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Saturday, April 3, 2010

Samu In The Emergency Room

What haven't we done on this vacation in Aruba? We got sunburn doing Kenpo, lost for an hour and a half looking for a restaurant and now we can tack a trip to the emergency room up there as well. It was about 10:30 at night when my husband and I took a bleary eyed three-year-old to Dr. Horatio Odouber Hospital's emergency room for a busted lip.

We thought he would be okay - he had cut a small gash on his bottom lip when he tripped on some stairs. There was a lot of blood, but cuts to the lips and mouth tend to bleed a lot. By the time he woke up an hour later however, crying in pain, Grammy's bed looked like a scene from the Godfather. There was blood smeared everywhere. We called the house doctor who told us to go the hospital. Doctors have their diagnosis down don't they? If you're sick, it's a virus; if you need attention after five pm - go to the hospital.

So we jumped in a cab that cost us ten U.S. dollars, which took us a quarter of a mile to the nearest hospital. I must say, it was a clean hospital and the only bloody patient was our "Sippy" Samu. Other than him, there was a kid who looked like he had been puking all night and an old woman with an ace bandage wrapped around her head. I'm used to New York hospitals with their victims of hit and run accidents and homeless drug addicts accompanied by the police. Being that this was my kid's first trip to an emergency room, I'm glad it was in Aruba.

One hour and one-hundred-thirty dollars later, Samu's lip was all glued up and ready to go. Thank God Grammy threw us a couple of hundred dollars in cash. It didn't even occur to me that we would have to pay since I'm so used to just showing up with insurance cards. It may have been the reason we were in and out of there so quick, now that I think about it.

The next day, we had dinner at the Italian restaurant, Papparazzi. The Maitre D' looks at me and says, "Hey, didn't I see you at the hospital yesterday?"

"Yes." I say and explained why we were there.

Apparently, she had seen us as we were leaving the hospital. Her son was just brought in after being in a motorcycle accident. She claimed they waited until four in the morning for attention - a far difference in the service we received. She said her son was fine and laughed, revealing a whole other story behind it.

As she seated us she said, "Yes, I remembered seeing you there and thinking, oh they send our guests here? Ha, ha, ha."

Ha, ha, ha, indeed.

What's your favorite emergency room tale - I'd like to hear it.

5 comments:

  1. Nami, When I was your son's age I thought that everyone could fly like Superman. What a surprise it was to me when as I took off, that I found out what gravity was. I flew across my moms couch which had Italian style Hand rests ,and made direct contact with said hand rest. So my mom called her friend who had a car, and off to the hospital to sew my eyeball back into my face. I've never tried to fly like superman ever again! This was not the last time I'd be rushed to the emergency room, At six I was a big fan of Bruce Lee........?

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  2. lol I am so fortunate I have never (knock on wood) needed the ER Happy Saturday

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  3. We have made plenty of visits to the Doctor with fevers and earaches but touch wood none yet to the Emergency room. Not bad considering that our eldest is 12. Hopefully I haven't just jinxed myself!

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  4. It's not a favorite but it was my one and hopefully only trip to the ER. I had an inch gash on the head. I slipped on our very wet newly mopped floor while carrying Ayana and banged my head on the corner of the stairs. Apparently, head injuries bleed alot like lip injuries thus the fateful trip to the ER. Thing is, I haven't combed my hair yet, so I was looking like the witch of the west when I was sewed up. Fortunately, Yana wasn't hurt.

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  5. Yikes, what a nightmare. I hate when emergencies happen before I have a chance to get combed and dressed! Thank God the little one was ok - dumb stairs.

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