Make Mine Mystery

February 2019

Linda Lee Kane

I was looking forward to the new year and had so many exciting plans, book blogs, tours, radio shows, tv appearances, traveling, getting my floor done, horse shows, taking care of my grandchildren and then on January 2, I tripped over a mat in a horse stall, my leather boots caught on the rubber mat and I flew, hard, right onto the ground. I was holding bags of horse food so my elbow was bent when I landed and that’s what did the most damage. First, when I landed on my elbow and flew head first into a metal barn door. I shattered my right arm (humerus), had a concussion, and just ached everywhere.

The one thing I got out of this experience is how lousy hospital emergency rooms are. They are overcrowded, people that are sneezing were seen before me, and only when I began to throw-up did anyone pay any attention to me. I received no care from 9:40 am until 7:00 pm that night. At that point I did get x rays done and a shot of morphine but at that point the shot was worthless. To add to this after the long wait, I was sent home and told to contact an orthopedic surgeon and to take it easy because I had a concussion.  I could have been home this whole time trying to get into an orthopedic surgeon (well not exactly, but you get my drift), I had no food, no water, (I was told I couldn’t have anything if they operated). I sat in a waiting room on a hard chair.

I would have to say this will give me a great memory for writing in a novel. I never realized our system of health care is so broken, and the staff at the hospitals who do try and help are up against a machine at the higher levels of indifference or they are just plain overwhelmed and no one knows what to do about it.

I also discovered that no matter how painful it is to write and draw for me, I still need to do it. It keeps me grounded, it gives me a purpose that I can’t deny. I think I will become more active in writing letters to hospital administrators and maybe we can put our collective brains together and come up with a better solution for health care.