I was walking down the sidewalk one late winter Eugene day in the drizzling frigid rain when I spied a puddle in front of me next to the curb. For some odd reason, I imagined myself as a sort of chubby gazelle, and I leapt off the curb as though launching myself from one riverbank to the other somewhere in the Serengeti Plain@@http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Serengeti_Plain@@. My left foot hit the pavement outside edge first, with all of my weight on top of it. I heard several cracks and pops.
At the time it seemed funny to me, despite the dull pain that began to rise up my leg. I began to laugh. Knowing I had to get out of the road (as I was now in the middle of it) I hazarded a step. Immediately that dull pain became a crashing sensation and between cackles, I gagged. “OK, I’m really hurt,” I said. That made it even funnier. Maybe it was a stress response to the horrible pain I was feeling, but at the time I couldn’t stop laughing, and I was barely holding down the vomit as I dragged myself off the road. The curb was only a foot high. It was remarkably embarrassing.
It was only after two weeks of trying to be macho and walk it off that I went to the Physical Therapy and Sports Medicine lab at the University Health Center.@@http://healthcenter.uoregon.edu/FAQ/PhysicalTherapySportsMedicineFAQs.aspx@@ I was seen by a wonderful woman named Clodagh Thompson.@@http://uoregon.edu/findpeople/person/Clodagh*Thompson@@ A physical therapist originally from Cork, Ireland, she told me that I had a stage-two (out of three stages) tear in the connective tissue in my ankle. I’d have to use a brace for a few weeks and do some rehab exercises.
The cool thing was the cost was remarkably low for my visit — about $30 altogether. It was around $15 for the visit and $15 for the brace.
The not-so-cool thing was that I found out too late that there are shuttle rides for injured students who can’t walk around campus easily. It’s a great service, but now that I could walk around well enough I didn’t need it. Weeks of hobbling to classes all over campus had been spent in vain.
What else does the Health Center do that we might not know about? Well, how about equally affordable massages? They cost a dollar a minute and you can schedule appointments for 30, 45 or 60 minutes. This is pretty far below the average going rate for massages, which could be around double that. This is a great way for students to relieve a little bit of stress incurred during the term. You may have to get your appointment early as they fill up quickly, especially near the end of the term.
If you’re traveling out of the country over the summer, the Health Center’s Travel Clinic@@http://healthcenter.uoregon.edu/Services/TravelClinic.aspx@@ may be the place for your vaccinations. When they review your travel itinerary the clinic suggests the particular vaccine cocktail you may need. Afterwards, they provide you with an internationally recognized certificate of vaccination to take with you. It isn’t free of course, but keeping in line with the common thread with all University Health Center services, the prices will be quite reasonable.
The Health Center also offers dental services (cleanings, X-rays and fillings), mental health services and even healing touch (Reiki) services.@@http://www.reiki.org/faq/whatisreiki.html@@ Strangely enough, the University Health Center is well-rounded for a small student service clinic on campus. If you’ve got a medical problem that doesn’t involve an emergency situation, the Health Center can probably help you out.