TravelingGirl2005

September 17 - Prague

Having had a difficult night, I thought it would be a good idea to go to a doctor or clinic to make sure that there was nothing that I could take to feel better. So Christoph was kind enough to go with me to the hospital. I'm glad he was there, he helped me remember to smile and laugh about it.

Here's the blog entry that I had done on my other blog to describe the incident.

Now, to the description of the hospital/clinic thing. That was pretty surreal. You have to realize that I went there at 9 in the morning. All I"d eaten the day before was 4 pieces of toast (nothing before going to the clinic). Of course the writing is all in Czech, so I can't even sorta make it out the way I usually can in other languages. I gave the front desk lady my passport and she filled out some paperwork. I talked with Christoph, our co-guide. A grumpy Czech doctor who sorta spoke English and a nurse who obviously didn't speak any (but she was kind of grandmotherly looking, tried to help me out with expressions and sign language) brought me to an examination room. I told the doctor what my symptoms were. He palpated my stomach/intestinal areas (weird, slightly painful, had to pull the shirt up and the pants down a bit further than I was comfortable with, but the nurse was there). The room looked like a mish-mash of old stuff and new stuff (Betadine bottle next to some glass bottles with cut glass tops that reminded me of my chemistry class in high school). Everything was kind of crumbling and seedy, but also obviously clean and the best they had to work with.

An intern guy put me in a wheelchair (how humiliating) and wheeled me up this ramp to the Xray and sonogram areas. On the side of the ramp were all these empty gurneys - they looked like 50s versions of gurneys (as did the wheelchair they put me in). Then the xray and sonogram equipment was all new. The sonogram operator spoke English - she had lived for a year in Hillsborough working as a nanny. She was a burst of cheerfulness in an otherwise dreary place. (Sonogram goo is icky - cold, messy, got everywhere. I thought she was trying to break my ribs on the right side looking for something... ow...) She told me should couldn't find anything wrong (duh). Back into the wheelchair, down the ramp and back to the doc to basically be brusquely told that I had gastroenteritis (no explanation), and to drink lots. I had to ask if I could take anything (no), what I could try to eat (bread), and was dismissed. This whole thing took about an hour and a half (not bad on a Saturday - but then again we were the only ones going in), and cost probably $120(?). Not bad. Very surreal.

posted by Unknown @ 4:19 PM