Sunday morning

Sometimes a day just does not start as planned -- this morning, instead of Vince going to work, I had to take him to the emergency room at the hospital. As you can see in the photo, he is smiling and he is okay. But, he had a painful night -- due to sciatica which was the diagnosis.

Last night at work, there was an incoming plane that was several hours late, and consequently, there were over 150 people jammed on the utility boat coming back to this side of the bay. Vince was one of those 150 folks packed like sardines in the boat, and the doctor theorizes that the way he was sitting (hunched and a little crooked) along with what he was sitting on (a low bench) AND what he had in his back pocket (his wallet) all contributed to pinching the sciatic nerve.

Apparently sciatica is common among truckdrivers and they are advised to carry their wallets in their front pockets instead of their back pockets. (Who would have guessed this?)

The doctor asked Vince's permission to make the visit a "teaching" opportunity, so three young male medics came in to the examining area. I was able to sit there and observe the 30 minute session during which the doctor thoroughly poked and prodded Vince, all the while asking questions of his students. ("What are some of the questions you need to ask an incoming patient? What are the first three things you might look for?," etc.) I was wondering how far they were in their training, because some of the questions prompted me to almost raise my hand and say "I know! I know!" Thankfully, I held back and just kept my mouth shut.

Vince was given a prescription and released after three long hours. We were thankful that it wasn't something worse (the first official hospital patients at GTMO in the late 1800's were treated for yellow fever.) And, as I am writing this, Toto the Filipino physical therapist (I swear I am not making this up) made a house call and is giving Vince a therapeutic massage to help relax the nerve.