Feeling Chesty in the Qi

Last Saturday I had an annoying dry cough; by the evening it had got worse, and by the time I came home from supper I was feeling a little ill. Turned myself into bed around 2330 and proceeded to have a night of mad dreams, frequently waking up covered in sweat, hot all over. Sunday came and went in a relatively uncomfortable headachey fevery sweaty way. After my shower Sunday night I went to bed and shivered most of the night, in what felt like the opposite to the previous day. All this time I was coughing, and coughing up phlegm. I woke on Monday morning at 0430, just a few short hours after going to sleep, with nothing in my stomach, zero blood sugar, and a desperate need for the toilet. When I reached the bathroom however, it became obvious I was going to pass out, immediately post flow as it were. Brilliant. Stopping myself from passing out, and with my ears ringing, I quickly drank some water and got some sugar in me before returning to bed but unable to sleep until about 0630. Now the fun begins.

Feeling better, but not much so, I decide to go and see a doctor. This is, after all, about the first time I can remember being unwell for more than 1 day (operations not counted). Usually I have a short burst of illness, it goes, I get better, simple. So this time, on Day 3 of feeling bad, I wanted to know what was up. My friend Bruce took me to a hospital, and helped me get set up (when you arrive you need to buy a special record book, which is just for the doctor to chronicle your symptoms and his treatments; it comes with a swipe-card too, which is then personalised to you, enabling you to get test results etc) and book an appointment. I say book, you basically pay a couple of yuan and get a ticket with a number. It was 1400.

When we got to the 3rd floor, we found all the departments closed until 1530. Yes, a 90 minute break in the middle of the day. What? Apparently if we needed treatment at any time of day we could go to the emergency dept, but they wouldnt have specialists or anything ... so we had to wait an hour and a half for the doctor to come off his lunch break, and then see other people who came in the morning and who now had X-rays and godknowswhat needing reviewing. Finally, it was our turn. The doctor conducted his examination in English and Chinese, looked at my throat, listened to my list of symptoms but didnt listen to my chest or take a temperature (strange no?) or BP reading ... before ordering me a blood test and an X-ray, and telling me to come back with the results (before 1900, since that's when they close shop).

First you have to pay - this isn't the NHS remember! - and then you take your receipts with you to the various testing depts. Blood test on the second floor, a five second jobby, nothing traumatic, though I did question why the woman doing my blood test was herself hooked up to a drip. X-ray on the first floor, again a quick thing, though they said the prints would only be ready after 1810. Drat, why so long? Bruce and I collected my blood results after half an hour from a swipe-card-operated machine, and then he had to leave for a meeting. At 1750 I decided to chance it, and went early to collect my X-rays. They'd been sitting there for god knows how long! Damn it, I could have been doing something other than sitting on a bench feeling ill because I was hungry but there was nothing to eat in the whole hospital (no coffee shop, nothing). Up to the doctor, who looked at my results and told me I had "lung disease" though I'm fairly sure that his English translates to "chest infection" because I damn sure do not have lung disease. Whatever, there were streaky lines across my lungs, not good.

Despite previously telling him no drips (the Chinese LOVE drips but I happen to believe if I can swallow there's not much need for one, and certainly people in the UK get ill and get better all the time without ever having a needle put inside their veins), he prescribed three drips over three days and some other medicines besides. First of course, I had to buy the medicine ... down to the first floor again. Here there are three counters, A, B and C. At counter A I was able to pick up some of my medicines and pay for them. At counter B they told me to go to counter C, where I paid for the medicines from counter B before going back and collecting them. Then I had to go back up to the doctor to show him I had the right meds and for him to tell me how and when to take them ... 麻烦 (ma fan) is the Chinese for "troublesome" or "hassle" and it definitely applies to their hospital system. So, the result, one drip a day for three days, one antibiotic tablet twice a day, four cough medicine capsules twice a day, and some horrible disgusting powder that I am still not quite sure about four times a day. Oh and because it was after 1900 (he was running late, hmmmm here's a thought, dont take 90 minutes off in the middle of the day) I had to go to the emergency dept to get started on my first drip.

To say I was nervous is an understatement, but I knew it was something I had to get on with, so I went. I'm not sure what caused my initial reaction but about 5 seconds after the drip needle was inserted my heartrate shot up, I started sweating uncontrollably, and everything went white and ringy. Of course the nurse had left the room by then. About five minutes later and my panic attack was over, the only discomfort remaining being the numbness alternating with pins and needles in both hands. And even that stopped, leaving me feeling quite alright for the remaining hour and a half that I sat with a needle in my hand. Finally it was over and I could go home, via something small to eat, and get some sleep. The next day's drip was a lot better (I told the nurse about my ordeal and she said it was because the liquid went into me too fast, so she squeezed the bag a bit to limit the air inside, and I felt a lot better, but the drip did take twice as long and being hooked up to a drip for 3 hours wasn't much fun either). By the third day of treatment I had become quite used to it though I remain a little aghast at the lack of hygiene considering these people do this day in day out - sure they wear masks, and spray everything with some kind of antiseptic, but they dont use gloves (yeah they're playing with needles and not using gloves), and I've sat right in front of them as they take the needle out of a patient next to me and excess liquid shoots across the floor. Is it any wonder I didn't want more of this?

I went to see the doctor again on Friday. This time there were no blood tests or X-rays, just a quick consultation, a repeat prescription minus the drips (phew) and told I can go to class again whenever I want. I guess I must be getting better. My breathing is a lot easier now, and I'm not coughing up that much any more. Hurray. Now if I can just stay well for another 44 days I might be able to leave China in July.

(Total cost of meds - 150rmb for blood test and x-ray, 285rmb for one set of meds, 285rmb for another, something like 285rmb for the third, approx 1000rmb in total)