I wish I had photos to
attach to this entry, it was such an interesting day. I hope that I can give you a verbal snapshot
of my day. This is based on notes that I
was taking on my phone, so understand that it’s basically chronological
sequencing and I’m just transcribing my thoughts as they were occurring.
Today I am at the Chest Hospital. Our business manager at school assigned me a school driver, Emad, because I was so afraid of going to a government hospital. My experiences at New Mowasat clinic have been so good, but everyone told me how different it would be at a government hospital. I am nervous because everything is written in Arabic. Thank god for Emad. Right now I am in the waiting room “female waiting area” and Emad is in the male waiting area. The ladies’ toilet had two squatters and one toilet…no paper. Thank heaven I put a new package of tissue in my purse this morning. It has taken us an hour to get to this point, what with horrible morning traffic and a wrong stop at a hospital. Everyone at our school has been confused, even the doctor. The only one that seems to know anything is my referring doctor….and where is he when I need him? LOL Is it any wonder that my blood pressure is a little high?
Most of the ladies here are covered in full abayas. Some of the more conservative ones are also wearing gloves and the face shield. Also I have to comment that a lot of people here have cankles…men and women. This hospital is so huge that there are porters to take you where you need to go. It’s a very old building that is not very pretty but I understand that they practice good medicine here.
The nurses here in Kuwait wear the standard nursing whites with the old type of hat. White stockings and all.
There are so many
patients here that the hospital has gone high tech. You are given a number and you wait for the
lit up sign; it shows your number and the room that you are to go to. Then I was amazed to see people standing in
the hallway, passing their paperwork to nurses through half-closed doors. What
a mess and definitely not Western! Emad
is with me and we were directed to another hall and another office where we
repeated the process. The nurse took my
referral letter and my file and told us to wait again. Damn…..I forgot my Kindle.
The majority of men are
wearing sandals. What really bugs me is when their feet hang over the edge of
their sandal. Can’t they buy them to
fit??? Also, they have very rough
bottoms of their feet especially around the edges, ugly calluses. Barefoot all the way!!
I am waiting and waiting and waiting. I am becoming sick to my stomach and beginning to feel the need to cry. I feel so alone and scared.
I see an army man whose pants end above his boots (not tucked in) and he is bare legged. Who would wear army boots without tall socks???
Holy shit. The doctor wants to do the ablation. I had to go and start a file with the receptionist. The first woman I spoke to said she didn’t know what I was talking about. I had to fetch Emad to help me After that ordeal, I am back to waiting.
I am in a small waiting room with five ninjas. That’s what my students call the women who are fully covered in black abayas. Not one of them will even smile at me, much less engage in conversation.
I met a very nice lady from India who has severe back problems. It did make me think of Grace who gets so mad at me for visiting with anyone who gets close to me because I made a comment to her about looking like she was in pain. That’s how our nice conversation began. Then, I was able to refer her to Rosie my massage therapist at Amendar. This little lady was delightful. She told me that she and her husband are Roman Catholics and that he works at the church compound. Interesting. And ironic.
So…..the doctor set up the procedure for May 24. It is not a simple procedure (in my mind, anyway), but neither is it as drastic as surgery. I will have to take 1 day off from work (Thursday) and then rest before returning to work on Sunday.
Richard and Rachel, if you read this, rest assured that you were with me at the very beginning of this ordeal years ago and now it’s going to be over. I wish you were here at the conclusion!
Today I am at the Chest Hospital. Our business manager at school assigned me a school driver, Emad, because I was so afraid of going to a government hospital. My experiences at New Mowasat clinic have been so good, but everyone told me how different it would be at a government hospital. I am nervous because everything is written in Arabic. Thank god for Emad. Right now I am in the waiting room “female waiting area” and Emad is in the male waiting area. The ladies’ toilet had two squatters and one toilet…no paper. Thank heaven I put a new package of tissue in my purse this morning. It has taken us an hour to get to this point, what with horrible morning traffic and a wrong stop at a hospital. Everyone at our school has been confused, even the doctor. The only one that seems to know anything is my referring doctor….and where is he when I need him? LOL Is it any wonder that my blood pressure is a little high?
Most of the ladies here are covered in full abayas. Some of the more conservative ones are also wearing gloves and the face shield. Also I have to comment that a lot of people here have cankles…men and women. This hospital is so huge that there are porters to take you where you need to go. It’s a very old building that is not very pretty but I understand that they practice good medicine here.
The nurses here in Kuwait wear the standard nursing whites with the old type of hat. White stockings and all.
I am waiting and waiting and waiting. I am becoming sick to my stomach and beginning to feel the need to cry. I feel so alone and scared.
I see an army man whose pants end above his boots (not tucked in) and he is bare legged. Who would wear army boots without tall socks???
Holy shit. The doctor wants to do the ablation. I had to go and start a file with the receptionist. The first woman I spoke to said she didn’t know what I was talking about. I had to fetch Emad to help me After that ordeal, I am back to waiting.
I am in a small waiting room with five ninjas. That’s what my students call the women who are fully covered in black abayas. Not one of them will even smile at me, much less engage in conversation.
I met a very nice lady from India who has severe back problems. It did make me think of Grace who gets so mad at me for visiting with anyone who gets close to me because I made a comment to her about looking like she was in pain. That’s how our nice conversation began. Then, I was able to refer her to Rosie my massage therapist at Amendar. This little lady was delightful. She told me that she and her husband are Roman Catholics and that he works at the church compound. Interesting. And ironic.
So…..the doctor set up the procedure for May 24. It is not a simple procedure (in my mind, anyway), but neither is it as drastic as surgery. I will have to take 1 day off from work (Thursday) and then rest before returning to work on Sunday.
Richard and Rachel, if you read this, rest assured that you were with me at the very beginning of this ordeal years ago and now it’s going to be over. I wish you were here at the conclusion!
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