It was Friday evening – one week ago. I was on the bus home. I had just completed the game had to rush home to leave to a friends place. I was hoping for dinner there. I am a regular post-graduate research student who likes free food. On the bus I began wondering about my physical ability. I had been in Sydney for 2 years and had never been to a doctor. In fact I did not even know the procedure of how to make an medical insurance claim if i had to see one. I was proud of myself, 2 years and no doctor.
Disaster struck the very next day. I was in another house and talking with a paati in tamil. Suddenly I felt a chill run down my body. Something was wrong. I quickly pulled on my jacket. But the chill did not go down. My body was burning. I struggled in their house for 2 more hours and we were given big bars of chocolate(this is apart from food). On the drive home, the chocolate in my hand, melted. Yes inside the cover was molten chocolate. I did not realise i was burning so much. Sunday was more of the same, was having fever. I took paracetamol. I did not want to go to the doctor and break my track record for a silly fever. It was supposed to be alright by Sunday Evening. On Sunday after noon, I was repeating to myself this, I am not sick, I am not sick. Then I suddenly started laughing. My friend was surprised, he thought i had gone nuts. I replied, It is true, I am not Sikh. That was a sick joke.
Come Monday morning I was supposed to go to the city to collect my passport from the German consulate. I managed that. I say I managed that because I did. It was so difficult. I was taught the definition of ‘Giddy’. I cannot even remember talking to the person in the consulate, it was all over-my-head. However I did have enough left in me to check the passport and the visa. I came back to Eastwood. On the way up to the city, I had decided that there is no postponing things, I had to go and see the Doctor. My 2 year record, I was so proud of it. I always felt like an iron-man, even though i knew it was a lie. How many of us lie to ourselves to make us feel better about ourselves? This was one of those lies. And it worked very well. But now I was going to let go of it. That is exactly when I realized, I think far too much even when feeling feverish and Giddy!
Then I made a flash decision – going to the doctor, no debating it. And I went to the doctor right from the railway station. Registered myself in, met the doctor. The doctor stuck something inside my ear and it beeped very loud, and she told the eternal truth. YOU HAVE FEVER. Wow! was I surprised, she only had to ask me. She said carry on with the paracetamol, you might have caught a virus. How did she deduce that? Some doctor trick, I guessed. But as long as it works. She said carry on with paracetamol for 2 days, it should die down by then. I religiously paid 35$ for this invaluable piece of wisdom and i still have to claim it. I walked out and came home. I have been dutifully taking paracetamols for breakfast and dinner every day since. Things have become better than before but no where close to end. So I went to the doctor again.
Yes, I went to the doctor for the second time in a week. It was Thursday. Gone was the no-doctor record, let us make yes-doctor record. That was not the idea really. The Doctor looked at me as if saying, Oh! you again. What is wrong now, you could not cut your toe-nails? I told about the current situation. And she said, it is a virus, you should give it time. Dont worry. If it does not go down by weekend, take this anti-biotic. I was ecstatic, over the moon, i managed to get a prescription from this doctor. But the weekend is just 5 hours away and I still am not looking hale and healthy. May be I should use it?
I dont know what, why and how I wrote this thing, it has been a bit spinny up in my head today. Hopefully I can break my 2 years record in the coming years. That is all i am thinking of. Being sick is really sick.
Anyways, dont read this.
raghav
