The Dietz’s lived a few houses away from our Elm Grove house, and they built a tree house. It was about 12-15 feet high, above a concrete or brick sidewalk. Ann fell from the tree house, and ran home. I said that she should not tell mom and dad. She went right to bed. When dad came home, he took her to a doctor (she was asleep), and she got a six-week cast for her broken arm. ***
During a high school gym class, we played softball, and did not use gloves. I caught a fly ball with my hands, and it really hurt a finger. Dad took me to an orthopedist, who was dad’s friend and also a teacher. The doctor examined me, ordered an X-Ray, and told me that it was likely fractured. Just then a medical student walked past the room, and the doctor told him to evaluate my finger. He pushed rather hard. Several times he asked, “Does this hurt?” I always said, “Yes.” The pain of his evaluation was so great that I lost consciousness and started to fall. They grabbed me and put something in my nose to awaken me. The doctor said, “I’m sorry that we made you faint,” at which point I said, “I told you that it hurt.” I learned a painful lesson. I should be less calm, and speak louder about my pain. I never learned quite enough.
Anna had singing practice in the evening. It was very cold in Minneapolis. After her choir practice she went outside, stood on ice, and while standing still for me to pick her up, she fell hard onto the ice. She had a lot of arm pain, and I took her home. Because the pain continued, we decided to take her to a hospital for X-Rays. I insisted on taking a photograph of her before I would take her to the Emergency Department. She felt miserable, and the photograph did not compliment her. She had a fracture, and got treatment.
*** Dad was the first endocrinologist in Wisconsin, and he studied us carefully, including height and weight regularly. Despite having a simple arm fracture, and the standard six-week cast, Ann did not gain height for an entire year. According to typical growth information, she should have grown a few inches during that year. That information impacted me. When I became a doctor, sometimes my psychiatric patient had a medical or surgical problem, and the doctor told the patient that he or she was completely improved. But the patient continued to have a symptom, such as pain, weakness, or exhaustion. I explained to the patient that even though their doctor said he or she was all better, in fact the body may take 6-12 months to heal completely from the illness. Patients were very appreciative, and other doctors agreed with me.