Sometimes, Frostbite Turns into Frostburn

In the Winter of 2015, I was the unfortunate receiver of some nasty frostbite - the kind that hospitalizes you, that requires you to be hooked up like an atomotron to a morphine drip because the pain between your bones is debilitating. Mind you, this all happened in Ithaca.

I got stuck between a rock and a hard place -- well, technically a snow bank -- while walking on one of my favorite trails in the natural lands that surround the college. In the rather darkness of twilight, I lost my balance and tripped into a bank of snow, but the experience of falling is not nearly as dramatic as what played after. Though I had my iPhone on my person, public safety got to me twenty minutes after my frantic call. I was silly - I should have called immediately as I fell, but who wouldn’t try to get oneself out the situation themselves, at least for a short time?

Upon arriving at the hospital, I was sent to another, closer to New York City, to be treated extensively. This is where the drip began, that morphine that consumed my ankles for two weeks. Thinking back now, I should have been wearing warmer socks. I was told my toes might have had to be amputated. Thankfully, my surgeon, a man whom I’ll never forget, managed to keep me together in one, slightly loopy, piece. After three months of recovery, I was walking and running and enjoying bipedal life in general, and I am forever grateful.

However, looking back at the experience, I was lucky. More than lucky -- I was the recipient of access to medical and psychological care within an hour of my injury, an hour that protected by body that many individuals around the globe may not had the same access. The privilege of socioeconomic status. A young individual from a socioeconomically deprived area, for example, may have had to wait hours, screaming for someone to help dull the pain. This is the case for many in different societies without modern - and I use that word painstakingly (put not intended) - access to medicine. My emergency room visit was paid for with insurance so many do not receive because her father works too many hours for too little pay and can’t afford to have their child saved. I received the medicinal care I needed without my own effort. I am privileged by my position in the social climate that is citizenship in the United States of America. And I don’t know if I should be grateful or horrified.

#frostbite #psychology #healthcare #medicine #ithaca #newyorkcity #nyc #newyork #privilege