Firsthand knowledge

“When my family saw me covered with blood, they said, ‘Well, emergency room doctor... what now?’”

It was last October, and Dr. Tom Gross of Redwood Falls was sitting on a broken bicycle in the Chinese countryside at the time.

But to backtrack....

It all began, so to speak, twenty or so years ago.

“Our daughter Sara (Redwood Falls High School class of 1998) was pretty adept with language skills; her first day of college, she surprised us by saying she wanted to major in Chinese,” said Gross earlier this month.

After becoming a lawyer, Sara worked for a British firm setting up a branch in Hong Kong. Sara, fluent in Chinese, was a perfect fit. She and her husband, David, have been there two years.

“This was our first family trip to the mainland,” Gross said. “(My wife) Mary and I flew to Bejing in October and had a day to ourselves. The first thing we learned was, never go to China without someone who speaks Chinese.”

After meeting with Sara’s family, the Gross family spent another three days in Bejing, a city of 13 million.

“Our hotel was in a hotel in the traditional center of Bejing, which is rapidly being destroyed by development. You can’t walk half a block without seeing something being torn down or going up. It’s obvious they’re spending a lot of American money on development.”

Gross got a foreshadowing of the future watching bike traffic in Bejing.

“Cyclists will rush out of alleys without slowing down or looking. You’ll see three people on a motorbike, and one of them is a baby. It’s scary for anyone, but especially a doctor. 

“Sixty percent of people in China who own cars own their first one - and it’s obvious. Riding on highways in China prepares you for death.”

After visiting several cities across China, the Gross family decided to go for a sightseeing bike trip to several nearby villages.

“I wanted to see a 1,000 year old bridge,” Gross said. “The rest of the family was about a third of a mile ahead of me.

“I was looking back at the bridge, and when I looked forward, I was steering down into the bottom of a six-foot deep drainage ditch. 

“I had an ‘Eiiiii!’ moment, a moment of terror, then things happened quickly.

“It was awhile before I could breathe. I knew I had broken my left wrist, and was soaking wet with mud and blood. I thought, ‘At least I’m not unconscious. This is going to be embarrassing.”

Gross picked up his bike and trudged along the ditch until the sides lowered enough to climb out. The bike was in good enough condition that he could pedal it along, riding one-handed.

“I caught up with my family at an intersection; they were wondering where I went.”

At a nearby village, they found a place to rest.

“They sold us a bottle of water. They sold us a towel,” said Gross. “It’s very capitalistic; everyone in China is trying to sell you something.”

Sara finally located transportation to the nearest hospital: a tiny truck with an open lawn mower motor.

“I need to get him to a hospital,” Sara said to the driver, pointing at her bloody father.

“How much are you willing to pay?” the driver asked.

“I’ve never seen Sara get really angry before, so to see her get really upset in Chinese was really something,” Gross said. “She said, ‘This is not something to bargain about!’

“Luckily, in China they have great respect for fathers, so we got someone to drive us the eight miles to the hospital.”

The hospital was in a “village” of only 300,000 people.

“When we got to the hospital, there were people just walking back and forth in the reception room; no one was doing anything for the patients,” said Gross.

“They finally took us to a room with three other families waiting for a doctor. When they found out I was a doctor, they took me to a separate room.” 

Gross was CT scanned, where the physicians found he had a broken rib.

Gross was hooked up to a 1960s era monitor, then the bone specialist came in, and set Gross’s arm - but only after giving him a really good sedative.

“They don’t believe in IV anesthesia,” said Gross. “They gave me a prescription for six pain pills, and I only had to take two. They’re probably ahead of us in anesthetics, since they don’t have any restrictions on developing new drugs.”

“Then we headed to the business office to pay. They don’t accept insurance or credit cards; Sara had to pay cash. 

“The bill for treatment and an overnight stay came to just $750,” Gross said. “If you break your arm, you might want to go to China.”

When Gross got back to the U.S.A., he headed off to Mankato to have a plate and screws put in to hold his hand together.

In the end, Gross was able to note both admirable and questionable things about the two approaches to medicine.

“The care I got in the Chinese hospital was very good,” he noted, “but not once did anyone listen to my chest or heart.”