Yesterday seemed pretty much like it was an unordinary day. I was feeling very low energy and didn't do much. I went to a different supermarket - Coto - and looked for coconut milk so I can make Thai food for Hernan, but didn't find it. My stomach hurt while I was walking, so I didn't go much further. On the way back I bought a very ugly little bunch of basil.
Then I realized that the sugar I had picked up at the Coto ended up with the groceries of the woman behind me. I'm noticing some space issues, especially in supermarkets. No matter how much or how often I move forward, the person behind me almost always moves so that he or she is bumping me, often with the cart or basket. It's starting to irritate me.
Well, in this case, she put her groceries down before all of mine were rung up. I noticed that she had a bag of sugar with her stuff that looked just like the bag of sugar I bought, but didn't discover that it was MY bag of sugar until I got home and went to make a cup of tea. I hadn't paid for it (she ended up paying for it I guess) so it wasn't a big deal.
I went down to the Chino and bought a bag of sugar and the woman in front of me almost picked up my bag with her bags but I grabbed it and said "NO!" I was not going to allow my sugar to get away from me twice.
I dropped my clothes off at the laundry and picked them up around 7:45. The laundry is very nice, the people are friendly and it is cheaper than the place I was using last year. I brought a pretty large load and it only cost me three dollars to have it washed, dried and folded. I was happy about that.
Other than that, I found a channel on TV called "cinecanal" - movie channel, that has continuous movies, uninterrupted, and they are pretty good. First I watched a recent movie with Demi Moore that took place in England, then a movie called American Dreamz, which was a silly farce on American Idol, but was funny, light and entertaining. After that, was a movie from South Africa about a little boy who is orphaned when his parents die of AIDS (it made me cry because I felt so lucky not to have to live like those kids live on the streets of Johannesburg), and then an old movie with George Clooney and Michelle Peiffer. After I got my laundry, I settled in with a bowl of popcorn, and the movie with Uma Thurmond where she plays a loony super hero - My Ex Super Hero Girlfriend, or something like that.
Mila, my tango teacher from San Francisco called, but I had to tell her I was sick. She is in town for a bit and we are hoping to be able to get together and maybe do some classes together if not go to milongas and just enjoy the tango scene. But it all depends on how much longer this flu persists. Hernan called to check up on me, which was very sweet.
At about 10:00, I went to bed. I thought it would be good to get a good night's sleep, since I didn't sleep well the night before. As soon as I got in bed though, my stomach started to throb with incredible pain. I tried adjusting how I was lying, but nothing worked. I thought maybe it was the lying down that aggravated it, so I got up, went back to the sofa, propped myself up, covered myself with blankets and watched the end of Little Miss Sunshine.
When the movie was over, I tried coming back to bed, but the pain was worse. I didn't know what to do. I felt feverish, chills, and intense abdominal pain. I thought about going to the German Hospital, which is two blocks away, but didn't know if they were open 24-hours or what they could even do. I tossed and turned and moaned and groaned for a bit and finally sent Hernan a text - "estoy peor - que hago?" - I am worse, what can I do?
He called almost immediately and we discussed my condition. He convinced me to go to the hospital and that he would take a taxi over and accompany me to help me translate.
So, back I went to the German Hospital. This is the place I had to go last year to get my infected thumb lanced. Only now it is two blocks away, and this time, it was very late.
We spoke to the security guard/reception first and they understood about this flu, which apparently everyone has had some contact with in one way or another (well, I guess working in the hospital, they've seen it a lot). He took my information, found me in the system from last year and charged me 120 pesos - abotu $40, for the doctor's visit. It was after midnight.
We waited only a few minutes until we heard a woman's voice yell rather loudly and coarsely "Kappra?"
I was surprised to see that that voice belonged to a quite attractive young doctor. Her name was doctor Castro.
Hernan explained that he was there because I didn't speak much Spanish and he was going to help translate. I added that I speak a lot of Spanish, but sometimes I don't understand some things. She spoke to me a little and told me my Spanish was good. But then at some point she started speaking directly to Hernan as if I weren't there. I still understood most of it.
I did need Hernan though, and even he was confused by some of the running around we had to do.
The doctor said she wanted to do some tests - blood and urine - she didn't think it was anything serious (she told me to stop taking the Tamiflu), but she wanted to be sure and was concerned that it hurt when she pressed on my stomach.
We went back to the reception to pay for the tests - this time it was more expensive - $250 pesos (about $80 US). We were given instructions to go down the hall, take the elevtor down to the basement and the rest escaped me. I helped Hernan find his way downstairs, as I had been there before and remembered it. We found the lab with a frosted, closed window and there was a telephone next to the window.
Hernan picked up the phone and said we were at the lab and we needed some tests run. I would have been lost at that point, I would have not known to pick up the phone and I would have not known what to say. Eventually, a young phlebotomist came out and Hernan explained why he was there with me, and we went in for my blood test (at this point Hernan had adjusted what he was saying to something along the lines of - even though he speaks Spanish I am here to make sure he understands everything because this can be a little difficult).
He drew the blood and then Hernan asked about the urine test. I was understanding everything, so Hernan was not translating for me anymore. But when the phlebotomist asked about the "flaquito" I was confused. It took me a few minutes to register - in my mind I went through the scene, in this hospital at 1:30 a.m., urnine test, hospital, etc... and then it hit me - he was asking if we had the container for the urine - the flask. Since Argentines don't pronounce the s when it comes between vowels, it sounded like it was saying something about the little skinny one - flaquito instead of flaskito. When I got it I said to Hernan, "ah, I understand" - I then said I thought he was asking about "el flaquito" the little skinny one - me, as I rubbed my slightly bloated stomach. At least I could make jokes. I thought it was funny, but maybe I was the only one who got it.
We had to go up to the security desk and get the container. As I headed towards the bathroom, Hernan was going to follow me, I think just kind of automatically, but I told him I thought I would be able to handle that. I peed in the cup, we brought it back down to the lab and then came back to my apartment and hung out for about 45 minutes. It's a good thing I live close.
We went back to the hospital and again, the gruff voice of Doctora Castro called "Kappra?" - it kind of looked like she had been taking a nap, or else she was very sleepy. She said they didn't find anything in the tests. She took my temperature (thermometor under the arm), but I didn't have a fever. She gave me some pills - one big one and two little ones. I was to take the big one and one little one immediately, and then take the other little one in the morning.
By then I was actually feeling much better since I had taken a tylenol out of desperation when the pain was so bad that I could not sleep. I think that is why my fever was down and the pain lessened.
When I got home, I got back into my comfy bed and had a decent night's sleep, although with some crazy dreams. I feel better today (compared to last night), and hope that the problem was this flu medicine, which I imagine to be very strong.
I don't have anything to do today, other than to go and pick up my reading glasses. Otherwise I am going to lay in bed and watch Cine Canal.
My latest adventure in Buenos Aires was quite exciting. Wandering the halls of the German Hospital after midnight was something very special. I think that is enough with the hospitals through. I'm ready to have other adventures that don't involve near death scares and doctors (even though they all look like they should be on Gray's Anatomy).
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