Going to the doctor

Everyone here has told us that if you're sick, you go and see the doctor at the hospital!  This in itself is strange to us because at home if we're sick, we'd go to see the doctor as a medical clinic.  We only go to the hospital if we're really ill, require an operation or if it's at a strange hour of the night when urgent medical attention is needed.  Here, the doctor most commonly prescribes an IV drip also.  The thought of sitting around with a bunch of other people with an IV drip in my arm does really not appeal to me, whether it be for an hour or 8!

I have been sick with a cold ever since the day it snowed in Suzhou!  I'm going to blame the snow because I can.  Matt and I were so excited about it, I probably didn't realise how cold it actually was.  Anyways, this cold has hung on and on and I developed a cough.  I have gone to the chemist twice to get OTC drugs and drunk a whole bottle of cough medicine.  I thought that I was getting better about a week ago and then this past week the sickness has hit me again and today it really hit me, so I decided to visit the doctor.  We read somewhere that at Kowloon Hospital they have a foreigners clinic with English speaking doctors, which sounded good to us as the hospital is only a few blocks away.  We rocked up today and had no idea where to go and people everywhere.  I went to the reception desk to ask about the clinic and apparently it's closed on Sunday!  Bummer!!  She asked what was wrong and I said I had a cold so she sent me to the Respiratory department.  I then had to go to the Cashier and pay 13 Yuan and got a book and a card and had to give the guy my name and birthday.  He told me to go to level 2, so I did.  We really had no idea what was going on.  Level 2 looked a little like an airport with boarding gates.  There are different 'departments' all with a nurse station / reception desk and a waiting area.  We found the respiratory department and my name was on an electronic board.  We went through to a doctors office where he quickly examined me (he could speak english, luckily!) and wanted me to undertake two days of IV treatment!  errr GROSS!  I asked if I could have tablets instead as I wasn't keen on the IV idea so he wrote out a prescription for 4 different tablets!!!!!  I then went to the nurse station / reception desk thing again to pay and then downstairs to the pharmacy to collect my drugs and that was it.  It all seemed rather easy once we had done it but it seems like a really strange way to see a doctor.

Apparently I have acute bronchitis and pharyngitis!  Fun fun fun!!  I have four different lots of tablets to take, some 3 x 3 times a day and others 2 x 3 times a day.  Crazy!!  At least I don't have to sit with an IV though.  There were people sitting downstairs in the reception area with IV drips attached.  I have also been informed that some places have rooms full of booths with seats where everyone is attached to an IV.  Crazy!  I guess an IV is instant but the idea seems wrong to me.  So hopefully now that I have drugs, my illness will be gone!!  It will feel so nice to not have to blow my nose all the time, to be able to sleep through the night without coughing and to not have random coughing attacks.

So if you're sick in China, going to the doctor really isn't as bad as it sounds.  It might be daunting but once done, it's not so bad.  I even have my own hospital card thing now so next time I go, they know who I am!