After 3 weeks of suffering through a cold and a severe cough, I finally relented and let Frank take me to the hospital. That is like going to the clinic here. I picked a terrible day for it. It was raining and freezing. This week, the weather changed overnight, from upper 70's to sleet and snow! I bundled up and climbed on the back of Frank's scooter. Everyone else had the same idea so the place was packed. Imagine a packed American waiting room, times 10! First, I went to the ticket booth to get a waiting list number. After crossing the massive lobby three times because one window sent me to another desk on the opposite side, only to be told there that I should go to the window I just came from, I was about to call the whole thing off. Then Frank came in from parking the bike and guided me to the help desk. When the girl told me I should go to the window on the other side of the lobby, I politely but firmly explained how I was NOT going to be run around again and she offered to take us where we needed to go. She walked us through all the admission procedures, took my money and walked us right into the doctor's office. No wait! I don't know if I have explained Chinese doctor's offices yet, but there is NO privacy. The door is open and the room often filled with waiting patients, besides the one being seen. Whatever is wrong with you is instant public property. People watched as the doctor listened to my heart and chest and looked down my throat. I was feeling so bad, I didn't even care. He ordered an X-ray since my cough had lasted several weeks and told us how to get there, outside to another building. On the way, I felt a new appreciation for the American system with its safety, slip-proof stairs and covered walkways. We made it down the wet, slick, deathtrap stairs across the wet, slick, tile floor, passing patients on gurneys covered with plastic tarps. To keep the rain off as they waited for the elevator. Outside. Once I figured out how to pay for the x-ray, I got in line in front of a large steel door. When my turn came, I reminded those pushing me that I was there first and was ushered in with a mother and child to the x-ray room. The doctor set the child up for his pics, walked into another room, closed a massive protective steel door behind him, leaving the three of us in with the radiation. I was exposed to three x-rays. Only one was mine. I was told to come back at 3:00 to pick up the results so we went in search of the E.N.T (Ears, Nose and Throat) department. The doctor looked at my ears with a metal funnel that had been used on everyone else that day and said, "没有大的问题。"(meiyou dade wenti, It's not a big problem.) "Then why do they hurt so bad ?" "I'll give you some meds" 3x's a day, 3-4 drops each ear and lay on your side for 30min each ear. (Frank told me later that's 3 hours just laying down for one medicine. Not gonna happen!) (I know mom! I'm getting to that part!) I was so pleased that I understood what she told me that I agreed with everything. The other patients standing over me smiled in gratitude for not taking more time with translation issues. I went downstairs and paid for the medicine right away. It was too late when I suddenly remembered that I have been allergic to ALL eardrops since I was a child! (see, mom!) I had told the doctor I had no allergies to medication. Maybe Chinese medicines are different, without all the chemicals. I will try it for a few days. If my ears turn red, swell and burn like fire, at least I will be educated.
Four hours later, we came back for the x-ray and saw the doctor again. "没有大的问题"(meiyou dade wenti)， he told me. It's not a big problem. "Then why do I hurt so bad?" "You just have a cold." "For 3 weeks???" "Yep." “我怎么办！？” (Wo zenme ban? What do I do about it?) "I'll give you some meds." The whole process took about 1 1/2 hours with a 4 hour wait for the x-ray results. I saw two specialists, got an x-ray and five different types of medicine for less than $50. It may be a crazy madhouse of lines and people with no privacy, but at least its cheap! One of the meds looked like a syringe vial and I couldn't get it open. After Frank sliced his finger breaking the top off and I sucked the liquid through cheesecloth to avoid any glass particles, I discovered that taped to the inside of the box are little straws that you poke through the rubber and drink the vile vial. Sorry babe.
So, here I lay, on my side, writing this blog. Hope this 不大的问题（bu dade wenti, not a big problem) turns into a 没有问题（meiyou wenti, there is no problem) very soon!
mandy
