For a while now I have been fighting a sinus infection and cough. During the first week I noticed a cold was coming because I started coughing and had a bit of sinus pressure. I know the best way to defeat a cold bet it when starts. So I stopped working late, I started drinking hot tea, and taking some over the counter medicine I brought with me from the US. I would also sleep a lot during the weekend hoping that I would bet this cold. With all that I still could not shake this cold, it was not getting any better and it was not getting any worse.
During the first two weeks of this cold the discharge from my sinuses was clear which indicates that I have a viral infection, so going to the doctor would be a waste of time since there is nothing he/she can do about a viral infection. Suddenly this Monday (August 8th) the discharge changed to a green color which means that I now have a bacterial infection. Now I need to see a doctor and get some antibiotics. This is also when the adventure begins.
So when I entered Denmark I had to go to the community center to pick out a doctor and get my yellow card. A yellow card is basically like a national insurance card with your CPR number on it. (CPR number is the same as a S.S number.) On my yellow card says the name and the phone number of my doctor, many of my co-workers have this same doctor and they say that she is nice but quite busy. I have also been told by some of my Danish co-workers that most doctors answer phone calls from 8am to 9am. Then the doctor's secretary will answer the phone from 9:30am to 11:30 and 12:30 to 2:30. Also most doctor's have a website, where you can send questions to the doctor and make appointments online.
Once my sinus infection became bacterial I knew I need to see a doctor, so I checked her website first. I was amazed to see she had no openings for the next three weeks. I prefer to make the appointment online but in this case it looks like I have to call. I am not thrilled about calling the doctor's office mainly because they only have one phone line and most of the time you will get the busy signal or the answering machine. But I still tried.
On Tuesday morning from 8 am to 9am I try calling but I get the busy signal all day. Then from 9:30 till 4pm I had a scientific writing and communication course so I do not get another chance to call again.
On Wednesday morning again I could not get through to the doctor in the morning. But later in the morning around 11am I got through!! I ask if I can make an appoint for the doctor because I have been fighting a cold of three weeks. And the secretary answers, "Umm..the doctor is gone on holiday starting today she will be gone for the next three weeks." I replied "Oh..ok," and hung up the phone. I had no idea what to say or what to ask the secretary.
I decided to ask my supervisor what should I do, do I need to go to the hospital instead since my doctor is on holiday? My supervisor (who is Danish) says that the doctor must have some other doctor or doctors covering her patients you should call back and ask. So at 11:25 I called the secretary again, and I was getting a vibe off her that she was not happy that I called again or maybe she just wanted to leave for her lunch break. Anyways I asked her is any other doctor covering her patients, the secretary said yes and gave me a number. I wrote down the number and said thank you.
After that my office mates and I went to lunch; after lunch I got busy and forgot to call the other doctor until 2pm. I called the other doctor's office at 2pm and got the answering machine, the message was in Danish and I tried to figure out what the message was but she was just speaking too fast.
Then on Thursday I could not call in the morning because my scientific writing and communication course started at 8:30am, meaning that I had to be on the 8am bus. I had a break from the course around 2:15 so I tried to call again and I got the answer machine again.
At this point I am very frustrated but I thought of an idea. I walk over to B's office. Now B is basically the person that made sure that my apartment was all set up before I got here, she helped me set up my bank account and she helped me get my yellow card. If any PhD student needs any help she will do what she can. So I tell B what is going on and ask her what I can do. She offers to call the doctors office and translate the message for me. Yeah B!! I give her the number and I go back to class.
After the course has finished for the day at 3pm I go to B's office again and she tells me that the message lists the hours that the secretary was there: 10am to Noon and 1pm to 2pm and that if I want to talk to the doctor directly to call between 8 and 9am. I was thinking great the secretary hours are so short, am I going to get through at all. I also decide that since most of the work I need to do on Friday can be done away form the office that I would stay at the apartment.
So Friday morning, I forgot to turn on my alarm to wake up at 8am, so I wake up at 11am instead. After a bit I call the doctor's office at 11:15am, and I get through on the first time!!!! I talk to the secretary and she says "Can you come at half past 2 today?" I said "yes," I was so happy I get to see the doctor and finally beat this cold.
Getting to the doctor's office is not that hard there is tall building about a block away from the train station and about 6 blocks from me. There are four floors to this building (including the basement) and each floor has two or more doctors. Some of this doctors are general health and others are specialist.
So I get there at 2:20, go the front desk, give the secretary my yellow card and sit in the small waiting room.
The doctor comes out of his office and calls my name. At first I thought it was quite odd that he does not have a nurse. I walk into his office and it is actually an office and exam room in one. His office desk is on one side and then his exam table is on the other side of the room. The atmosphere in the office is different to the exam rooms in the US. He offered me a chair next to his office desk. He did not take my weight, blood pressure, ask about my history or listen to my breathing. He just went straight to the point.
He asks me about my cold and I tell him how it all started and how it had progressed. I also mention that I get these types of sinus infections at least once or twice a year. The doctor says he needs a blood sample and he pricks my finger and takes a small amount of blood. The doctor says he will be right back and walks out of the office to the lab, I assume. About three minutes later he comes back and says that the white blood cell count is on the border, so it is a viral and bacterial infection. I am guessing that he ran a quick CBC in the lab because he wanted to confirm what I told him that it started as a viral and now it has developed as bacterial.
He then asks what the doctor back in the US do. I replied that she would usually prescribe amoxacillin 200mg four times a day for 10 days, that way I get rid of the bacterial infection and make my immune system a bit stronger so that I can fight off the viral infection too. He says that amoxacillin is not very common in Denmark and that the pharmacy might not have it in stock and asks if penacillin would be ok. I said "I think it will be fine". He goes to your computer and said "I will send your meds to cyberspace and you can pick it up at either pharmacy." I knew of only one pharmacy so I asked where the other one is, hoping it might be closer. But no the other pharmacy is on the other side of town. I tell the doctor thank you and start my walk to the pharmacy.
The pharmacy is only a 10 minute walk from the doctor's office, so it is not that bad. When you get to the pharmacy you take a number and what for your number to show on the screen. Once my number showed on the screen I walked up to the counter and told the lady that the doctor sent a prescription and gave her my yellow card. She scanned the card, when to the back and got the box of penacillin. She came back to the counter and said "Take one pill three times a day, and take until gone." Total cost of meds: 60 kr (~$12). I got my meds and then walked next door to the grocery store and clean the place out of my favorite yogurt and walked home.
That was my first adventure to the doctor's office.
you have enough time in denmark to write these all,
ReplyDeleteof course i have much enough time to read this all