Hello again doctor

moonwalk

Changing continents has not changed my ability do serious damage to myself in truly ridiculous and stupid ways. I am still the same person who tore my Achilles tendon falling off the roof trying to break into my own house, ripped the cartilage out of ribcage because I was told 'girls don't jump this 4 story cliff' in Jamaica, took hits that sent me flying 15 ft in derby with no permanent damage- but spiral fractured my fibula screwing around at practice, and broke my orbital and did damage to my retina playing in a moonwalk. Among many other injuries that are equally as stupid and just way too numerous to recount. My derby name, Crash Baby, is actually a reflection of these tendencies more than any threat to others.


At the begining of December, I went to Hongdae in Seoul to hang out with 3 other derby girls currently residing in the ROK and go to the Rubber Seoul fundraiser put on by Little Travelers. It was a total blast. I love hanging out with derby girls. Nothing quite compares. Plus, good cause, tons of live music and Hongdae is always fun. And I fell down a flight of stairs and smashed my leg HARD.


Woke up the next day in pain, totally teased by my derby mates, stumbled into Itaewon to have lunch with a new friend from Ann Arbor (introduced on FB, met in Seoul, know quite a few people in common. Small world), trying to convince myself that it was just a bruise. Ironically- new friend from A2 had fallen down some stairs a few weeks earlier and actually ended up in surgery for his broken ankle. He gave me an oxycontin, I took HALF, and barely made it on my bus. Never taken it before- but I have taken darvocet, codeine, vicodin, hydrocodone, and demoral, among others. All Prescribed. None taken at the prescribed dosage, always way less, I'd have been a zombie. You'd think with my on and off constant injuries I would have a tolerance. Wrong- it was full on Kubla Khan. No wonder it's sold on the streets in the US. Got home at 8pm and went straight to bed.


Next day, Monday, I woke up in extreme pain at 5 in the morning, stumbled through my classes popping ibuprofen like candy, every step making me break out in sweat, and went to the hospital directly after work. Limped to the counter and watched the receptionist scatter like mice from a cat. Not surprised- many Korean are nervous to speak to waygooks (foreigners) because they either can not, or are too shy, to speak English. Waited about 5 minutes until they fetched the guy who could speak to me. Then another attendant put me in a wheelchair and wheeled me to the orthopedic waiting room. She also told me I was fat and very heavy to push. I told her to exercise because I was smaller than her. She laughed and apologized and then apologized again because I would have to wait 'very very long long time'. It was 5pm. I waited 10 minutes and then they took me for an x-ray. Made me pay first- 17,500 won (little over $15) for x-ray and doctor fee. Back to the waiting room and another 15 minutes and they brought me in to see the doctor. My x-ray was on the computer screen next to him and he pointed at it and said, 'no broken' and then told me he was giving me medicine and to not work or walk for a week. He did not LOOK at the injury. Period. I asked for crutches and told him I had to work. He kept telling me 'No no, stay home'- it took me 15 minutes to get him to agree to give me crutches.  


Next, they wheeled me back out to the main lobby and gave me back to the first guy who spoke some English. He handed me my prescription and pointed to the pharmacy across the parking lot. I told him I needed crutches. I even knew the word in Korean because my students had told me when we did our Dr's visit lessons- 목다리 Mogdali. Then he said he'd go to the pharmacy for me, so I gave him my alien registration and my bank card (Yes- I said BANK card- something I would NEVER do in Detroit) and he left me in the waiting room. Where I was harassed the entire time by an extremely drunk Korean man who kept smacking me on the injured leg, trying to get me to drink from his flask, and yelling at his wife as she tried to pull him away from me. The hospital guy finally returned with my meds, receipt, and cards as I was wheeling myself out of the lobby to get away from the drunk guy, yelled at him in Korean, and asked how I was going to get home. I told him 'taxi' but I needed the crutches first and he took me to the med supply store area to get them. 


The woman working in the store pulled out a set of crutches from a huge pile against the wall and had me stand up to show me how to use them. A lesson I, unfortunately, did not need- plus, the crutches she gave me came up to my chin. I told her I needed shorter crutches and pointing to them. She said they were too short and refused to get them for me. Finally, I got out of the wheelchair, limped over and got the shorter set out of the pile, flipped them over and adjusted the legs so they were the correct height, and handed her my bank card ($15). At this point, the guy who had been helping me out was cracking up so hard he had tears in his eyes. He walked with me out to get a taxi, told me I had 'good temper' for a migook (American), and asked if I would give him English lessons. Which is against the law so, of course, I said no. Between the doctor who didn't actually examine the injury, the woman who didn't seem to understand the medical equipment she was selling, and finding out later that one of the medications I was prescribed, streptokinase, is actually pretty dangerous this was one of the worst medical experiences I have had. I'm not going to go  on a rant about the terrible medical care in this country, like I've read from other expats, because I've had some pretty crappy experience in the US too. And have been unable to even GET the care that I need because of lack of money and health insurance.

This is what the bruise looked like on day 2. As the week went on the bruise spread another few inches in all directions and my entire thigh and knee swelled with a rock hard lump at the center of the injury. Granted, I was not taking the medication I was given prescribed for the first few days because I didn't want to be high during finals- but I did use the damned crutches and iced and elevated as soon as I got home.  I also worked out how to figure out what was in the prescription. I wrote about that here.


A coworker asked how long I was going to be on the crutches and I told her 'until I can walk with out pain, the doctor told me to stay home' and told her about the ridiculous hospital visit and that it seemed to be getting worse. She suggested I visit a traditional oriental doctor and they could probably at least help reduce the bruising and speed up the recovery process. Since I had already been debating check out acupuncture for other issues (allergies, joint swelling that gets worse in the winter) and it's covered by the national health planI decided anything to get off of crutches! I got directions from another co-worker and made my way over to 부부한의학 Boo Boo han wi han (husband and wife medical) to see what they could do. 

It was extremely busy so I had to wait about 1/2 an hour before I was given a loose skirt to change into and taken consult with the doctor. He examined the injury and said he thought it would take 3 or 4 visits to make it go away. He asked me to  stick out my tongue and when I did he said he could tell I was under stress and asked if I had other health issues. I told him I had pretty bad allergies and periodic swelling and joint pain, possibly caused by lupus (my doctor in the US had told me she thought I had lupus, I tested positive for the antibodies, but my health insurance wouldn't cover the full testing). He said he could help with that also but first we should concentration on  getting me back on my feet. His English is excellent. 



Then he handed me over to an attendant who took me to a little cubicle with a heated surface and had me put my leg up on the square cushion. There were 2 middle school girls in the room I was in getting acupuncture and moxibustion. They asked why I was there and I showed them my bruise. I asked why they were there and they told me it was because they 'sweat too much'. Who knew sweating was curable?


The first part of the treatment was to cover the injured area with a heating pad and turn on the heat lamp attached to the wall.

electric current cups

The next part  consisted of suction cups attached to my leg that sent waves of electric currents through the muscles. Then they put a towel and the heating pad on top of it. Very odd ticklish sensation that was almost painful and caused by leg to occasionally spasm. This lasted for about 10 minutes.                                                                         

 When they took the suction cups off it left big fuzzy looking circles  that lasted for about 24 hours

acupuncture

After that was acupuncture. There were only 2 parts of the whole process that were handled by the doctor himself. The rest was handled by assistants. I half twisted my self into a sitting position to watch the process. It took him about 30 seconds to apply all these needles and I barely felt a thing. The circle drawn on my leg was to mark the center of the injury.

Then another assistant came in and applied moxibustion- small burning sticks all through the needles. They smelled like sage. Internet research tells me it is probably mugwort. These burned down in about 2 minutes. Right as it started to get really hot and I started to get a little worried they came in and took them off. The needles stayed in for about 15 minutes.

The next part really freaked me out. Another doctor came, pointed at the pen drawn circle and asked if that was the center. When I nodded, he pulled out what looked like a pen and turned out to be a very sharp stabbing utensil, stabbed my leg a dozen times, put a glass cup on top of it, and used a pump to suck out the air. It took about 10 seconds- before my shock reaction had even kicked in he was walking out of the room leaving me alone to watch in horror as the cups quickly filled with blood. An assistant peaked in on me about a minute later and my expression must have said everything because she laughed, stroked my head for a couple of seconds, and told me 'it's ok, it's ok!' before she ran off to help someone else. The cups stayed on for about 3 minutes then the assistant returned, released the air, caught the blood in a tissue, wiped my leg with an alcohol swab, and told me I could get dressed.

wet cupping

wet cupping

wet cupping

The last part of the procedure is great. This first visit I couldn't enjoy it much because I was so freaked by the bleeding but I've been back 3 more times. They took me upstairs to the room of massage machines.

Massage # 1- the flat table has rollers in it that run up and down your back and legs
Massage # 2- poofy air filled leg massagers
Massage # 3- the massage chair! Not for the claustrophobic- it closes around your legs and arms and you'd probably hurt yourself trying to get out.

All 3 felt great!  

All of this, from the time I started the consultation to the end of the massages took a little over an hour. I paid my bill, 4,400 won ($4). The doctor asked how I felt and I replied 'I don't know' because my leg felt like it was on fire and I was still stuck on the wet cupping scenario. He walked me out and hailed a taxi for me and asked if I wanted to go to dinner sometime. I just looked at him and he laughed and said we'd talk about it next time and to come in every other day. I left thinking f' this, went home and straight to bed. 


The next morning I woke up and literally a 3rd of the bruise was gone, the swelling was down, and the hard knot had started to loosen. I went back every other day. After the second visit I was off crutches. After the 4th visit all of the swelling was gone. I still have a very small bit of bruising left and I couldn't wear heels until last weekend I sort of feel like it was miraculous. All of these pictures are from the 3rd visit- less than a week to go from angry green, black, and blue swollen pain to almost no bruise and close to normal activity. I'm totally going back for more treatments.


I also met the doctors wife, who is also a doctor and treated me on the 3rd visit. They said they like to hang out with foreigners to practice their English. And invited me to dinner again but said they would invite their other waygook friends so I would feel comfortable. I said I would love to.