Constructing Life: Time Heals All Wounds

Three days have passed and we just had our appointment with Dr. Sierra, the plastic surgeon, to assess Brooke’s recovery. We tried to catch a taxi to the hospital but we couldn’t as it was Friday afternoon and, well, good luck. So, we walked the 8 blocks along one of the parts of town we wished we had discovered earlier. The main road we walked down was full of shops, activities, banks, and restaurants. We arrived at the hospital at cuatro en punto (4:00 sharp) and there was the doctor and his assistant waiting for us with the door wide open.

We communicated as best as we could and his best English was his medical terminology which Brooke was able to understand, of course. He cleaned her hand for her and assessed her function, and he seemed very optimistic she would fully recover, con tiempo(with time). Brooke was in good spirits and enjoyed her discussions with the doctor – as best they could. He asked her if she could stitch better than him – jokes across languages! He apologized for his country but we replied as to how it brought us close to so many people. Since the incident, we have been making friends like crazy, both locals and foreigners. In fact, one night we got chatting with a wonderful couple, Phil and Jill, which I can’t say enough good things about, and Phil as it turns out is a neurosurgeon in San Diego. Brooke picked his brain about the injury and he seemed to quell her fears, assuring her that things should recover, specifically the severed nerves, which are causing her a lot of pain at the moment. Jill and I just sat around and joked with each other, what a fun time we ended up having.

Leaving the clinic, we walked down the main street again and in a rare moment of genius, I suggested Brooke have her hair washed at a salon. We had been struggling to invent a way we could wash her hair within the small shower we had, whilst not getting her bandages soaked. As you can imagine, washing your hair with one hand is only ok if you have a brush cut.

We finished the night with a nice dinner at a parilla just down the street from our hotel . FYI if you want to know what a parilla is, you can go back and look at photos from our Argentine trips to see the famous South American barbeque that makes steak taste the best in the world.

Everybody asks “how many stitches"?” but we don’t’ know…. It continues on the back of her hand too!