| Description | Letter from Amelia Nyasa Laws, Hôpital Auxiliaire No. 10, Hotel Bristol, Aix-le-Bains, Savoie, France, to her relatives, regarding her enjoyment of her work; she has 18 patients a day at the moment but that will drop on Wednesday when some are discharged; summary of her routine which includes treating the cook, and making variations for patients who have orderly duties of various kinds; one of the patients is having electric treatment; Lavier is to leave this week, her nicest patient; his little girls are very lucky to have him as a father; Rouard is also to leave; he has been difficult to treat as he does not take the treatment seriously; he makes the most of his suffering and avoids pain at all costs; Tanton will probably leave - his shoulder is better but he was left without a sling for too long and the rotation is affected; he belongs to Paris and is a house decorator; Dufau's foot is improved but he is suffering from a hernia; he has worked hard from childhood on his father's farm, and was forbidden to learn a trade; he will have to do so now; he has two brothers at Verdun; he still has splinters in his leg; she encloses two photographs [not present] of personnel; Mme. Brouard is her chief and her absence means more work for Amelia, but the patients are very helpful; notes on the photographs; elbows are bad cases to treat and are often affected, particularly the left one which is hit while the man is holding a gun; Lanne, a Parisian chemist, had his olecrannon removed and it was a difficult case; plaster of paris weighs the patients down and makes recovery longer; the doctor was impressed by her treatment of Bordes' wrist, which he had said would never move again; his assistant, a lady doctor, sees to all the wound dressing, etc., and is very competent; the doctor's methods have themselves changed and he does not force muscles so much; he is becoming more gentle; he is a good surgeon, though he has suffered blood poisoning through operations; she is now working on preventative massage, above and below open wounds, before the muscles stiffen; there are 145 patients at present - more arrived from Verdun on Monday, clean and bandaged but some very bad; hot weather; bad case of shell splinter in a lung, along with pleurisy; thanks for letters; Uncle going to Mürren for August. |