When I started writing my previous post, I had in mind talking about my visit to the doctor and to a medical lab, but half way through the post I realized I got into a different story. There are so many things I want to talk about and the journey to Pakistan has been so rich in new experiences that it is very easy to get carried away with a different topic.
In my second visit to Pakistan I got sick. Really sick. It might have been the fact that I was coming from -15 degrees Celsius to +25 and I did not listen to anyone when they told me to wear something warmer in night or not to walk bear footed in the house. I woke up one morning feeling feverish and not long into the day others symptoms started to pop up. I thought it might be a common cold, then I re-self-diagnosed to a urinary infection and later in the day I started to think it may even be malaria.
I exaggerated a great deal, but my fever must have been well over 39 degrees C when I told my husband to help me, give me anything, do anything just to make me feel better. Poor him. He rushed to the pharmacy and came back with some drugs that helped lower the fever and I could get some sleep.
I have to say that in Romania if it is past 9PM and you need to go to a drug store, you must search half town to find one open. In Karachi, pharmacy, like anything else, is open till late in the night so I was lucky to get medicine even past midnight.
Feeling better the second day, I decided that a visit to the doctor can’t do much good for me. However fever spiked in the evening again and I was seriously reconsidering my options. We decided to go see my husband’s family doctor. Although it was around 7 to 8 PM the small clinic near our place was open. We waited in a small waiting room until our turn came.
The doctor’s office reminded me of the visits to the doctor from my childhood. The medical equipment was a little outdated, but clean. The doctor was a man in his 50s, very polite and speaking fluently in English. I told him the symptoms and a little about my medical history. When we got to the part where he needed to get my temperature, he took out a small paper strip and asked me to put it on my forehead. It was the first time I was seeing such a strip. Back home we use thermometers. However, there was no difference (I hope) in the accuracy. My fever was around 38.8 Celsius. The doctor wrote a recipe for some drugs and also asked me to go to a lab for some additional tests. He cracked few jokes with me and my husband, shook hands and wished us good health. The cost for the visit was around 300 rupees (less than 3 euro).
The good news was that I didn’t have malaria, which was such a relive.
We went to the medical lab for the additional tests. The lab is part of Aga Khan University, small but clean, with very professional people. We were done in no time and were happy to be informed that we will have the results very quick…over the internet. Yes, I was in Karachi, Pakistan and the medical lab had the option of giving results over the internet, just like any other medical lab in a 21st century civilized country. The price for all that was somewhere around 1000-1500 rupees (10-15 euro), but I may be wrong about this as I was more concerned about the fever.
To my surprise, when we went to the pharmacy to buy the medicine prescribed by the doctor, we were also able to return the drugs we bought 2 days back but didn’t really need. Now that’s something cool.
I was back on my feet very quick, cheerful and relieved that my first medical experience in Pakistan was far better than I ever imagined.
Conclusions of the day:
- As a city that seems to never sleep, Karachi offers the possibility of late night medical checkups: doctors, medical labs, pharmacies are opened till late in night.
- Medical labs are just as professional as in any other parts of the world
- Rather than self-medicate, it is better to get over the fear of doctors and go see a professional. Even if you are in a developing country like Pakistan, a professional doctor knows more about diseases that you might know.
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