Navigating Injury Abroad (Part 4)
Consulting with a physical therapist & an orthopedic doctor on next steps
This story has more parts than I imagined! If you need to catch up on S’s knee injury in Albania and our process to get her on a path to full rehabilitation, you can do that here:
So, we had finally gotten her MRI results but needed help figuring out next steps. I took S to see the physical therapist in the evening so she didn’t have to miss school. We arrived early and felt hopeful we would leave with more definitive answers, including a timeline for healing. Spoiler alert: We did but didn’t.
After looking at her (im)mobility and assessing the amount of swelling still present in her knee, he recommended that she see an orthopedic doctor. It’s not that her injuries were so severe, but he was concerned about the fluid build up and thought maybe it needed to be drained before beginning physical therapy. Otherwise, the PT process was going to take a long time.
S put on a brave face during the consult but crumbled once home. The idea of having a needle inserted to remove fluid freaked her out. Neither of us likes needles, so I get it and sympathize. Anyway, we didn’t know for sure that’s what the doctor would recommend, so it was another wait and see situation. The PT was fairly confident that once the fluid was gone she could start her rehab and perhaps be mostly recovered within a month, but that depends on a number of factors, of course.
He recommended that we go to the hospital associated with his university since he knew all three orthopedic doctors there and wanted us to see one in particular. He made a call to arrange an appointment but because it was after hours, he said he’d have to message me in the morning with a time we’d be able to go.
He also asked if we had the MRI image itself and was surprised when I told him no. He said it’s quite standard for the hospital to release that on a CD. I explained the backstory and asked if he could have the American hospital send it to the university hospital. He said private hospitals don’t talk to one another here. But he did call the American hospital to see how he could help move things along. Unfortunately, the radiology office was closed for the day, so I’d need to call in the morning. Yes, that radiology office. The same one I’d been messaging all along. Good times!
In the meantime, the PT recommended ice, ice, baby (you’re welcome 🤣) and having S lay on the ground with her legs up the wall to try to get the inflammation to come down. We asked about the best place to get ice and he said just go down to the pharmacy to get ice packs. It hadn’t even dawned on me that this is where we’d go for that. My US brain was still thinking about big bags of ice you buy at the grocery store from one of those freezers next to the exits.
We headed down and the pharmacist asked if we knew how to use the ice packs and I’m thinking, “Duh, I’m not an idiot!” But it turns out they were instant ice packs, so I actually didn’t know how to use them! 🤭 We grabbed four of those and two regular ice packs that you put in the freezer. (Those I knew how to use!) S tried an instant one when we got home and it got freezing cold, well, instantly! How did we not know about these? They only cost €1.50 each.
Side note: We also asked for cough drops while we were at the pharmacy since we’re running low given all the colds lately and the pharmacist was very confused by this. She said they only had cough spray or syrup—or candies that you suck. Yes, those, I said! Those are cough drops. She thought I mean actual drops for your throat. I told her I was using my US point of reference and appreciated her patience in explaining. Lost in translation goes both ways. How humbling.
The good news is that there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. S ended up with an appointment with the orthopedic doctor Friday night (15 days after her injury). It was a multi-way conversation because he didn’t speak much English (only Albanian and Italian), so the nurse brought in someone who could translate. While we waited, he looked at S’s MRI and then assessed her knee. He showed us how loose the kneecap was by moving it around; I could barely watch (I was never meant for the medical world—it makes me squeamish).
The good news is that the injury isn’t that bad in the grand scheme of things. And if she continues to ice really well (a lot more than she has been, apparently), plus take ibuprofen and Vitamin D3, the swelling should be mostly gone in about 10 days and then she can start PT. The doctor didn’t think it was necessary to aspirate. He even thought she’d be able to ditch the crutches within ~6 days. But we’ll see. We may have also misunderstood; the conversation was a bit difficult to follow and I know there were things lost in translation. He did seem to get a kick out of S’s name and asked us if we knew about Thomas Shelby from Peaky Blinders. Ha!
We left with a doctor’s note excusing S from PE (duh) and headed to the pharmacy next door for ice packs, ibuprofen, and Vitamin D. The pharmacist was incredulous at how many disposable ice packs we wanted (10) but chuckled and told us we were cute. Sure? By this point in the day (and week), S was exhausted and just wanted to go home and collapse in a heap. I was just thrilled we now had a timeline for starting PT and that in the end the consult with the orthopedic doctor (which cost €40), was fairly anti-climactic.
Our grand total of expenses so far is:
Medical: ~€270 (consults, x-ray, MRI)
Pharmacy: ~€70 (ice packs, ibuprofen, Vitamin D, crutches)
Taxi rides (11 so far): ~€110 (best guess)
Future PT appointments will be €30 each, plus taxi rides to and from, unless we can figure out a way to park somewhere close, in which case maybe we’d try driving ourselves, maybe. (Traffic and drivers in Tirana are bad and parking is basically non-existent, but I’ll explore the possibility.)
Anyway, that’s where we are! What a journey this has turned out to be. I’m so grateful for everyone who has helped us get to this point and that the injury itself isn’t severe. Onward toward full recovery!
Glad to hear S. Is on the road to recovery! It sounds like it has been a challenge navigating the whole thing for sure. I am amazed though that you have never encountered instant ice packs before. Those have been around forever. I remember in elementary school that everyone wanted to squeeze the ice pack and shake it up when somebody got hurt and needed one. They are pretty awesome. Love you!