This was the first time I have ever had the saline drip treatment in a hospital minus when you come in and out of surgery. Apparently, it is really common if you are ill in China to go and get your medication directly IV’ed into your veins. It is our version of getting antibiotics from the doctors when you are sick.
Anyhow, the two doctors I saw today at intake were really awesome and worked with me. Turns out that I have some sort of infection in the chest now because I let the cold go on way too long but exactly what kind of infection I am not sure. So the doctors decided that I needed to go on a saline drip because I have been sick for weeks.
The saline drip experience was eye opening. You first go to the payment window and hand them the prescription that you need. Afterwards you head to the pharmacy and pick up these vials of bicarbonate something or other – basically a white powder with some sort of metal in it. You then head to the treatment room.
There are all these students, elderly people, teachers, and staff sitting in a room with these metal hooks suspended from the ceiling to hold the saline bags with whatever kind of medication a doctor can prescribe to you. The nurses look at the prescription and then inject some of your saline into the bottles with white powder and shake it up. Then the materials are re-injected into the large saline bottle which has the rubber stopper seals, wiped with iodine – so no need to worry about introducing contaminants.
You go and choose a seat and everyone either plays with their cell phones, chats with their friends, and/or watches the Chinese soap operas on the television. I got to see what some of the most popular Chinese dramas were this afternoon as the older people had their heads glued to the show. Very different from the 24 news cycle that we have in the states in waiting rooms. Also very different since strangers do not talk to each other in the waiting area and commiserate over their illnesses and treatments – although I was told today that maybe its a New Yorker thing to talk to anyone and everyone.
The drip itself was interesting because at first I thought my taste buds were dying. There was this weird metallic taste in my mouth after about five minutes of the drip. A nurse and the person sitting next to me had to assure me that this was normal. So if you ever do a medical drip in China, remember to bring candy. This is how I figured out that the powdered solution had some sort of metal. I assumed the powder also had some sort of bicarbonate because it fizzed when mixed with other solutions.
So these drip treatments usually occur for three days. When the nurses and the other people in the treatment room were telling me that you feel the effects almost immediately, at first I was skeptical. However, I have to say that while I am feeling tired right now, my coughing is much better and I feel more alert. So now I feel stupid for not listening to my Chinese friends sooner and asking for the drip.
Now as for the cost. Today’s medical treatment cost me about 150 yuan. I had an x-ray, a medical consult, blood work, and a saline drip with prescription medication. No wonder people do not want to leave any university position. Health care for students and university staff is extremely affordable and pretty good.
While it was a little bit of a struggle for me to communicate my medical issues with my baby Chinese, because the staff were so good about it, I did not have to travel to the international health center 2-2.5 hours away from me. Thank God my Fulbright host way back when forced me to learn a little bit of Mandarin even though I could get around without it.
Current Mood: Thankful for past language learning hardships and for the nice people I met today. There was even an elderly lady who pointed out that my drip bag was done because I would have kept sitting there and missed my chance to go to run some errands. Hoping that tomorrow’s trip to find out about salary payment, official tax forms for the IRS, and my first day of class goes just as well.