We've been stocking up on Vitamin C and trying to rest. The resting part has been kind of hard because a) we're training for the 1/2 marathon and so we need to stay on schedule and b) we couldn't sleep because I would have these coughing attacks all throughout the night that would wake Ryan, and sometimes Chuki, up. So the resting part was hard and we finally decided it might be time to actually go to the doctor.
So on Wednesday we called to make two appointments, one for Ryan and one for me. We made sure that we called when Jhon, our spanish teacher, was here in case we got into some translation problems. Ryan made the phone call and set up his appointment and then when he was setting up mine they got disconnected. Jhon called back and set up my appointment. We were scheduled for Thursday, Ryan at 2 and me at 2:15.
Now the health insurance system here is one of reimbursement. So you have to take this form that is signed and sealed from your employer to the appointment with you. Ryan got the forms from inlingua and we left for the appointment.
When we arrived to the place it was PACKED! There were chairs set up for waiting and then counters with numbers. You went in, got a number, and waited. There was ONE girl at the counter processing all of the requests. This step was comparable to the 'check in' phase of an American doctors appointment, even though it took more like 25 minutes. So our number is called, we go up to the one girl, who has papers all over the place. They're not in any particular order, they're just laying all over her work station. There are other people rifling through them; it was a mess. We give her our insurance cards and our forms and she can't find us in the system. Apparently the guy over the phone had spelled our last names wrong (big surprise!) and so for a few minutes we were panicky that we had just waited, we weren't feeling well, and now we aren't going to get to see the doctor. She eventually found our names and asked for her $8. Then she told us to go into this little room off the waiting room.
There wasn't anyone in the little room when we got there, so we waited a couple of minutes. Finally a nurse came in and weighed us, measured us, took our blood pressure, and our pulse. She put all of that information into the computer and then took us to the doctor.
The doctor had us sit down (notice that we're in the same appointment, not two separate ones like we had requested). He asked what our symptoms were; he listened to us breathe; and he wrote out a prescription. Then he also had to fill out our insurance forms. Also notice, he didn't tell us what was wrong with us just that there was a problem and to take these pills.
He told us to go back to the waiting room and get a number. So we got another number, this time for medicines, and we waited. This time, we weren't quite sure what we were waiting for. We had our prescriptions, we'd already paid, our forms were signed... Anyways, finally they called our number. The girl, a different one this time, entered our prescriptions into the computer, made copies of our insurance forms, and did some other things (who knows what) and then told us we were free to leave.
The whole process took a little over an hour and was relatively painless. It just seemed to us like a lot of paperwork and a lot of who-ha for not really anything more than a walk in clinic in the states.
I went to go get our medicines that night. We each had two and they were all different. Apparently the doctor said that my 'problem' was worse than Ryan's, who knows why?! Anyways, the one pharmacy was out of one of my medicines so I had to go across the street to the other pharmacy (Funny how some things are the same everywhere. ie, a Walgreens and a CVS on two corners of one intersection.) Finally I have all of the medicines and I get back home and we take them.
Now I had already planned to go over to our friends house for a girls night and so I took my medicine and then I got dressed (kind of, I still went in my pjs) and I headed over there. All of a sudden as we were sitting there the medicine kicked in and I got SO tired and my head felt like it was floating somewhere detached to my body. Plus my stomach started to ache; Needless to say I came home shortly after I got there.
We're on an every 12 hour rotation for the medicine, so I took mine again this morning at 6 and have been sleeping on and off all morning. It's a good thing all my classes were cancelled today because I don't think I would be able to teach. The other good thing is that I feel like I'm coughing less and less. PLUS I WAS ABLE TO SLEEP THROUGH THE NIGHT! Which was so relieving!
So for now, we're just relaxing, staying inside, not doing much of anything. Hopefully in a couple of days we'll be back to normal. The only thing I hope is that there are no serious injuries/sicknesses while we're here. I can't even imagine the hassle it would be. Knock on wood, right?
Hope all is well with everyone at home!
MULUB,
Taylor
