Still Sick

I know my last update was Sunday, but honestly I've just kept on being sick.  Monday I woke up with my eyes all crusted over and gross, and I reluctantly got dressed so I could catch the bus down to the Pentecostal Mission Hall Complex, which is the closest bus-stop to the University Health Centre.  It makes no sense to me whatsoever that the Health Centre is so hard to get to.  Why not put it in, say, a convenient location?  I suppose that must have been the next spot available when someone, struck with brilliance, said "Hey, we should have a Health Centre!"  Still, for all the inconvenience of getting there, I'm glad CUHK has such a place.  True, back at USC we have a "Health Center," but every time I've been there, I've left frustrated and over-charged.  The Health Centre here's not too bad in comparison.  Normally, you can make an appointment online, but when I tried to do that Sunday night, I found out they were having some technical difficulties.  Therefore, when I showed up Monday morning, I was a walk-in.  The nurse took one look at me and pointed to a box of surgical masks.

Here's the deal about the surgical masks.  Anyone who's ever been to eastern Asia has probably seen lots of people, particularly on public transportation, wearing those things.  I know I saw a lot of them in Japan, and even more now that I'm in Hong Kong.  This just isn't something you see a lot in America.  I'm not entirely sure, but it seems to me that we have a lot more personal space in America.  Here, you've got a population of around 7 million people all crammed onto a 30-odd square mile group of islands--much of which is uninhabitable.  People are packed into this city like sardines.  This isn't necessarily a bad thing so long as you're not trying to buy real estate, but it does mean you're a lot more likely to breath in someone else's germs.  That possibility multiplies even further when you're in actual public places.  Let's face it, I live in a dormitory, eat in cafeterias, and use public transportation.  Life doesn't get much more public than that.  So, with that in mind, what's the best possible way to keep your germs (and only your germs) to yourself?  Surgical masks.  There's actually a "Mask Policy" here on campus that says, if you start to develop signs of an upper-respiratory infection, you must wear a mask in public to prevent the spread of virus.

Needless to say, I promptly donned a mask and took a number (W29).  Given my unfortunately-extensive experience with doctors' offices, I was expecting to spend a good portion of my day up there and, if lucky, make it out in time to eat lunch.  As I was a walk-in, my prospects were even dimmer.  Still, after waiting about 15 minutes, I saw my number flash on the TV screen outside Dr. Luk's office, indicating that I could go inside.  He was a very nice guy in his 30s, laid back, and with a good bedside manner.  I described my symptoms, told him the only medicine I wasn't supposed to take was cough suppressant, and let him have a look at my eyes, nose, throat, etc.  He listened to my chest and quickly diagnosed me with viral pink-eye caused by an upper-respiratory infection.  It's the "hot season" for this in Hong Kong right now so it's no wonder I got sick.  He prescribed some eyedrops, 2 kinds of pills, and liquid decongestant.  He also forbid me to go to class until Thursday at the earliest.

I got back to the dorm around 10:30am, slept until noon, bought lunch from the "Takeaway Express" table downstairs, slept some more, ate some soup, and then continued sleeping.

Tuesday, I studied some Chinese and did my Listening homework for Chapter 12.  Guess what I did after that?  That's right, I slept.  I'm not an avid napper so this is very unusual for me.  In most cases, even when I'm sick, I don't nap.  It messes up my sleep pattern and it takes forever to get back to normal.  So, after lunch, I tried to stay awake, which mostly just resulted in me reading ridiculous amounts of manga since even my brain felt too tired to read a real book.

Wednesday, as you can probably surmise, was pretty much a repeat of Tuesday, only with, alas, more sleeping involved.  I did, however, get a few chores done; paying my tuition fees, messing with my e-banking account, and getting my prescription numbers so the mail-order pharmacy can send me some refills.  Wednesday night, though, I still didn't feel much better.  Thankfully, the pink-eye had cleared up, but everything else was still downright miserable.  I did all my homework anyway, and even studied for an upcoming quiz.  But I wanted to wait until morning to make a call about whether or not to go to class.

This morning I woke up, again, with my eyes glued shut.  Disgusting.  I felt awful--too awful to go to class.  Instead I decided to return to the Health Centre because, whether or not the medicine was doing me any good, I ran out of it this morning.  Again, I got on the bus to go to the Pentecostal Mission Hall Complex, decked out in my surgical mask and sunglasses, looking like a creeper.  I rode for a while and eventually the bus driver slowed down as he approached my stop.  I stood up so that I could quickly get off the bus when he stopped, but he didn't!  Instead, seeing no one waiting at the bus stop, he sped back up, making me fall back onto the seat while holding onto the handrail for dear life.  I had to get off at the next stop.  Now, I'm a good sport, and I usually don't mind walking, but I was sick.  I felt miserable, and that just made it worse.  I was already out of breath just from being up and about.  Plus, wearing one of those surgical masks doesn't help the situation.  Making me trek uphill that far just to go to the Health Centre was most certainly NOT appreciated.  Still, it wasn't like there was much I could do about it so I sucked it up and walked.

Eventually, I got to the Health Centre, and this time I saw a Dr. Kwong.  While there was nothing wrong with this doctor, I liked the previous one a lot more.  Dr. Kwong hardly listened to what I had to say and didn't really examine me very much before saying "chest cold" and writing a quick prescription.  I don't think there's anything wrong with his diagnosis, but I don't like being treated like I'm just a number.  Still, I don't have much room to complain given that this is a free clinic.  I got the prescription filled at the dispensary, and walked just across the street to Lady Ho Tung Hall (since it was right there) to see if my package from home had come in.  It had, and that made me so happy.  Yes, it was heavy, but I just walked it to the bus stop, where the bus actually stopped this time, and rode it all the way back to my dormitory.  I got all my stuff from the package put away, skyped Mom to let her know what the doctor said, and bought a takeaway lunch.  Other than that, I've not really done anything the whole day and I don't intend to.  Thankfully, we don't have any homework due tomorrow so I can spend the rest of my day resting because I'm determined to get myself to class (and stay there!) tomorrow.