Patient 7015

I am patient nr 7015 of the Kabul Orthopedic Organization, located at the very back of the military hospital that was opened by the Russians in 1990. The hospital is also referred to as the 400 bed hospital, a phrase I need to learn in Dari so I don’t end up at the wrong hospital for my next visit.

Fahima came recommended to me by a Swedish physical therapist who lived for several years in Kabul and knows the PT scene here well.

The first home-visiting therapist turned out rather useless in addition to being extraordinarily expensive for Kabul (35 dollars) now that I know that the hospital charges 20 dollars for a session that consists of 6 half hour visits. I was led into the ladies side of the building and into a room with several beds, a big exercise ball, an infrared lamp, some flex bands and very basic and well used exercise equipment.

I was impressed by the professional approach of Fahima. She first studied the surgery notes and then the protocol for rotator cuff surgery. She had me do my exercises and checked those I had been doing wrong, substituting the wrong muscles.

The whole place was impressive; very basic but well organized and employing many handicapped people. That was actually in their mission statement and goals, prominently displayed above a large bookcase full of records.

The rest of the day was a blur as I am trying to bring my email box down to near zero and set priorities for the countless tasks that were hiding in there –some rather urgent. Sometimes I feel like I am handed a ball of wool that is entirely tangled. I am trying to find the ends so I can start unraveling the knots.