A Visit to the Doc

Budhha? Buddha!? Goddamit where are you?

I was sitting down, minding my own business, eating my half cooked egg sandwich (because I couldn't eat anything else), doing some people watching when I saw this guy using his phone walk straight into the window glass. I nearly chocked as I tried to hide my laugh but others around me weren't eating sandwiches so seemed to be pleasantly enjoying the whole scene. You kinda have to feel for the guy though, they do keep the windows ridiculously clean here. I would have called him blind if he had done that in Nepal but here, it's understandable.

But before I had the chance to observe some unfortunate soul bang his head on a pretty solid glass, I was at the university's health center. After what was a heavy eating and drinking session during the Chuseok (Korean Thanks Giving) holidays, I was left with a sore stomach which frequently took me to the nearest restroom almost in periodic precision. Usually these things last like what? a day? or max two? As my friend said "you sleep over it and things will turn out to be fine."

Well it didn't. I tried some home banana related remedies but they made things much worse. As the Restroom Visiting Frequency (RVF) increased, i didn't have a choice but to go to the medical center and say hi to the Korean doctor. The only problem was that it was my first time.

There's a general level of expectation you have when you enter a hospital. You sub-consciously judge the place and imagine how the medical rooms would look like, whether the nurses are cute or the person sitting next to you is trying to inject some virus that turns out to be very MERS-like. Or maybe it's just me. I am paranoid of taking in prescriptions and injections, and talking to doctors ,and going to medical institutions ,and interacting everyone on that white coat in general.

It didn't help when last time I did visit a clinic in Nepal, it was a fresh nurse who had just graduated entrusted to take blood out from me. She looked as nervous as me with the whole "putting that needle on his arm" ordeal and must have pierced that thick pointy metal at least 3 times before she finally found the nerve she was looking for. All this with a trembling hand. How the f**k did she even graduate?

You can see why I have a complete distrust on medical institutions. stupid nurses.

So when I did get my slip and was waiting for my name to be called out, I was thinking the worst. That's how I seem to work, I just assume the worst. That's how engineers are trained anyways. We assume that nothing that we make is going to work, so when it does, we are ecstatic until it stops working again. Fun times.

"Abhasss" called out the name.
"Yagi Anjaseyo" (Sit down here), the nurse said pointing at a sit nearby. I obeyed like a puppy who had just seen a juicy bone for a prize.

The door in front of me had a screen which had my name on it. It's quite fascinating how technology is embedded in every nook and corner of this country. The door opened and I was asked to go in.

The room itself looked no different to the one i was used to back home. The doctor was sitting quietly on his chair in front of an oversized monitor screen. He stole a quick glace at the glaring monitor and called me out by name, my age and my every detail that I would have normally have to give it myself.

Impressed, I sat down explained about my situation, drew an air graph about how the RVF was increasing over time and how I couldn't seem to stand without thinking about the restroom. He asked me to lay down, did his most doctor-y thing of using the stethoscope, pushed on my bulging beer belly to locate any pain and asked me to take the seat again.

No lollipops this time.

The doc simply scrolled down a list of medications, selected the ones he thought would make me constipated, told me that he's going to make me constipated and asked me to go outside and make the payment.

Wait..but no papers? He mentioned that it will printed outside when the payment is done. I make the payment, get the slip and get the medicine.

I feel pretty constipated now.