FIASCO AVOIDED

doctor's visit: 10 dollars,
Perscription: 9 dollars,
Escaping the fiasco known as the American healthcare system: Priceless...

(I LOVE KOREA)

So apparently we have discovered I am allergic to the yellow dust in Korea. Yellow dust is a phenomenon related to the yellow dust that travels from the deserts of China across the sea and straight to my lungs. It happens in the Spring time in Korea. On some days the sky almost looks red from it. It really isn't all that bad, but with the added air pollution from our big city plus my super sensitivity to allergens in general it wasn't long before I had a sinus infection from it all. I finally gave in today after a long night marked by coughing and not being able to breathe. I hate the doctor. Maybe it is because of the stigma attached to going (Losing money and not really feeling like they are paying attention to you to begin with)

Today I broke though that mindset when I went to the doc down the hall from our campus. I got one of our bosses Sean to go with me for translating purposes. I went in and waited about ten minutes. The nurse out front took my temp and blood pressure. Five minutes later I was in with the doctor. He scoped my throat and nose and even let me see a picture of my inner ear. It was awesome. He actually listened to me when I told him how I felt (or rather listened to Sean as he said it in Korean) After our brief but in depth visit, I was sent out front to pay. I almost had a heart attack as they said 13,000 won (That roughly is estimated to be about ten bucks) In shock I walked down the hall the other direction to the pharmacy in our building to put in my prescription. I wasn't sure if we were supposed to wait or not so we waited. Within two minutes I was paying and fully finished with my visit. The grand total of all three prescriptions for a week I was given: 10,000 won ($8.50).

All I can say is SCREW AMERICAN HEALTH CARE. I am loving Korea. WIthin thirty minutes I was seen by a doctor got my prescription and was only out around 20 bucks.


In order to be fully Korean I have included a picture of my final addition to my treatment plan...

Hospital

So we woke up this morning and were met by Sean to be taken to the hospital so they could run tests and check out our status for our medical form required by immigration. We have to get this done before we can apply for our alien registration card. We went through quite a few hoops, but nothing to serious. They drew some blood, took a chest x-ray, height, weight, heart monitored, drug test, and a few others.

We started the process and got to the final interview when we were informed the doctor upstairs forgot to run one of the tests so we had to go all the way back upstairs strip down and have a heart monitor done. Finally after getting dressed again we went back to the original office for our interview. They asked us some questions and we left finally almost two hours later.

The upside of things is that during our tests it began to snow outside. Jack looked like a little kid. The expression on his face was priceless. My husband is a true Floridian. He has only seen snow one other time in his lifetime. He was trying to catch it on his tongue. It was hilarious.

After a full day, we are going to fill in for a few classes and then we are off to buy a few items for our place. Mostly necessities. We will get any luxury items after our first paycheck. ha ha I am nervous about the teaching as well, but I know it will be okay. :) More later.