s e v e n i s a j o u r n e y

Well, not that adventurous, really. So having been out of work sick an *entire week* (wish I could say I enjoyed it. Or even really remembered that much of it), my boss quite reasonably instructed me to pop into a health center and get a note. Yikes ! How do I do that ?! Socialized medicine ! Aiiiee ! Plus, although I’m supposed to get some kind of health plan through work, I haven’t been visited by the rep yet, and therefore don’t have any of those details. Boss suggested I ask C&N where they go, and just go there. So I did, and I did.

Turns out there’s a little health clinic right down in Silverstream village, so I phoned up. They got me an appointment the very next morning (which is, today, Friday), so I schlepped my mostly-recovering self down the hill and had a brief appointment with a pretty young doctor with a soft Irish accent who confirmed for me that yes, I seemed to have some sort of viral thing going, there was a lot of that going around lately, and it’ll last about a full week. Goody. Take some panadol (or paracetomol, or one of those p-names that they call ibuprofin over here) every so often, drink lots of fluids, bed rest, yadda yadda. While I was there, I asked if she could refill the prescription for my BC pills. She couldn’t, for religious reasons (Irish Catholic, I suppose, and I notice she is herself pregnant. Interesting. If I see her again, maybe I’ll ask her if she feels any sort of pressure or prejudice for making the professional decision to uphold her religious convictions. It occurs to me that I don’t know what pressures someone in her position might encounter in the States), but she’d get one of the other doctors to do it. She gave me my note, and that was that. I’m supposed to call back tomorrow (or maybe Monday — I didn’t think to ask if they *have* Saturday hours; maybe they do) to see if they’ve found a NZ equivalent for my scrip.

The visit cost me NZ$43. One of the observations I have about NZ’s brand of socialized medicine is that they haven’t gotten onto the “preventative care” bandwagon. The expensive office visits discourage well-visits and encourage you not to go to the doctor unless you really need to. On the other hand, from what I’ve been able to gather, my prescription should be somewhere between NZ$3 and NZ$17 for three month’s worth — *well* below what my co-pay was in the States.

So anyway, Mom, and anyone else with the nagging thought that I might have SARS (or a brain tumor), I’ve been to see a doctor. And I *am* feeling rather better, if still pretty tired.