Wednesday 15 October, 2003 at 10:02PM (Nereus)  ::  permalink  ::  comments (7)

Yup I'm sick. I've had a nasty cough for the last five days (like, really nasty) and today I finally stopped resisting the other Weasel's insisting that I go see a doctor, and I went. I try to avoid visiting the doctor except in extreme cases (or if work requires a certificate after three days off or whatever), but this cough wasn't going away, even after being bombarded with vitamin C, Robitussin cough syrup, penicillin (thanks Cat and Lemur), hot lemon and honey drinks (thanks Weasling) and even a hot foot bath (thanks again Weasling). The Lemur (IceQueen's Dad) came over earlier today and dropped off some more penicillin and some fruit for me (including mangos! yay!) nice huh? Ok so why do I usually avoid consulting doctors? Because if I've gone to see one when I'm feeling sick in the past, the result is nearly always the same series of events:

• Stage 1: The Waiting Room. Despite making an appointment with a health professional for 3.30pm, you find yourself still sitting bored to tears in their waiting room at 4.45pm. This is the same with every doctor I've visited in my life, without exception. They never run on schedule. Actually, I tell a lie. There was one exception back in New Zealand where I turned up 5 minutes later than the stated appointment time. Believe it or not, I was told to make a new appointment as the doctor couldn't wait for me when I didn't turn up on time. Unreal. Of course I told the receptionist to schedule me in for when hell freezes over, then I left and found myself a new doctor.
• Stage 2: The Examination. You finally get in to see the Venerated One who wears the traditional Sacred Robes of their Profession (also known as a lab coat). They prod you and poke you a bit, look down your throat and in your ears, all the while making 'hmmm' sounds interspersed with the occasional 'uh-huh'. I guess this is to give the impression that they really do know what they are doing.
• Stage 3: Judgment. This is always the bit that makes me laugh. With the airs and graces usually reserved for omnipotent gods or someone like Caesar after conquering yet another country (veni vidi vici), the Venerated One proclaims that you are 'unwell'. Gee really? What tipped you off? Hmm.
• Stage 4: The Scriptures. Always illegible, these mysterious parchments are given to you by The Doctor as a memento of your encounter. Something to look at in times of reflection perhaps? Oh, you can also trade them in along with a big wad of cash for some drugs, but that's another story.
• Stage 5: The Closing Ceremony. This is where you get to talk to the Disciple again (also known as a receptionist) and pay vast fortunes for the honor of holding an audience with The Venerated One.
• Stage 6: The Realization. This is when you're halfway home and suddenly realize you just spent a lot of time, effort and money to find out something you already knew - you're sick. Yup, you've just been had.

Ok ok, this is all way over the top but it was fun writing it. So I went to the doctor (yes I did have to wait over an hour after the appointment time to see him) and he checked me out. He's an Egyptian dude and seems like a fairly good guy. Apparently I have severe bronchitis and some throat infection to boot. Joy. I have to go back in 10 days and if there isn't any significant improvement, he will send me to a specialist and get my lungs x-rayed. Hrmm, that sounds serious.

Anyway, he knew I didn't have medical insurance here, so rather than write a prescription which he said would've been very expensive, he gave me a 10 day supply made up of sample packs given to him by medical reps. Nice. Some fairly powerful antibiotics along with expectorant. I still had to pay US$55 for the consultation and get an inhaler as well (albuterol if you were wondering). When I went to the chemist, he asked if I had insurance. When I said no, he only charged me $12 even though the receipt was for over $30. ..I didn't question it.

IceQueen has been awesome looking after me the past few days, really really awesome. Making hot drinks, buying cough syrup and lozenges from the chemist (or drug store as they call them here - never fails to crack me up), cooking food and so on. It makes me feel kinda guilty, like I shouldn't be letting someone else look after me, I should be doing it all myself.

I also need to stop smoking, particularly while I'm sick like this. I have cut right back already; for example I've only had 1 cigarette today and it's 10pm now. IceQueen got me some NicoDerm to help as well. I figure if I cut right back like I have and then stop altogether, whenever I get a craving I'll slap a patch on and use them like that. No doubt I'm going to be a grumpy bastard while I go through the withdrawal period though, I've heard that happens to everyone trying to quit. That and putting on weight.