Sickness

Truthfully, I don’t have a lot of experience of anyone taking care of me when I was sick, aside from my mother…so I will write about what I know!

After being in Busan, South Korea for about 3 weeks, I became quite sick. I blame the kids entirely, we had a number of them out of school with the H1N1 and the rest who weren’t diagnosed with it were sent out to school. I decided to wait until I received my Alien Card which would give me access to everything, healthcare, a cell phone, internet, cable and a bank account. By the time it came in, I was beginning to have fevers, and all that good stuff that usually comes with the flu. After reaching the school on one morning I decided I needed medicine, and possibly immediate medical attention as I couldn’t breathe properly.

I was immediately taken to an ear, throat, nose hospital where I was sat into a chair with a doctor who had a light and videocamera attached to his head. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary until the metal tubes came out. I had tubes put through my nose and down into my throat, with air to be later pushed through.

After this the doctor looked in my ears, said I had an infection, then proceeded to go anatomy ears with what I can only describe as a tiny metal spoon. Despite a little bit of pain, I immediately began to hear better. The doctor then showed me my own eardrum, which was a first for me. I was then put in front of a ventilator for about 5 minutes, which made my sore throat completely numb.

Although this sounds completely intrusive, with it also came my first realization about the difference between Western and Eastern medical practices. In Canada, they would give you medication, and you would be better in about a week, your body is cleaned, more or less, on its own. Here, my problem was solved in the seat, with medication to prevent it’s return. I couldn’t believe how quick my ear infection had been taken care of, of course at the time, while I stared at my own eardrum in the television screen, I was completely bewildered. Even though I hope that I don’t become ill again while I am here, I am very curious as to what other differences there are. Maybe it’s just one of those things I am better off not knowing.

Post written by Heather Whitney