Thoughts on the medical system, continued...

After my last post about the crazy differences in the medical system between the US and Ukraine, I thought I would go into detail about our latest experience (which was VERY good)!

Two weeks ago, Solomiya fell and injured her leg. There were no cuts or bruises and only some slight swelling, but she refused to walk on it and we could tell- through the many tears- that she was in a lot of pain. We decided to call our family doctor in the morning to ask him if he could look at her. Now, our family doctor here in Ukraine is an awesome guy: he speaks English very well, has received a lot of special training in the US and Western Europe and stays up-to-date on new medical interventions. We are so thankful to have a great doctor here in Uzhhorod!
So, we tried contacting him the next day- all day. We finally heard from him around late afternoon and found out that he had had a lot of patients that day. He suggested we go to the ER at the hospital if S was not able to walk. That suggestion really freaked me out because we have heard some pretty horrific stories from our Ukrainian friends about the hospitals here. I definitely wanted to get an X-ray, but I also wanted to stay away from the hospital (I was hoping we could find a private clinic).
By this time in the day, S was exhausted and Mike and I felt more confused than ever about what to do. We had Ukrainian friends giving us all different opinions, options and hospitals- but we didn't know which would be safer. Also, we kept thinking that maybe S's injury was not as bad as it seemed.
Some people are probably thinking that we were total crack heads for not doing anything sooner- but imagine that you're in a foreign country with a bad reputation for medical care and you have no idea what the heck to do. Do they even have a trauma center at the hospital? Will the doctor there have an actual medical degree or did he buy it (totally not joking)?Should we go to Hungary and risk a 4 hour wait at the border? Uh, besides the fact that we do not speak Hungarian...
We came to the conclusion to bring her for an X-ray the next morning (where? Not sure.) we didn't want to stress her out that day.
S slept awesome that night (thank you Children's Motrin), but I could not sleep. I finally came to the decision by morning that I was taking her to Hungary- by train, by car, by hitch hiking if need be. At least I knew the medical care would be excellent and the chances that medical staff spoke English would be high. Just because Mike and I made the decision to move to this country, did not mean that S had to suffer with poor medical care.
And it was at this point that I had a revelation or epiphany or was quiet long enough that I could actually hear God speaking.
S did not have to suffer. God was not saying- Oh crap, you guys better get out of there because I am completely powerless in this situation. We were in Ukraine because we believed it was where God wanted us. Speaking of God, He is able to do anything- and we serve Him. I wonder what would happen if I prayed about this whole situation and asked for His help? So that is what I did. I asked God to show me what to do. I asked for knowledgable (and also kind) doctors, nurses and staff to be working at whichever place we would go. I asked for help communicating and understanding. I think I asked for a hundred more things that I cannot recall right now.
After this, I knew what to do immediately. I asked Mike to call our friend (also a doctor) whose daughter went through something similar a few months ago. He told us exactly where to go.
Our friend, who had offered to help us translate, was available. We picked her up and drove to the ER.
The following happened:
- a kind and knowledgable ER doctor: check
- an excellent X-ray technician who took high quality photos: check
- an explanation of what was wrong with clear evidence on the X-ray: check
- the best pediatric orthopedist in the city coming to the hospital in under 15 minutes to cast S's leg: check
- the orthopedist spoke English: check
- a wonderful friend who translated everything for us, spoke up for us, filled out all paperwork for us, went to the pharmacy with Mike to buy the casting supplies, told us who to pay and how much and was just a great support to us: check
- in and out of the ER in under an hour: check
- peace instead of chaos and confusion filling my head: check

Lesson learned: God is bigger than the post-Soviet medical care and conditions in Ukraine.
Yes, the medical system is completely different, but God is able to work with it.
Feeling very thankful to our Father in Heaven who is helping us out in this corner of the world.

Two more weeks of a cast and then it is off! S is enjoying all sorts of fine motor activities- including art work on my phone.