Sept 17 - Free Health Care!

 On Friday we made arrangements for a taxi to pick us up at 10am on Saturday to take us to the hospital emergency room.  I wanted to make sure that I had not broken anything in my foot.  We are planning to fly to Copenhagen on Wednesday to see Alexis and family so we were trying to figure out how to make that work.

The taxi arrived on time and we set off.  But when we got to the stop - it did not look like a hospital.  That was because it was the same tourist medical care center Michael had walked to on Friday.  They do not do x-rays here.  It had been locked up tight then and looked the same today.  Apparently the driver had looked at the past thread of emails where earlier we had talked about the tourist medical care center - but the last entry definitely said - hospital emergency room.  So off we went again.  

We arrived to an empty waiting room at the emergency center.  I had to have a covid test - I swear she shoved the swab  way up into my sinuses!  Turned out negative so I was put into a wheel chair and into the doctors office.  Yes, I need an x-ray.  So interesting to be wheeled around and stuck outside of a door way while the nurse went in and talked to someone - repeatedly.  I have no idea what is going on.  Finally got to the x-ray lab where everything went smoothly.  Then I was wheeled to the entrance of another waiting room and left there.  I could hear things happening behind me, but couldn't see or tell what was going on.  

Michael was told that he could not go in with me so he was waiting at the entrance.  But several people, obviously not patients joined me off and on in the waiting room.  We would greet each other "Buon giorno" which is about the extent of my Italian.  As we had expected, people with more serious issues had come in after me and needed to be taken care before me.  So I sat there for an hour or so.  

Eventually I was called back to the doctor.  There was no fracture!  So happy!  I had been worried as I had walked to the water front Friday morning and came back with a very much more swollen foot.

Doctor says - no compression, no boot.  Just rest and wear my tennis shoes and take ibuprofen for pain.  He printed out a report and handed it to me.  I couldn't read it as I did not have my glasses on and most of it seemed to be in Italian.  How much was peace of mind going to cost me?  

I was wheeled back to the entrance waiting room.  The nurse who had been pushing me was so sweet.  She kept trying to reassure me in very limited English that I would be fine and I could fly on an airplane.

Once in the waiting room I got out my glasses - imagine my surprise - this was not a bill.  No one said - hey you need to go to the office and pay your bill.  It looked like I should just go home!!!  Michael called for the taxi.  We waited in the same room until it came.  So I got free Italian health care.  

I did take some phone photos on Friday morning - so I will post them here.

In this one I was trying to capture the clouds in the far distance and the mountains as well.  It has been mostly clear skies with lots of haze up until now.

And a view towards Old Town as well.