Saturday, January 19, 2013

Trip to the Emergency Room

This was about two months ago, but I was working in the lab late at night by myself and I broke some glass and cut myself. I wrapped it up and kept working but an hour later I still had some sharp pain in my finger. I took a closer look and realized that I likely had a small piece of glass stuck in my finger!  It was superficial but the entry wound was very small so I couldn't dig it out myself.  The next day, I called around and found out that with my insurance, the best place to go to get it removed was the emergency room.  And so I took my first (and only?) trip to an Israeli emergency room.
The wait was short and I was surrounded by mostly ultra-Orthodox Jews in the waiting room.  When they took me back, I was surprised to find a very sparse room, just an examination bed and a table with a few supplies on it.  I was also surprised to see blood on the wall and the table!  That increased my already present anxiety.  The doctor, an Orthodox man with a New York accent, came in and gave me a shot to numb my finger. That was the worst part, from there I was as pain-free and happy as a lark!  He pulled out the piece of glass and said, "I will be right back" and then disappeared and never came back! I waited for about 10 minutes, bleeding all over the examination table until finally someone else came in only to grab something from a drawer. I made him wrap my finger up and I went on my way.  At the least, the visit and antibiotic cream was free!









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