedure of your choice, even if it means going to Melbourne because that's the only place it's done...as opposed to my father's experience of being on the Qld public hospital waiting list for 4 months and then only getting in because someone cancelled (yes, he could conceivably have died on that waiting list).
Can your GP do waterproof ones by any stroke of good fortune?