they have a word for it
I requested my medical records during my last visit to my surgeon, and they came in today’s mail. Finally, I have a medical term to google - trimalleolar ankle fracture. The records themselves are fascinating reading (to me, anyway), and are generally reassuring since the phrases “tolerating well,” “recovering well,” and “doing well” appear regularly, as do the words “good,” “satisfied,” and “pleased.” “Satisfied” is used in the phrase “satisfied with the purchase” as in the purchase of the screws within my bones. Such a biblical phrase - to find purchase in her rocky soil. Didn’t the Cohen brothers use that in Raising Arizona? I had never hoped to hear anyone be satisfied with the purchase any metal object might find within my body, but under the circumstances hey, I’m satisfied too. Pleased, even.
The words “exsanguination” and “dissect” also appear in connection with my person. We won’t go into that.
The cast comes off two weeks from Friday, which means that I can begin learning to walk again and find out if I’m satisfied with my purchase. It’s the biggest purchase of my life so far: the mail also brought indication that the insurance company settled all of the $35,000 bill (if I’ve read everything correctly.) If so, the grad student insurance here well and truly rocks.
Comments
I should say! Very nice insurance, indeed!
Posted by: shelley | March 23, 2005 5:54 PM
I'll be watching eagerly for updates about your newfound abilities to walk—replete with purchased, interiorized metal. As for the bills: yeah. I haven't had the nerve to tote all mine up, and I know it wouldn't be a patch on yours, but it's breathtaking all the same. My ambulance bill came this week: nearly $900 for a 35-mile ride. I'm not complaining, mind you; the EMTs were great. But. Still.
BTW, on somebody's blog, and I'm hanged if I remember whose, I had a senior moment and referred to you as "Krista Ratliffe." Enjoy your double life. Or start drawing funds from Krista Ratliffe's accounts. Whatever.
Posted by: senioritis | March 23, 2005 7:51 PM
I've always been fascinated by medical records if for no other reason than those medical people keep their little charts with information about YOU in it as if they're the FBI or something. Particularly w/T, I just wanted to read it all, wanted to see for myself, just to insure they weren't keeping anything from me (which was silly given how open they were but I was paranoid).
Dude, that reconciliation by the health insurance should be a celebratory moment. THose people don't always come through in the time of need.
Blog the cast coming off. I'm mentally tickling it for two weeks but I'll probably be lame and forget.
Posted by: michelle | March 23, 2005 11:22 PM
Here's hoping you and your Bionic Woman ankle are well and truly on the mend. [insert cheesy sound effects here]
Posted by: MRBS | March 24, 2005 9:46 PM
Oooohhh--"exsanguination." I think I've only heard that used in X-files episodes. Most particularly, a personal favorite (that I often use in first- or second-year writing classes), "Bad Blood."
Posted by: susansinclair | March 25, 2005 12:43 PM
I think the Coen brothers line went something like, "And the doctor explained to me how my wife's womb was like barren plain on which my seed could find no purchase."
Posted by: hj | April 9, 2005 1:17 PM