I preface this blog with that warning. What follows is my
experience getting medical treatment here in Ethiopia . Some of it may be
strange or down right awkward. It is a bit crude, but hopefully the ridiculous
of the situation outweighs it all. If you feel it crosses a line, stop reading.
Or better yet, feel happy that you just get to read about it, not live it. Ultimately, the overall point of my
having this blog is to share about being a PCV and this is the effect living in
Ethiopia has on volunteers. Our perspectives of what is appropriate and what is
not are flexible to get us through certain situations and experiences that
might otherwise be unbearable…
About a month ago, I got sick. I had been fighting an upper
respiratory infection for about 3 weeks. While I thought it was a battle I was
winning, the sickness came back. With reinforcements. Armed to cause mayhem in
my body. The Peace Corps doctor was coincidently in my town so I paid the man a
visit. After telling him I had had a pretty serious cough for over three weeks
and describing my symptoms, he decided to prescribe me some medicine. He told
me to come back the next day; while he would not be there, he would have
medicine there waiting for me. What service! I arrive the next day, feeling
even worse, only to find the medicine to nurse me back to health was: Claritin.
Not exactly what I expected. Not exactly helpful. I decided to be a trooper and
trust that the doctor knows more about medicine than me. Oh how I should have
known that was a mistake- this all only adds to my arrogance! I took it for
three days but there was no relief and I was beginning to feel the worst I have
ever felt in my life. Three days after getting the Claritin, I called and said
I need to go to the nearby clinic to get checked out.
One thing I should interject here is that my town, Asella,
is one of the training towns for the new group of volunteers in country. Not
only does that mean there are 12 new, fresh-faced Americans in my town, most of
the Peace Corps staff is there daily. This has its advantages and disadvantage.
One this day, it was full of advantages.
At 12:30 in the afternoon, a Peace Corps driver, Almaz
(motherly woman in charger of taking care of the newbies) and a lovely finance
woman came to my door to take me in a private car to the hospital. Words cannot
describe how amazing it was to have a private car. It was the first time in
months I had been in a car without 20+ Ethiopians smashed in with me. They took
me to Asella hospital, only to find it was closed for lunch. I asked Almaz,
“What happens if there is an emergency?” She responded, “They wait”. This was a
public hospital so the three Ethiopians decided to take me to a private
hospital so I could get treatment instead of waiting for an hour and a half to
be seen.
Once at the private hospital, we found it was the same: lunch break!
Once at the private hospital, we found it was the same: lunch break!
The car dropped me off at my house and promised to be back at 2:00 to take me back to the private hospital. After all the running around (and by that I mean sitting in a car exhausted as people did work on my behalf) I was beat so I took a nice nap confident that in a few short hours, I would be on the road to recovery.
At 2:00, the three lovely people returned and we went once
more to the private hospital. Success! This time they were open. Since Almaz
was there, she told them all my information in Amharic, negating any language
barriers that might inhibit my speedy treatment. The finance lady took care of
all the payments too. I never filled out a form, signed my named, or paid a
bill. Not too shabby. A doctor assessed me and he ordered a chest x-ray, a
blood sample, and such.
I went into the “lab” and they took my blood. It was a five-
minute process to find my vein. I have never had an issue with that before; I
generally have beefy veins (terrible word choice that I am pleased with!). It
made me pretty nervous in the level of competency of the staff, but then I saw
myself in a mirror and understood how dehydrated and sickly I was. Overall,
they took my blood painlessly and efficiently- go Ethiopia.
After the blood was done, the “lab” technician handed me a
small plastic cup and pointed me to the shint-bet. I was really happy about
this. You see, I have had to give urine before, but I always get stage fright
or do not have to go. This time was different. I had to pee pretty badly and it
was my time to shine! I went to the shint-bet, fill that sucker to the brim and
strutted back in to the “lab” with an air of confidence not often seen in an
Ethiopian hospital. I put my pee sample of the counter, look towards the
technician, and waited for him to look at me impressed. That is not quite how
it happened. He looked at me, looked at the sample, slowly shook his head with
a smirk, and handed me another small plastic cup.
It was the dreaded poop test. The moment you become a real
volunteer. The moment you lose all sense of self. The moment you realize you
would do anything, absolutely anything, to feel better. The moment that brings
your aim (metaphorically) to focus. The moment you have to think about the
logistics of pooping in a tiny cup. To say the least, things changed that day
my friends, things changed.
While it was by no means as easy as the first test, I
managed to succeed. I walked back into the “lab” with no air of confidence. No
smug satisfaction in myself. Just a small plastic cup in hand wishing that
every single person within sight was not staring at me. Next up was the chest x-ray. We went to
the room outside to get the test only to find that the only man who knew how to
take an x-ray was away. Back home I went, assured that at 3:30 we would finally
be able to complete this process and I could get a diagnosis and some medicine.
Another nap.
The Peace Corps staff returned as promised. This time, the
driver and car had other people to haul around so Almaz and the finance lady
caught a bajaj (a small, three-wheeled taxi) and picked me up at my house.
Almaz and company apologized profusely that we had to take a bajaj and that I
was clearly going to be so uncomfortable. Considering it is nearly impossible
to get a bajaj by my house and these lovely ladies saved me from a 10 minute
walk uphill that could have killed me, it was hard not to laugh at the idea
they felt bad for the treatment I was getting that day.
Trip three to the hospital was a productive one! Sure
enough, the x-ray man was there and there was a long line of people ahead of
me. I do not speak Amharic well so I will never know what Almaz said, but
suddenly, I was next in line. The x-ray man called out my name and I walked
into the room. As I entered, I looked at the pervious patient and saw she was putting
her shirt back on. It was this moment that I realized I was in for awkwardness.
With the door wide open and dozens of people outside, the x-ray man told me to
take the shirt off. I shut the door, which made him roll his eyes a bit. But I
preferred to not give a show to what, in that moment, felt like half the town.
I held my shirt up, as if I had any chance of modesty, as he got the machine
ready. As this was happening, I had a bit of a coughing fit. If you even want
to know how to look really good, start coughing, as if a lung is about to come
up, topless. Pretty foxy! In that moment, I realized I would do pretty much
anything to feel better. I would have stripped all the way down just for
medicine. Life lesson #143 Pneumonia trumps morals ever time.
Once he was ready, the shirt was dropped and I decided this
situation was so silly there was nothing to do but own it and laugh. It was
truly ridiculous. I faced the wrong way and due to a lack of communication, he
had to steer me (via shoulders) to where I should stand. Apparently, the girls
were not in a great position so he, without warning and in a manner that was
somehow professional, grabbed the girls, spread the apart and pushed me up
again the machine. As I was about to turn around and be offended, he was behind
the machine about to take the x-ray. Warning? Nope. Dignity? Nope. Lead vest to
protect my baby making parts? Haha, nope!
Once it was done, I made a few jokes, knowing I was the only
one to understand them. “I could use a cigarette after that”, “Will you call
me?” and finally as the next patient walked in, “I thought I was
special!”. I walked to Almaz and
asked if what I experienced (mainly to boob grabbing) was normal or was I just
molested. Almaz, a grandmother like figure, responded, “Since they even treat
someone who looks like me that way, you can believe it is nothing weird”. This
just added to my laughter. And at this point, I was mere minutes away from a
diagnosis and medicine. That was until we learned the x-ray reader was not there.
We were assured he would be there at 6:00. Back home.
Another nap.
The Peace Corps car and crew came once again and took me to
the hospital for the fourth time in one day. We all had a good laugh about it.
The x-ray reader was there and told me I had pneumonia and wrote me a
prescription. He also informed me I had bacteria infection in my stomach. At this, I just laughed. He looked
at me strangely and repeated himself since I clearly must not have understood.
I told him I understood perfectly. The pneumonia makes everything hurt and
wrecked expect my digestive system, but the bacteria infection was taking
care of that. He grinned, as he
finally understood why I was laughing.
The Peace Corps folks and I went to a pharmacy, got me
medicine, and dropped me off at my home for the fourth and final time. Back
home. Another nap.
Overall, there are two things that really stood out in the
day (besides the overall humor and silliness of going there four times,
mistaking a plastic cup’s meaning and getting more action that I have seen in
months).
- The Peace Corps staff is absolutely amazing. This all took place on a Friday. A lot of it after hours. While they said it was their job, they went above and beyond what was required. They treated me like a family member and got me the best care possible. When sick in a foreign country, it is so easy to feel isolated and depressed. Like no one within thousands of miles cares. But these three individuals showed me tenderness normally reserved for family and I will never be able to sing their praise enough.
- I was carted back and forth throughout the day. I was able to cut every line and never waited more than 5 minutes for any service. For average Ethiopians, the process must be pure misery. While I was in a private car, they were stuck in uncomfortable seats. While I was napping between visits, they were stuck in uncomfortable seats. As I was getting treated, they were stuck in uncomfortable seats. The entire experience opened my eyes to yet another hardship Ethiopians face but somehow never complain about. It is that silent perseverance that makes me respect the people of this country even more.
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