My symptoms: I’ve had a bad cough and stuffy nose for 3 weeks basically. Two nights ago was very bad though. I had bad nausea and woke up several time in the middle of the night with stomach pain; had to go to the bathroom to vomit and have diarrhea. I did not sleep well so when I woke up I had a very bad headache and felt very dizzy. I asked Iva to take me to the doctor and told her my symptoms. She told me that I had eaten raw meat which may have caused my stomach problems. You are probably thinking that this doesn’t sound very lucky-well it isn’t, but the next part is.
Iva took me to the information office in Policka to print my claim form that is required by my health insurance to get reimbursed for medical expenses. It printed and when I asked the man at the desk, “How much?”, he just shook his head at me and said, “Don’t worry.” I was confused, but I don’t question free things.
Then we went to the doctor. I only had 500 crowns (~$25) and was worried that would not be enough. We arrived at the doctor and found out they closed at noon and it was 12:37. Iva must have done some sweet talking because they let us see the doctor who was still there. Iva translated all my symptoms for me. At the end she gave me a prescription for cough drops (literally, not lozenges) and antibiotic to prevent pneumonia and put me on a dry diet. Once again, I asked, “How much?”, and she just shook her head and said, “Don’t worry.” Once again, very confused, but not questioning. The medicine itself only cost 82 crowns. Overall, I consider myself very lucky today! I wonder if it is because I looked so sick that people had sympathy for me today and did not want my money.
I slept 16 hours last night and have felt much better since. My stomach and head issues seem to have resolved themselves, but my cough is still bad at times.