GERMAN HEALTHCARE

Dear Caroline

I’m sick! I don’t know how, but somewhere along the way I picked up a bacterial infection. It has attacked my tonsils and my throat. It’s horrible. I can’t swallow water without crying. Today it’s Monday I was sick all weekend with a fever. My host mom was worried it was COVID so my roommate moved out till the doctors say I’m no longer contagious.

Today I’m feeling a little better. I took an Uber to the doctors just to make sure I didn’t get lost as I had to go alone. Once there it was like any other doctors office. Fill out the intake form and wait your turn. They told me it would be a 2 hour wait. Since I took off school I wasn’t worried. After ten minutes I got really hot, and the air got really stuffy. I thought I’d go to the bathroom and splash some water on my face while I wait. I got to the bathroom splashed some water, but then it goes dark. I don’t know how, but I managed to walk out of the bathroom and in true Mediterranée fashion, I fainted in the hallway. As I came to, I was surrounded by doctors and nurses. My two hour wait went to zero real quick. The doctor took a look at me and took my blood pressure. Everything was ok, he also confirmed that I had a bacterial infection that probably originated from my water bottle. Pro tip: wash your water bottle daily. He sent me home with a course of antibiotics and a sick note for a week.

This is the first time I’ve ever needed to go to the doctor while abroad, and you hear horror stories of crazy expensive visits, but this was quite reasonable. My doctor visit with sick note and antibiotics came to 86€, my Uber there and back was the most expensive part of my day.

All in all it was a normal simple visit. Now I get to relax and get better this week. Lots of Netflix and German homework to do.