So I've been sick for a week straight. It makes absolutely no sense to be on the brink of vomit for that long unless you're pregnant and believe me, after three pregnancy tests (all negative, thanks), I knew for sure that I wasn't. But the doctors weren't very helpful either. For whatever fluke of reason, I've been lucky enough to be covered under 2 of the islands major health insurance carriers. Taking full advantage of this, I first called the advice line a few days into my illness. The nurse had told me that it was no big deal and that I should only go to see a doctor if I was still sick after 2-3 days. 4 days later, I was still not having it. In fact, Sunday seemed worse than Saturday and I started to really get scared that perhaps I cursed myself and really did end up pregnant. So I went to a Long's Drugstore and bought two boxes of pregnancy tests and decided that if the first one came up negative, I'd check a few days later and if it came out positive, I'd pee on them all just to triple check. So I went in yesterday to see a doctor and after looking over me, she concluded that I was either 1) pregnant or 2) she wasn't really sure but that it should go away. "It's probably just a stomach flu or virus," she told me, "and that lump you feel in your throat is caused by irritation after you've vomitted so many times. Don't worry it'll get better." She had me go to the lab and give a urine sample. The deal was, she'd call if it came up positive but if I got no calls then to not worry about it. I found myself nervously staring at my phone for the rest of the day. My coworkers started making pregnant jokes about me while a few speculated in a serious tone that I probably was. Around 3 in the afternoon, I got a phone call from a local, unfamiliar number and the tension in my nerves rose five folds. I found myself thinking, "Ok, this is it...prepare yourself..." before answering it with slightly shaky hands. "Hello?" I asked tentatively.
Ding! "This is an automated voice message for Sascha Lykes...you're phone bill payment is past due."
For some reason, I was so relieved that I forgot to feel annoyed that the phone company had not reminded my to pay before I was past due. I felt like God played a joke on me, haha, Sascha, serves you right for telling everyone there's no way that you're pregnant. Ironically, He decided to scare me with a collect call. For some reason, I knew then that I wasn't going to get a call, which meant that I wasn't pregnant after all but my main question remained unanswered--what's going on with me?? Unsatisfied with my doctor's visit, I opted to make another appointment with another doctor from my other insurance company (are you following?).
But when I woke up this morning, I wasn't as naseous as I had been all week. In fact, I debated on whether or not I should cancel my appointment until I started to feel carsick on the ride into work. When I got to the doctor's office, after telling the doctor my symptoms of nausea, slight fever and no appetite, she took out her stethescope, checked my breathing, felt my stomach and declared that I had, "Gastritis. I've been seeing more of it these days. It's caused by a Westernize diet such as food that is too hot, too cold, too spicy...you're stomach is weak so you need to be eating bland food for a while. I'm going to prescribe you medication. Take it for a month and if you still don't feel better, come back." I was a little more shocked after this second visit. How could three medical experts tell me three different things and prescribe accordingly? I was told twice on to worry about it and now I was overly Westernized? Even after I explained to the doctor that I ate mostly vegetarian, Japanese meals because of my mother and that I had always eaten spicy, my doctor insisted that my diet was overly Westernized and that I had gastritis. I asked if we could do a blood sample, just in case but she said only if the medication didn't work. I left even more confused and when I reported my doctor's conclusion to my mother, she was even more upset that I was. How can this be? Why would they not do a blood analysis? What if it's a serious ailment? Since her doctor friend was in town, my mom decided to consult her about my symptoms. However, she honestly, didn't know what to think of it. She did say, however, that had she had the meanns to, she would have done a blood analysis.
So now what? Well, since I'm feeling better, I'm going to fore go the medication and just stick to bland food for now. If my symptoms get worse, I will go to urgent care and request for a blood analysis. If all goes well, I should be about 15lbs lighter in a month. Not a bad trade off for gastritis, in my opinion.
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