Dear loyal reader, my first experience with the medical system in the country that has been built up on healthcare, lawyers and tax advisors, deserves a separate post.
Around lunchtime Scott started to have some stomach aches and while in the beginning he was accusing last night pizza and today's McDonalds' breakfast, in few hours it was clear that those two are not causing this kind of pain. All possible medicals had been consumed or shipped to Estonia, so we only had the choice of chamomile, peppermint and pure vodka. I started with chamomile tea and followed with strong peppermint tea. Neither was much help. By 6pm the pain was so strong that we went to the closest Urgent Care.
In the first cabinet we were sent to, the girl, constantly touching her mask, measured the temperature and asked questions about weight and exercise. From there we went to the next cabinet to wait. Few minutes later rasta-dude called Patrick came in, who immediately rolled his seat between Scott's legs and asked some questions about the stomach ache. Scott assumed that he has diverticulitis, which would not be the first time and asked for some painkiller. Considering that the patient didn't have US health insurance, he could choose whether he wants the IV (quicker, but more expensive) or shot (slower, but cheaper). Before prescribing antibiotics, they inquired, if the patient would like to have some tests taken, for example blood or urine. The patient didn't really want either, but to exclude kidney stones they did take urine test. The chosen shot was done by a lady, who had nicely covered her hair under hijab, but left the mask home.
The shot started to slowly kick in and meanwhile the rasta-dude popped in again to consult, which treatment the patient would prefer. Considering that in less than 48 hours we had to board the plane and still had few things left to do, the patient wanted some antibiotics and also a stronger painkiller to get through the next few days, like Vicodin. Turned out that the rasta-guy can't prescribe Vicodin for it being a too strong of a drug, but after a short consultation with the owner of the clinic the later agreed to prescribe two days dose of Norco. They handed us the Norco prescription on paper and sent the antibiotics one directly to the CVS. Fast and efficient - walk in, tell them what you diagnosed yourself with, pay and walk out with a handful of prescriptions.
So we did pay the bill and drove to CVS. Scott remained in the car until I quickly run in and get the drugs. Oh, well, guess again. There were three counters in the prescription area:
Consultation - empty
Drop Off - empty
Pick Up - one pharmacist and one customer
Since I only needed to pick up the pills, I naturally went to wait in the "Pick Up" lane. Turned out to be not the greatest idea. After 10 minutes of waiting it was my turn only to find out that until I have dropped off my prescription in the "Drop Off" counter so that they can prepare my medicine, there's nothing to be picked up. Alright, I walked to the mentioned counter and waited. In 5 minutes a young guy came, took the prescription and after clicking the keyboard for a while he told me that he doesn't have authority to deal with this kind of drug. More senior pharmacist should be with me shortly. Only 10 more minutes passed and the senior pharmacist was working with the prescription. She typed on the keyboard, took few phone calls and told me that they can't sell me the drug. Apparently, since it's too strong of a drug, they can't accept this prescription from a regular clinic and they shouldn't have issued it in the first place. Anyway, she refused to do anything with it. With the antibiotics they need 15 minutes and they'll call my name, once ready to be picked up.
Since there wasn't anything for me to do in CVS for the 15 minutes, I went back to the car and gave Scott the report of the current stand. Scott called the CVS as well as the clinic, but max he managed to get, was a new prescription for a milder painkiller.
I returned to the CVS and already 45 minutes after I first entered it, I had two of the three drugs!
Around lunchtime Scott started to have some stomach aches and while in the beginning he was accusing last night pizza and today's McDonalds' breakfast, in few hours it was clear that those two are not causing this kind of pain. All possible medicals had been consumed or shipped to Estonia, so we only had the choice of chamomile, peppermint and pure vodka. I started with chamomile tea and followed with strong peppermint tea. Neither was much help. By 6pm the pain was so strong that we went to the closest Urgent Care.
In the first cabinet we were sent to, the girl, constantly touching her mask, measured the temperature and asked questions about weight and exercise. From there we went to the next cabinet to wait. Few minutes later rasta-dude called Patrick came in, who immediately rolled his seat between Scott's legs and asked some questions about the stomach ache. Scott assumed that he has diverticulitis, which would not be the first time and asked for some painkiller. Considering that the patient didn't have US health insurance, he could choose whether he wants the IV (quicker, but more expensive) or shot (slower, but cheaper). Before prescribing antibiotics, they inquired, if the patient would like to have some tests taken, for example blood or urine. The patient didn't really want either, but to exclude kidney stones they did take urine test. The chosen shot was done by a lady, who had nicely covered her hair under hijab, but left the mask home.
The shot started to slowly kick in and meanwhile the rasta-dude popped in again to consult, which treatment the patient would prefer. Considering that in less than 48 hours we had to board the plane and still had few things left to do, the patient wanted some antibiotics and also a stronger painkiller to get through the next few days, like Vicodin. Turned out that the rasta-guy can't prescribe Vicodin for it being a too strong of a drug, but after a short consultation with the owner of the clinic the later agreed to prescribe two days dose of Norco. They handed us the Norco prescription on paper and sent the antibiotics one directly to the CVS. Fast and efficient - walk in, tell them what you diagnosed yourself with, pay and walk out with a handful of prescriptions.
So we did pay the bill and drove to CVS. Scott remained in the car until I quickly run in and get the drugs. Oh, well, guess again. There were three counters in the prescription area:
Consultation - empty
Drop Off - empty
Pick Up - one pharmacist and one customer
Since I only needed to pick up the pills, I naturally went to wait in the "Pick Up" lane. Turned out to be not the greatest idea. After 10 minutes of waiting it was my turn only to find out that until I have dropped off my prescription in the "Drop Off" counter so that they can prepare my medicine, there's nothing to be picked up. Alright, I walked to the mentioned counter and waited. In 5 minutes a young guy came, took the prescription and after clicking the keyboard for a while he told me that he doesn't have authority to deal with this kind of drug. More senior pharmacist should be with me shortly. Only 10 more minutes passed and the senior pharmacist was working with the prescription. She typed on the keyboard, took few phone calls and told me that they can't sell me the drug. Apparently, since it's too strong of a drug, they can't accept this prescription from a regular clinic and they shouldn't have issued it in the first place. Anyway, she refused to do anything with it. With the antibiotics they need 15 minutes and they'll call my name, once ready to be picked up.
Since there wasn't anything for me to do in CVS for the 15 minutes, I went back to the car and gave Scott the report of the current stand. Scott called the CVS as well as the clinic, but max he managed to get, was a new prescription for a milder painkiller.
I returned to the CVS and already 45 minutes after I first entered it, I had two of the three drugs!
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