Sometimes getting sick has it's upsides. After school on Monday night I was pretty exhausted and I had a scratchy throat. By Tuesday morning I was feeling significantly worse, sore body, more runny nose than usual, mild headache. I decided to go to work anyway, but did manage an hour nap around 12. By the end of my second lesson I was toast! Seriously toast! I knew I was running a fever. All I wanted to do was lie down on a bed. Selena was talking to Renalda when she saw me and suggested she take my temperature. She did and it registered 38.8, which I think is relatively high.
She insisted that she take me to the doctor, immediately. It was 20m away, literally on the next corner. When I told them about the cardiac medication I take (quickly translated by Google), they bumped me closer to the front of the queue. They gave me a face mask as soon as they took my temperature. Finally they took a nasal swab and did a lateral flow test (think pregnancy test) for flu. They found that I had type A or B flu both of which can be quite serious. I got put off work for 5 days (3 days + weekend :( ) and was handed a mountain of medication. The medication includes a 5 day course of Tamiflu, and 12 individual packages with 5 tablets in each package, 3 per day for day time and one for night time to help me sleep! Then there's also a bottle of cough syrup. It cost me NT$1680 (~R580) in South Africa I suspect I would have paid closer to R1680!! And that's not the end of it. When I get my medical card it will be much much less! I think the consultation fee is NT$200 and the rest is free!
So ultimately this is allowing me to get some much needed rest. Unfortunately not the same for Renalda :( And to catch up on my blog, which is now as up to date as it's been in a while. See, getting sick has it's upsides ;)
She insisted that she take me to the doctor, immediately. It was 20m away, literally on the next corner. When I told them about the cardiac medication I take (quickly translated by Google), they bumped me closer to the front of the queue. They gave me a face mask as soon as they took my temperature. Finally they took a nasal swab and did a lateral flow test (think pregnancy test) for flu. They found that I had type A or B flu both of which can be quite serious. I got put off work for 5 days (3 days + weekend :( ) and was handed a mountain of medication. The medication includes a 5 day course of Tamiflu, and 12 individual packages with 5 tablets in each package, 3 per day for day time and one for night time to help me sleep! Then there's also a bottle of cough syrup. It cost me NT$1680 (~R580) in South Africa I suspect I would have paid closer to R1680!! And that's not the end of it. When I get my medical card it will be much much less! I think the consultation fee is NT$200 and the rest is free!
So ultimately this is allowing me to get some much needed rest. Unfortunately not the same for Renalda :( And to catch up on my blog, which is now as up to date as it's been in a while. See, getting sick has it's upsides ;)
