What Do You Do When You Break Your Wrist in Outer Mongolia?

from
Member First Name
Deborah
| February, 2 2024 | for Timothy J. Pratt, MD

I was thrown from a horse in Outer Mongolia and immediately knew something was wrong with my wrist. I was hoping against hope that it wasn't broken. The nearest doctor was practicing in a soviet-era hospital consisting of about four patient rooms, one exam room, one office, and an "emergency room". He couldn't immediately x-ray my wrist because it was raining and their computers wouldn't connect to the internet. Finally, the rain stopped and he was able to do the x-ray and confirm a break. He couldn't send me a copy of the x-ray but my guide took an iPhone photo of his computer screen and I texted that photo to Dr. Pratt.

Dr. Pratt immediately contacted an orthopedic hand surgeon and showed him the x-ray photo. Within a couple of hours, Dr. Pratt called me and told me I would need surgery. Although it took me a few days to get to an airport, I was able to schedule a flight and I texted the flight information to Dr. Pratt. He had an appointment set up for me the next morning with the hand surgeon who immediately removed the cast, which was put on incorrectly, and put me in a wrist brace. I was operated on a week later. I am 100% positive my hand would not have been restored back to perfection had it not been for Dr. Pratt's intervention. Kudos also to the Class A hand surgeon he set me up with!

Top