Saturday January 22 – Monday January 24
I wake up at 02:00 am with chills and a burning fever. At 03:00 I wake Ted who finds the thermometer and we realize my temperature is at 103 degrees Fahrenheit. By 6:00 am my fever is down to 100 thanks to advil and cool towel and tepid bath. Later in the day Dr. Bruce from Hairball pays a boat visit but is unsure of the diagnosis. I remain in bed sleeping and lethargic for the next 48 hours. By Sunday although the fever has gone, I am weaker and the Doctor Bruce comes to visit again. He is still puzzled by the connection of symptoms and suggests that we go to the medical clinic on Monday and prepare to go to fly to Nassau or the US if I do not improve in the next 24 hours. He has ruled out alot of things including Malaria and Dengue Fever (and pregnancy haha). The doctor announces that this is not a good place to get sick. Things start to improve slightly after dinner. I manage to stay awake to watch a movie and head directly to bed to sleep through the night without a fever.
On Monday morning we head for the clinic. The clinic is a yellow building, beside the pink building, with several doors that resembles a strip mall with wooden benches outside. The reception and waiting room is air-conditioned and seats 15 at capacity. The second waiting area is on benches along the building. Ted checks me in at reception. No computers being used here only a black notebook to register the patient details. Once you check in with reception you sit until a nurse calls your name, then you follow the nurse to door number one in the strip mall, where she weights you and takes your height. She writes this on a slip of cardboard and hands it to you and leaves you confused as to what to do next. She them informs you to sit and wait. A few hours later the room fills up and once again someone calls my name and I head to door number 3 where I am uncertain if this is the doctor or another nurse since no one introduces themselves. As it turns out it is a nurse. She asks me for the cardboard cut-out of my height and weight and notes it on her chart. She takes my temperature, blood pressure, asks questions and takes notes. She tells me that I now have to sit in the waiting area, which I am unclear if this is the outside bench area or the inside air-conditioned area. I am not the only one unclear of the process, it seems like the residents don’t know where to go or sit next. We opt for the air-conditioning. During this time a Bahamian comes in bleeding with a head wound and within ½ hour he is seen. After a few hours wait my name is called again, this time I head to another room off the main reception. A white sheet covers the bed and I would guess that this is not changed with each patient. The doctor, whom I am barely able to understand because of her Bahamian accent, gives me antibiotics for the infection and tells me that I will feel better in 24 – 48 hours. I ask her where the pharmacy is and she tells me to pay at the front reception. Once I pay they give us a receipt, that would like not be accepted by Blue Cross because of lack of details. When I ask for more details on the receipt such as the name of the prescription she tells me she is not authorized to add that. She sends us to door number two which is the pharmacy. The pharmacists tells me to wait and hand writes my name on the prescription box, no label as you would expect in Canada. When asked about side effects, she responds “oh the usual, heartburn, nausea...” We never visited door number 4 so we can’t tell you what was behind that door. So was our visit to the George Town Medical Clinic definitely an island experience. The other option is to go to the private clinic with Dr. Fox who comes in from Nassau if you are fortunate enough to get sick on Thursdays. I will add pictures of the clinic to the blog soon.
We have a rough dinghy ride across the harbour I am not longer sleepy having slept 50 out of the last 56 hours.
Update on Wednesday. Having slept for the past four days I am well rest and the antibotics have now taken effect. All is well.
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