Well enough is enough with this creeping crud that I have and decided to finally find a clinic to get some real meds instead of trying to self diagnose and use over the counter medicines. I have Blue Cross of Oklahoma and they have a phone number in case you get sick overseas. I call and put on hold for 20 minutes....must be a lot of Oklahoma BCBS overseas sickness. The lady that finally answered and said I needed to be connected to another number...another 10 minute wait. The next person that answers introduces herself as Nurse Betty...really! She actually was very nice and ask for my symptoms and she quickly suggested that I may have bronchitis. She also asked where I had been and telling her about Nairobi, Kenya was a mistake. I was asked to be put on hold and a gentleman answered as Dr. ___? he asked me a few questions and when he determined that I didn't have any Ebola symptoms he said it sounded as if I had bronchitis...yeah I heard that. I told him I had been on hold or passed on for the last 45 minutes and all I was looking for was a recommendation for a doctor in Sydney, Australia so I could get some treatment....you guessed it, put on hold and passed to the next person. Instead of getting Nurse Betty back I actually was queued back to the original holding pattern. Luckily, it took only five minutes to then be forwarded on to another nurse, can't remember her name. Before we got started I ask her not to forward me on to anyone else that I was just looking for a doctor recommendation in Sydney, Australia for bronchitis that one of their nurses and a doctor had already determined. She apologized for the time I've spent on the phone because I know she realized I was becoming quite irritable as I was continuing blowing my nose off to the side of my conversation with her. She asked my address in Sydney and she had to check another screen but would not put me on hold. She was continuing to look and kept me in the conversation while she did whoever she was doing. Finally, she gave me the address of a clinic that was near by and said to go ahead and pay the bill and then file a claim with BCBS when I got back to the states.
I never really looked at the address so it could have been across town, but it actually was just across Hyde Park, the area where I was staying. I took a quick shower, put on a clean pair of underwear...didn't you mom tell you to put on clean underwear when you go to the doctor? I arrive at the clinic which is very nice young man at the desk received me. I told him of my recommendation from BCBS in the US and he had me fill out quite an extensive medical information form. Did my grandmother have heart disease or diabetes? Really? I have bronchitis for God sakes! I return the form and he says the minimum payment would be $68US, but he would collect at the end. Well if it is anything like the US, they will add on a bunch of other expenses before it is over. Before I left to the clinic I stuck some extra cash into my pocket because I wasn't sure of what it would cost me.
I waited about ten minutes...well that was quick. I immediately see a doctor. No sitting around a wallless room in the US for 30 minutes before a medical assistant comes in to take blood pressure, pulse and checks your weight. Then having to sit another 30 minutes in the white colorless room before the doctor shows up. This OZ doctor got right to the point and ask my symptoms. She checked my chest with a stethoscope and I took a few big gulps of air and let it out..followed by a nasty whizzing cough. She checked my throat and ears. "Looks like you have a case of acute bronchitis"..yeah that's what I've heard a few times today. She writes up a prescription of three items and gives me directions to the closest pharmacy. I'm done in 10 minutes. I go to the counter to check out. The tab is still just $68US, which I gladly pay.
I'm now off to the pharmacy which is just two blocks away and closer back to my apartment. The gentleman takes my prescription and I tell him I can come back. He says it should just take a couple of minutes and just as it seems I'm starting to sit in the waiting lounge next to this counter he is all finished. He explains the medications and says that it will be $48AD. I go to pay and he asks how old I am, and I tell him 62. He asks if I have ID to that because he can give me a discount for being over 60. I pull out my US drivers license and presto the bill is now only $24AD. I remember when I was in Australia back in 2011-12 and I had turned 60 and found a slew of discounts for what they call in OZ, their "aged" population. I get back to the apt take a full dose of all my meds and take a short nap since it is still only 11AM here in Sydney.
I wake up around 3PM and feel a little better, so I decide to take a walk to the Sydney Harbor. This is where the famous Sydney Harbor Bridge, Opera House and Royal Botanic Gardens are located. It is an easy 20 minute walk and the weather is very mild today instead of the 90 degree heat when I arrived yesterday. The first place I recognize is the Opera House. This structure is considered by most to be one of the top ten architectural wonders in the world. It is quite unique in its appearance to look like white water waves on the Harbor's shore. The Opera House has on going music concerts and plays/musicals year round of all types and interests. Its just not for opera. The structure was built finished in 1973 though it started in 1957. The design was quite controversial as well as several changes and cost overruns that eventually resulted in the original design company and architect resigning/fired. The several buildings that make up the complex collapsed several times during the process and a few times was recommended to demolition the whole process. But, the multi-building plaza did finally get finished and pretty much as originally designed. It now is one of the most recognizable architectural wonders in the world.
The Sydney Harbor Bridge while not as recognized as her sister wonder in the Opera House, does complete the Sydney Harbor landscape. The bridge was completed in 1932 and consists of 8 lanes of roadway, 2 rail tracks, bicycle and pedestrian ways. It is the widest bridge in the world. Most people in the world recognize it as the place where the first major new years eve fireworks display is performed, since OZ is about 17 hours ahead of the US in time. So when is midnight here in Sydney, it would be 7AM the previous day in Tulsa.
After I take the usual tourist pictures I head over to a beautiful park area called the Royal Botanic Gardens. The gardens actually opened in 1816 by the British government. The gardens are actually in three different sections. The gardens also have their own unique features to include a glass pyramid (Louvre in Paris look-alike) and the grey headed flying foxes. They really aren't foxes but fruit bats that have made this area home for over a hundred years. But the number of bats were getting to large and starting to destroy some of the vegetation. So in a controversial decision it was decided to "scare them away" by using car honking and other disruptive sounds. the number have been reduced but they are still around.
Well the walk was a nice one but the last couple of weeks I get a bit tired more easily. I walk the 20 minutes back to the Hyde Park area. I stop and grab a quick Chinese take-out and finish it at the apartment. It doesn't take long and I'm out like a light.
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