Hospital
Before I get into it, some updates:
1. Weather is now 11C - nice! Not looking forward to Dec/Jan when it's colder inside the house than outside!
2. Arabic teacher giving birth in 2 weeks and she will be off for a month or two. (Looking forward to the break because I am way behind in revision!)
3. Tomato prices have gone up 200%
4. I now have a bullet-proof bathroom. (Friends who are planning to visit - don't worry, it's been planned for a while - just a precaution)
5. I'm allergic to something here - my eyelids are itchy
Ok, the hospital. There are a lot of hospitals in Sanaa but they look more like clinics. Some are funded by the Saudis, some are private, there's an Iranian one that's been shut down by the government for political reasons.
So my maid was screaming in pain. We pull up at a hospital and someone comes by with a wheelchair. I think I was expected to push her to A&E but the porter took one look at me and didn't think I was up to it (and I didn't know where the emergency room was) and so he sprinted along the corridors with L.
We get to a room with some beds - she gets one right away and a nurse immediately comes over. At this point I'm relieved because I'd imagined a crowded room and having to get a ticket and waiting for hours while L is screaming her lungs out.
Doctor comes and examines her. Then he writes me a list and tells me buy these at the pharmacy down the hall. I'm thinking, is this for medicine?
It turns out we have to buy the test kit first before she can be treated. So I come back some IV fluid and some capsules and painkillers...and 2,400 rials ($12) poorer.
Then I'm given another list and told to go to another counter. It's to pay for the blood, urine and stool tests. Another 3,000 rials ($15).
When I get back - carrying the bottles for the urine and stool samples, mind you - I'm told L needs a stronger painkiller. 2,000 rials ($10) please.
We wait for the lab results - just over an hour, not too bad. She has some crystals in her urine and an infection. She needs meds at 2,400 rials ($12)...and then she can go home. But she needs to come back the next day to do an ultra-sound.
I didn't have a problem with paying but I did have a problem with going to the pharmacy four times and paying every step of the way instead of getting a bill at the end. (I'm told at some other hospitals, you pay later.) Imagine if you had come alone without anyone to help. And $50 by Western standards is not high but in developing countries like mine, it's a lot and salaries in Yemen are not high either (the average is something like $200/month).
Anyway, the next day the driver took L to the hospital for the ultra-sound. Thank goodness, the doctors said she could be treated with meds and didn't need surgery. Just drink more water and eat less protein and take the meds. I'm glad it was nothing serious.
People laugh at me when I say I worry about who's going to pay for my medical bills when I'm older. But it's scary to think about not being able to afford medical care...
1. Weather is now 11C - nice! Not looking forward to Dec/Jan when it's colder inside the house than outside!
2. Arabic teacher giving birth in 2 weeks and she will be off for a month or two. (Looking forward to the break because I am way behind in revision!)
3. Tomato prices have gone up 200%
4. I now have a bullet-proof bathroom. (Friends who are planning to visit - don't worry, it's been planned for a while - just a precaution)
5. I'm allergic to something here - my eyelids are itchy
Ok, the hospital. There are a lot of hospitals in Sanaa but they look more like clinics. Some are funded by the Saudis, some are private, there's an Iranian one that's been shut down by the government for political reasons.
So my maid was screaming in pain. We pull up at a hospital and someone comes by with a wheelchair. I think I was expected to push her to A&E but the porter took one look at me and didn't think I was up to it (and I didn't know where the emergency room was) and so he sprinted along the corridors with L.
We get to a room with some beds - she gets one right away and a nurse immediately comes over. At this point I'm relieved because I'd imagined a crowded room and having to get a ticket and waiting for hours while L is screaming her lungs out.
Doctor comes and examines her. Then he writes me a list and tells me buy these at the pharmacy down the hall. I'm thinking, is this for medicine?
It turns out we have to buy the test kit first before she can be treated. So I come back some IV fluid and some capsules and painkillers...and 2,400 rials ($12) poorer.
Then I'm given another list and told to go to another counter. It's to pay for the blood, urine and stool tests. Another 3,000 rials ($15).
When I get back - carrying the bottles for the urine and stool samples, mind you - I'm told L needs a stronger painkiller. 2,000 rials ($10) please.
We wait for the lab results - just over an hour, not too bad. She has some crystals in her urine and an infection. She needs meds at 2,400 rials ($12)...and then she can go home. But she needs to come back the next day to do an ultra-sound.
I didn't have a problem with paying but I did have a problem with going to the pharmacy four times and paying every step of the way instead of getting a bill at the end. (I'm told at some other hospitals, you pay later.) Imagine if you had come alone without anyone to help. And $50 by Western standards is not high but in developing countries like mine, it's a lot and salaries in Yemen are not high either (the average is something like $200/month).
Anyway, the next day the driver took L to the hospital for the ultra-sound. Thank goodness, the doctors said she could be treated with meds and didn't need surgery. Just drink more water and eat less protein and take the meds. I'm glad it was nothing serious.
People laugh at me when I say I worry about who's going to pay for my medical bills when I'm older. But it's scary to think about not being able to afford medical care...
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