Sick ... Again

Once again, I am sick.  It seems every time I return to India, I am sick for the first week back.  7 years, I barely missed a day due to illness, but here it is a quarterly event.  Most of the time it is a simple stomach issue, but this time it is a hacking cough, soar joints and a severe headache.  Being doctor adverse, I usually just ignore it, have some soup and ride it out.  Not this time. Last night I had trouble taking a deep breath and, well, I found that troublesome.   

Having no idea how to go about seeing a doctor, I called my trusty and reliable secretary, Ambika.  She called the clinic, but they were booked for the day, so she called the doctor, directly.  Yep, went right to the source.  She somehow convinced him to put aside all the other patients and see me when I arrived at the clinic.  So off I went. 

The whole experience of a medical visit is very different in India, than in the US.  You arrive at the clinic and check in at the receptionist area. There, they determine what you need and where you need to go.  I was then given a token with a number on it and told to wait until my number was called.  My number was called; I went to the counter; checked in and paid for my visit – all $13 of it. 

I was then taken to the 2^nd floor which was a bit like a war movie. The corridors were crammed with people waiting to see their doctor, their specialist or their lab tech.  It seemed like a trauma unit after an air attack.  People sitting, standing or just kneeling.  The only thing missing were the bloody head bandages and crutches. 

I gave my papers to the woman sentry in front of the doctor’s door and was escorted in as soon as the existing patient left.  The office was small with a desk and an examination table, but none of the helpful posters on breast cancer, urinary tract infections or vaginal itching one usually finds in doctor’s offices in the US.  He did not even have the huge plastic model of an ear or heart.

My temperature was taken, breathing heard and blood pressure measured.  As well, we did a throat culture and had some blood taken.  All in all, I was there for about 30 minutes and the conclusion was that I was suffering from an upper respiratory infection - this, by the way, is the technical term for a hacking cough, soar joints and severe headache. 

At the end of the consultation, the doctor types the prescription in the computer during your examination and prints out a sheet with the name of the drugs and the directions of how to use them.  You give this print out to the “pharmacist” who then goes through bins of prepackaged, individually vacuum-packed pills and pulls out what you need.  This is a little disconcerting, as the “pharmacists” have no more training than my driver on doling out medicine.  The upside is that I left with a bag full of medicine for 5 days that cost me $4.38.

In the end, I had confirmation that the hacking cough was, in fact, just a hacking cough and that I was not going to die.  That, in India, is worth the $50 investment.