sick, part two

[gusl]

Last night, my fever reached 103. Strangely, my only symptoms have been the fever, chills, thermal discomfort, etc. and fatigue (standing up was difficult), and a little bit of joint swelling (which I infer from a very slight pain): no coughing, no mucus, no stomach issues. And I only sneezed once.

A good friend came by to look after me. Since this has been going on for several hours, we considered going to the emergency room. I was not able to locate information of which hospitals my insurance will pay for. Apparently, if you're admitted into the ER, it's always covered. But this was a fuzzy line.

I also called the 24h doctor on duty, and she took 1 hour and 35 minutes to return my call. The operators kept saying it would be 10 minutes. Also, urgent care clinics in Pittsburgh inaccessible to those who don't have a car. (good luck getting a taxi!)

Call me spoiled, but I'm not used to this level of service. In Brazil, you can just show up at the doctor's office, and if it's late at night, we rely on family and friends who are doctors.

I've also been having strange thoughts during my "sleep": the same words kept cycling over and over again. Napkin... serviette... napkin... serviette.

Today, I have a doctors appointment at 3:30 p.m. I'm not better yet.

Comments

[qatar.livejournal.com]

I definitely echo your sentiments on the urgent care clinics. When I was in Pittsburgh in February I needed an urgent care clinic, but because I couldn't get to one I ended up going to the ER on, hmm, three consecutive days to get health care. By the time I got medical care the infection had spread to my kidneys and I was a great deal sicker than I needed to be. I still get really angry when I think how Pittsburgh's medical structure resulted in me getting MORE sick instead of LESS.

I got the same illness again this week and got it sorted out in less than 5 minutes through a clinic here.

Hope you get your fever sorted out. :-(

[kvschwartz.livejournal.com]

I hope you feel better soon.

[bhudson.livejournal.com]

I was not able to locate information of which hospitals my insurance will pay for.

Hate.

The fact that the question even arises is criminal.

Edit: Oh, and get better, despite the "health" "care" "system" of this "country."