L’azile

Last year, a couple of days after I broke my hip, I was lying in my hospital bed on the orthopedics ward from hell, utterly stunned at my predicament. I could not believe I had broken my hip (and so totally at that) only a mere 7 or 8 months after I had started walking again. I was really freaked out about how this could happen but mostly about not knowing what was in store for me.

So being the closet optimist that I am, I tried to think of positive things to come away with from this whole experience. And damn it, I actually succeeded in coming up with 3 or 4 positive outcomes. Not that I am especially better than anyone else at looking on the bright side but there are things that happen out of nowhere that just have such an impact, they are life-changing really. Sometimes they are small things, tiny moments of joy or understanding or despair. Sometimes, they are big things, like breaking a hip. But whatever they turn out to be, they really do have the power to put a lot of things into perspective. For a brief moment, you can see clearly and the important things are revealed.

Continue reading… twinkle, twinkle little scar

As the title says, I am still alive but I must admit, there were times during the last few days where I wished… well, that I might at least be put into a coma until I was completely healed. Unfortunately, hospitals, especially in Québec, are not so accommodating. So not only was I conscious for most of it, except the surgery per se, I was home for most of it too.

Now, I do not wish to be misusunderstood. I am so glad I am home and firmly believe that I will heal better here than in hospital if only because I will actually be able to sleep. But I do think it is rather foolhardy to send me home a scant few hours after hip surgery. This was not a tonsillectomy after all, it was HIP surgery. I think it would have been quite reasonable to keep me overnight, which might have prevented me from having to spend over nine hours in the emergency room a couple of days later due to minor complications. But this is what our health care system here has come to. And it will only get worse.

Continue reading… not dead yet