| Description | Letter from Amelia Nyasa Laws, Valence, to her relatives, regarding visit to an amputee at the Hôpital Général; there are still a dozen patients there, though there are fewer now at the 201; plans to leave the annexe; it will be more convenient, but her personal independence will be curtailed; Mme. Delattre will be able to see her more often and tire her out; Pinet has finally died; he tried to commit suicide twice to put an end to his sufferings; his paralysis was frustrating; inconvenience of the mortuary chapel having been used to store potatoes, and only being cleared by chance; its decoration for the funeral and the problems entailed; there is never any forethought, though the resourcefulness thus necessary is impressive; the nun told the Commandant that neither she nor Amelia would watch by the body that night or he would have three to bury instead of one, the cellar was so cold; description of the cemetery with its view of the Rhône; memories of Lake Geneva; account of the funeral; treatment of Jaussaud, lately Mme. Soureillat's delicate massage patient; she removed the leg from its plaster too early and much work is to be redone; when the plaster was removed again, Dr. Lavoiepierre insisted that Jaussaud should walk and receive a brisk French massage, which dislodged a splinter in his leg, which then began pressing under the skin; he has been treated by the Breynat sisters who are not friendly to Amelia, so she is trying to find a way to move him back into her care; she has succeeded in return for some favours to the Breynats; Macé's wound is still not healing, and she wants to treat it with diachylon sticking plaster; Soeur St. Paulin remains to be convinced; it always produces suppuration but was effective at the Hôpital Général; she managed to convince the Soeur, who had decided to show the wound to Dr. Rigal, expecting him to reopen th ewhole buttock and resew it; 'the diachylon is working wonders, drawing out the deep-seated suppuration (probably there still remains in the tissues some powder of the explosive shell) ... the diachylon is a German invention'; description of its use with sulphuric ether; it will probably avoid the need for another operation; gradually her sphere is coming to be recognised by the other staff and she can have her own way in the treatments; mention of patient Gray on crutches; Louis is convinced he has a coffee mill to be extracted from his leg; Dr. Rigal asked her to take on a patient in the town, but she has no time - there is no masseuse for the whole of Valence, with 25,000 inhabitants; the railway company might pay her for treating one of their employees; he was sent to her by a civilian doctor who had never met her. [Letter breaks off without signature] |