Sick, part 3

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Boy, do I know how to make blogs fun.

So, again, today I slept in way too late. My over-stuffing by spaghetti last night left me feeling less than fantastic today as well.

Roy messaged me to see how I was doing. In truth, worse than yesterday.

So I contacted Anthony about having some work done on my leaking shower, since I'm obviously here all day and the worker can come. I now have a finely re-caulked shower.

Anthony asked how I was feeling. I couldn't lie just to make him feel better. I feel bad enough as it is having people cover my classes, but I really do feel terrible. We decided to meet at the school doctor's office around 3:30.

So the school doctor can't do anything more for me and we're off to the clinic. Unlike urgent care in the US, where you are made to feel un-urgent, clinics in China move quickly. Anthony said people here still complain about the wait.

After a brief stop at a window to get a patient booklet, and then a 20 minute wait, I am seen by a doctor. No fever. Good. This means I don't have H1N1. I'm not sneezing. I'm barely coughing. But I'm light-headed, or feel like I'm floating, as Anthony translates it. Blood work is ordered.

For this, I walk out the door, and across the room. In 3 minutes she's drawn my blood and put it into the machine. A print-out is printed and afixed to my little booklet. Then we go back to the doctor, cut the line, and he notices a few things are low. It is determined that I have a very bad cold. Uh-huh. Well, minus the runny nose (usually brought on by the extreme cold in MN) I guess that fits. They want to give me anti-biotics. Hey, whatever will make this go away faster. So after some discussion about what I can and can't have due to allergies, we go back to the first window, buy the medicine, then down the hall again. I sit in what is the most uncomfortable chair ever--it's hard wood. I think my "sofa" in my favorite climbing tree as a kid would have been more comfortable.

I'm thinking I'm just waiting for a shot. Alas, no. I get an IV. My first ever Chinese IV! Now this might not seem funny to you, but as any foreigner here can tell you, if you go to the hospital or doctor they always give you an IV, no matter what's wrong with you. It's become a joke of sorts: Headache? Have an IV! Broken leg? Have an IV! Lost? Have an IV.

So three hours of mind-numbing Chinese children's television later, I was done. Then I got to come home and take a bunch of pills. Ahh, Chinese medicine. And then tomorrow I get to go back for round 2 of IV drugs.

This time I'll take a book with me.

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Comments

[Katie]

Have an IV!
That's really funny, because we had a similar joke for the student health center at my first college: Headache? Have a pregnancy test! Broken leg? Have a pregnancy test! Lost an eyeball? Have a pregnancy test!