What it’s like to Live with a Serious Injury, and What I’ve Learned from it so far. 

I’m writing this for everyone who’s ever had a serious injury and had to learn to live with it for a long period of time. I’m writing this for everyone that had to suffer quietly because the medical system is slow and not always the best. I’m writing this because I have to endure a slow and not always competent medical system. And I’d like to explain what I’ve learned from the experience. 

April 3, 2019 was a day that threw my life a curveball. I was biking home when it was lightly raining. I tried to turn from the bike lane into the road so I could make a left turn towards my home. My bike got caught in the stone in the bike lane and the road (the bike lane is made of cobblestone, the road is asphalt). 

I fell to the ground and that was the last time I could walk or bike in months. I tried waving for help to cars passing by but no one bothered to help. Eventually I was able to flag down a worker who was doing construction on my street. I was unable to put my foot down. The worker pushed me on my bike home. I didn’t go to the hospital until a few days later. They took an x-ray and said everything was fine.

They were wrong. Months went by, and I still couldn’t walk without excruciating pain. I had never injured myself that way before. I’ve had small scrapes and bruises, but never  an injury that debilitated me. 

Eventually I made it to physical therapy. Everyone there told me that I should be healed within six weeks. They were wrong. They mentioned in my first or second session that if my foot doesn’t get better, they would do an ultrasound of my foot.

A month went by. After shelling out over $200 for an insole that didn’t work and a monthly fee added to my insurance for physical therapy, I had enough. 

I happened to be in New York for work, so I decided to get an American doctor’s opinion. I went to urgent care. The staff there took an x-ray, said it wasn’t broken. The doctor told me that he wasn’t an expert and that I definitely should see an orthopedist. He explained that it didn’t make sense that after so many months, I still had pain from a seamingly simple injury. 

I went home to the Netherlands and told my physical therapist what the doctor in NY said. I told her that I wanted that ultrasound she originally talked about. She said we weren’t there yet. 

About another month went by, I was really done. I couldn’t walk a few city blocks before having to sit down because of the pain. I told her that I wanted an ultrasound and physical therapy wasn’t helping. She complied and scheduled the ultrasound. Sure enough, the ultrasound tech found something wrong with my foot. 

He sent me to my primary care physician to get evaluated. My primary care doctor sent me to an orthopedist. When I went to the orthopedist, I had to get another x-ray and CT scan. The orthopedist took one look at the scans and was baffled that someone could miss my injury. I had broken my foot and the bones in my foot had been dislocated. He said that he was in shock that I could walk. 

After a week of him consulting other orthopedists on what to do, he explained that there was nothing he can do because of how complicated the injury was. He sent me to another hospital. There, a doctor was able to come up with a surgery to fix my injury. The recovery time is three plus months. That’s three months sitting at home.

Then Coronavirus got to the Netherlands. My surgery is postponed until the medical system can bounce back from the pressure of Coronavirus. 

I wake up every morning, I put my foot down to get up, and  I’m reminded of my injury. I haven’t had a single day when I didn’t forget what I went through and am still going through. My foot hurts every single day. 

Advocate for Yourself

My biggest regret is trusting the doctors. Everyone in my family and my friends told me that it’s not normal and that I should see a doctor again. I trusted the doctors when they said my foot will heal, and that I just need time. If you feel something is wrong, go back to the doctor. Don’t let them say everything is going to be okay, because it’s not always going to be okay.

Learn How Your Country’s Medical System Works

All I had to do was go to my primary care physician and he would have sent me to an orthopedist. I didn’t know that. I thought that the physical therapist would send me if the PT wasn’t working. Apparently here the primary care doctor manages everything, and all your issues have to go through him.

Don’t Give Up

I wake up with pain everyday, but now I know things will get better. See that there is light at the end of the tunnel. Although I’m still walking with a serious injury, it hurts less because I’ve grown accustomed to it. I’ve learned to walk with it. I have accepted that there is absolutely nothing I can do about it right now. I’ll have to do this until the orthopedist is allowed to conduct my surgery.