Going to the Doctor

Even though the worst of my mono is long gone, I've still had to go to the doctor for further blood tests to make sure it's completely out of my system.

Going to the doctor has become routine now and little less scary than it used to be. Still, there are so many differences between going to the doctor here and going to the doctor in America.

Last year, in Szerencs, Etelka took me to the doctor to refill my asthma meds. The doctor would teach me a word in Hungarian for a word in English. He was a friendly guy who smoked a cigarette, casually holding it out the window and offered me a cognac flavored cherry chocolate. Although smoking frustrates me, it's the culture here. Later, I found out, he needed a trip to the hospital himself. Eventually, I didn't need to go back because being out in the country surrounded by farm animals in the hills made my asthma shrivel away.

I've definitely had more adventures in the medical system here in Budapest. Because the doctor speaks English, I'm left to my own devices when I get to the building. Fortunately it's close. When you walk in, there's a long central waiting area surrounded by doors on two sides. These doors house different doctors and I even think there is a dental office behind one of the doors.

Sometimes you get an appointment and sometimes you just come in during the doctor's hours and wait. What's interesting to me is the waiting. There is a cluster of chairs around the door of the corresponding doctor you wish to see. When you arrive, there may be two to seven people sitting within this cluster. Seeing the doctor is first come, first serve. Mostly, the people are older, yet unexpectedly deceiving when it comes to their speed and boxing people out to get to the door first. In the beginning, I was confusedly left in the dust.

Now, I hear the people coming out of the doctor's office saying "third" or "fourth." Meaning the third or fourth person that arrived. Some people, I've found, play by the rules and others don't.
And sometimes you break them yourself without realizing it.

On the morning of my second blood test, I watched with horror as I saw the nurse of my doctor giving injections in a small dark room with the door open looking out directly into the waiting room. The privacy factor was NULL and VOID. People would stand up from their chair in the waiting room, push up their sleeve, sit down in the injection chair three steps away and sit joking with the nurse while she jabbed 'em with the needle. Not only could everyone see you getting your injection, but you could see everyone getting theirs!

The nurse, knowing that I'm American and somewhat helpless, called me to the injection chair, as an older man who had clearly arrived before me stood up to go. He said he was there first, yet I think the nurse said, "surely, she was here." I wanted to tell her that the man was first, but my Hungarian was too mottled to send out in a comprehensible sentence. As she was prepping me, I was forming the correct Hungarian sentence in my head, wishing I could have opened my mouth and said it already!

As she was drawing blood, a problem occured. All I heard was "nem jo" or "uristenem" translating to "not good" and "oh my god." I started to sweat and breathe quickly. I glanced nervously out at my audience. The nurse called her colleague over to draw more blood out of my other arm. They weren't getting enough out of my first arm. Finally it was over and thus the old man took my old seat in the injection chair.

I was supposed to come back to go over the results with the doctor in a week's time. When you go into the doctor's room, it's fairly bigger than any American doctor's room. It's almost like an office, with a table, computer, and printer set up inside. A nurse works on one side and the doctor on the other. You don't pay anything to see the doctor, however you do pay for any prescription medicine you need to buy. The medical card that my school gave me covered all the blood tests. It's relatively simple to see the doctor here, that is...once you figure out the rules.