The car stopped in front of a little shop. Jay, our host here in Bolivia, and I got out of the car and went inside.
“Hola Suzy,” I said, as I shook her hand and kissed her on the cheek, typical Bolivian greeting. Suzy is a kind-hearted, beautiful woman who works at the radio. She has fantastic dimples.
To my left was another woman, with a similar set of dimples in her cheeks, Suzy’s sister. I greeted her also with a handshake and kiss. She sat in a wheelchair. Jay translated as she told me how 6 weeks ago she was hit by a motorcycle as she was standing, waiting to pick up her child from school. Her lower leg was broken in 3 places, and after a 6-hour, severely painful ambulance ride to the hospital, she had 3 pins and a rod placed in her leg to stabilize the bones. Then they sent her back home and told her to get physical therapy. The problem is that the nearest PT is 4-6 hours away in La Paz.
This is why I am here. She can barely move her foot at all, and she has a good amount of swelling, not to mention pain. So I sit there for the next hour as Jay translates all my instructions to her. I take her through exercises, and educate her on future exercises she can progress toward in the coming month. I tell her how ice might help her pain and swelling, and I tell her about how bones heal so that she can stop being afraid of breaking the bones again when she moves her foot. Then I pull out my cream and do some soft tissue work to bring down the pain and swelling. I educate Suzy on how to help with this massage later on. By the time I leave, she is already showing increased range of motion and deceased swelling in her foot and ankle, and she tells me that her foot feels more relaxed.
Afterward, Suzy brings me and Jay apple juice, and we drink it as we talk for another half hour or so. Then we shake hands with both woman. Suzy’s sister says, “Tu eres muy amable,” as she shakes my hand, and we say goodbye.
