Ditches and X-Rays

Haha…funny story! So last Friday a bunch of friends and I decided to go out. They urge us to get a hotel room if we want to go out so as not to disturb our homestay families when we come home late and also to minimize the distances we travel at night by ourselves. So we got a hotel room and spent a wonderful afternoon shopping and enjoying the city. Then we got ready and went to dinner before going out for a night of dancing!! Poor me, I never made it that far! Unfortunately, my right leg decided to fall into a ditch and I sprained my right knee and got a nasty gash on my left. Then I proceeded to pass out (TWICE) and had to go to the hospital for a late-night x-ray and examination. Everything’s okay…just a minor sprain and my noggin is all good!

The hospital was quite an experience in itself…I went to The International Hospital Kampala (IHK), which is where SIT takes its students and is a very nice private hospital (frequented by foreigners and well-to-do Ugandans). It was 11 PM by the time I got there, so no one was there, which was super nice! I was examined by a doctor, had my blood pressure taken, and then sent off for x-rays. This hospital is nice by Ugandan standards, but that x-ray machine was definitely pretty ancient. The technician didn’t even both to cover me up while it was running and I was too exhausted to even question it. Then a Nurse in Training cleaned up my knee gash and gave me a tetanus shot. (I figured I owed her this experience as so many others have helped Meag come so far with her nursing!)! Grand total for my x-rays, consultation, antibiotics and painkiller (ibuprofen), and tetanus shot: 90,500 shills…about $45.50!!!! Can’t beat that if I tried in the USA!!!

A week later and the knee is pretty good!! And I’ve learned a couple of lessons that I want to share:

1) Watch where you’re going at ALL times in a developing country—there are many man-holes that don’t have covers and this ditch lacked a grate.

2) Travel with an ice pack—there are NO ice packs in this country

3) Always travel with awesome friends (even if you have only known them for two months)

4) Go to the hpspital—it was well worth the trip!!

So that’s the story of my knee! Glad it was minor and we even got some good laughs out of it! So I hope you have a very safe day and watch out for those ditches! ;) hehe!

<3cm