Sick on a Saturday

Hey everyone,

maybe not a big update today because I have a lovely Korean cold :( I'm not happy about it, but at least it explains why I was so tired on Thursday! Speaking of Thursday, Andy and I went to the movies to see 'Oz', but they'd stopped showing it (silly us for not checking), so we went to see 'Warm Bodies' instead. I wasn't sure what to expect, I'd only heard a little about it and knew that it was something about falling in Love with a zombie. Which sounded improbably and gross. The movie was fully predictable, but I actually really enjoyed it. The style of narration really tickled my funny bone, and I thought the zombies were hilarious. I wasn't super keen on the female lead - just reminded me of a blond 'Bella' from Twilight - but I did like the movie. It's a book too, so I might read it and include it in next semester's Film and Literature class if I get to keep teaching it as an elective.

Friday was just me getting sick, nothing very interesting there. Today, although I know I'm just sick with a cold, Andy was REALLY pushing for me to go to the doctor. Here they just pop off to the doctor or hospital for the tiniest thing, so although I felt stupid, I went on the off chance they were on to something and could make me feel better. They couldn't. The doctor didn't even diagnose me with a cold, he said I has allergies. Well, that *might* be true, but you tell me what allergies follow the common cold progression of tiredness and rundown, sore throat for a day, then moving into sinus pain, body aches, and a runny nose. Feels like a cold, looks like a cold, but it's allergies? Hmmm. But the interesting part is:

Andy wanted to take me to an ENT specialist doctor. I usually got to the clinic in Lotte Mart because they speak great English, are fast, and have been pretty good in the past. But, I'm mainly going to shut Andy up and investigate this wonder of Korean cold prevention he says is possible. The specialist speaks no English and is sitting at this scary workstation covered with tube, probes, suckers, sprayers, tongs, and God knows what else stuff. He's actually wearing a lighted head mirror like an old fashion doctor picture. 

Yup, it was just like that. No kidding. Anyway, he was just sitting patient after patient in this chair, poking them, spraying their throat and nose, and sucking with a tube up into their noses, and looking in their ears if they had ear problems. Right in front of the next few patients to be seen. I was totally not keen about this sucking nose business, but I saw a few little kids get through it calmly, so I thought it couldn't be that bad.

So, my turn comes. No one even tries to speak to me, just to Andy. He tells them what's wrong with me, and the doctor begins. He looks in my throat and sprays it with this, what I guess was, antibacterial spray that just about makes me gag, then looks up my nose, but the passages were too swollen, so... he sticks a metal rod up each nostril with a cotton bud on the end of each. Not just up my nose, but right up all the way back into my head. No warning and I just about panicked. They then make me get out of the chair and I have to sit the for a few minuted while he sees another patient with these things up my nose so far I'm almost swallowing them. Andy says not to talk, so I just sit there trying not to freak out and cry, with sticks up my nose. 

Then the doctor puts me back in the chair, removes the sticks, puts a sucker tube in their place (which doesn't seem to find much to suck despite my aching sinuses), asks Andy if I'm allergic to anything, sprays me some more, and gives me a prescription. I then have to spend a minute an a special room inhaling some steam, and then I'm done. Phew!

I went and filled my prescription for a bunch of colourful pills and recovered from my harrowing ENT Korean experience. I've since taken one lot of pills and can't say I feel any better at all. Probably because he's treating me for allergic rhinitis and not the symptoms of a common cold. So, while all the was pretty cheap - even considering I don't have my healthy insurance yet - I'm not convinced it was at all effective. I'll give the mystery pills another couple of doses, but tomorrow I'll probably just got the pharmacy and get something with pseudoephendrine in it and call it good. As was my original plan before Andy decided I simply MUST see a 'specialist'. Which was nice of him, but probably a waste of time. And scary.

One great thing today - I discovered a new food that I love! It's steamed rice bread. It's a lot like pandan cake, but a bit denser. I bought some to try after a small sample in Lotte Mart. I'd always wondered what it was, but never tried it. And now I know - it's delicious (but bland, don't get too excited here) gluten free cake/bread! Yum!