Well it was to be expected. I was not built for 80% plus humidity and thirty plus degrees. Something had to give. It was my skin. First it just looked like it got a bit dry, then it got irritated and then it turned nasty and paper-like. I'd been to the pharmacies and bought various preparations that had had no effect. Time to see a doctor. There is no such thing as a GP in China so it means that to see a doctor you have to go to the hospital. It is well known that the bigger the city the better the hospital andthe better the doctor. Guizhou is a small province, Jiangkou is a small town. I didn't expect much. The hospital itself is quite a nice looking building set opposite the park. I had not been i before but as I entered there were two things that struck me. The first was the payment desk and the ATMs. The second was the hot water machines. Hotwater has the folklore ability to cure anything.
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| The hospital reception. On the right and below are the hotwater machines. |
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| The hot water machines. |
We paid some money and went upstairs. Eventually it was my turn to see the doctor. There were several other patients in the same room consulting the doctor at the same time. I don't want to be rude, but the doctor looked uninterested. He barely looked up from his computer screen, and didn't even bother to examine me properly. Apparently he didn't know what was wrong with me and referred me to the specialist doctor tomorrow, but not before he made made clear to my interpreter that I needed an injection.
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| Deputy Headteacher Dong on the left, the Triage (?) doctor on the right |
Off I went into another room with my interpreter, who was the deputy headteacher. Inside was someone dressed in pink scrubs told me to sit on a strange wooden stool and pull the top of my shorts down. The door, which was not properly closed, opened and a small former-pupils. Earlier i had seen this young woman in a white coat, so I reckoned she had a legitimate reason for being there. I never felt the injection... but I have a photo!
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| Injection time. (Photo taken by the Deputy Head.) |
Outside the weather had turned really bad, and there was flooding and big lightening. I was glad that I was getting driven home. I have to admit the the whole process sort of shocked me. No privacy, doctor showing no interest and giving no explanation. I was not confident hat anyone had a clue what they where doing. This seemed to be confirmed by the fact that we had to return the following day to See another doctor. The following day arrived. I was in my office when the Head of |English, Tom,
popped by. " I will take you to hospital Mike!" We went downstairs.
"I will take you on my motorbike!" he said. And off we popped into town and to the hospital.
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| Left to right. Doctor, another patient, head of English. |
Today's consultation. A shared consultation with very little interest shown by the doctor who again didn't bother to examine me. We then went downstairs and I waited whilst Tom got some medicine and wrote down instructions on how often to take it. I had three lots of tablets. Two were not identifiable and the third was liquorice root powder which I am told can be used to reduce inflammation. It seems they think it is an allergic reaction. I am pretty sure it is not. Tom got his motorbike ready, drove me into town to a few pharmacies.
We picked up a few more medicines and he drove me back to my apartment.
To be honest, I was not very impressed with the hospital and the way in which I was treated, and I am not confident that the diagnosis is correct. Time will tell. However I am impressed by the manner in which the school treated me.
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