The Doctors Office

So the weekdays are still pretty much uneventful - but our weekends you have to admit have been chalk full of adventure and excitement! Well do I have a treat for you! I went to the doctor's office on Thursday! YAY!!! No it wasn't a field trip, I was actually feeling quite ill. In fact the doctor said I had a sinus infection and a pharynx (that's the top part of your throat) infection.

I had caught my little bug on Wednesday and began sniffling - by Thursday I was feeling like hell! At 6 pm I went to the doctors office. I was very impressed by the cleanliness and the atmosphere. It was really nice! I waited all of 30 seconds and the doctor saw me for about the same amount of time that a Canadian doctor does. The first thing he did was take a tongue depressor and as me to open my mouth. Normal enough I thought. While he was looking he reached for a nozzle on a stand behind him. It looks like the thing a dentist uses to give you a rinse with. He sprayed a mist into my mouth for about 5 seconds. I was shocked - I think I jumped. It was so weird for me. At first I thought it might be to take away my bad breath, but Rachel (who accompanied me there) told me it was medicine. The Dr. then looked in my nose. Once again he grabbed a different nozzle and sprayed in each of my nostrils! I think I actually recoiled a bit!! He pressed in my sinuses and then told me I had sinusitis and pangitis. When I left I got a prescription. Whatever the medication was it must have been strong because it was only 3 days worth.

Before I left the office I was lead over to a corner with three machines hooked to the wall. They all had tubes coming out of them and I had seen one patient with a tube in his mouth - inhaling the gas that was coming out of the machine. The nurse changed the mouth piece and put the timer on and motioned for me to have a seat and put it in my mouth. Rachel told me to breath in the gas, again she explained that it was medicine. I think it is actually an oxygen machine - the idea being that the oxygen will help speed up your healing. I think it's brilliant! There was also a mentholy kind of smell - so some other "medicine" could have been added as well.

Friday I was still feeling terrible and was actually having a bit of vertigo in my first 3 classes of the day. I was dizzy and sweating and felt like I wasn't actually present and that I was hallucinating. Weird huh? Saturday I laid low and took my meds and lots of liquids. Sunday I was feeling much better and by Monday I was nearly back to normal. Yay!!! I've survived a Korean cold!!! The Dr's bills and the medication was a total of 33,000 Korean won. That's about $36 Canadian buckaroos. They do a few things much better here!