What's Up, Doc?

      I made it a near-obsession to stay healthy and in one piece out here.  With this tropical climate and my palagi susceptibility to strange bacteria and germs, it's easy to pick up something icky.  I almost made it.  A couple weeks ago I managed to scrape my knee just a bit on some lava rock down by the blowholes.  Immediate cleansing with hydrogen peroxide failed this time; a couple days later it was infected and as the Ghostbusters sang, there was something strange in the neighborhood and it didn't look good.  So I made my way bright and early on Monday down to the ER at the local hospital.  Here it is:

The ER at LBJ Medical Center

      Health care here is socialized and there is one hospital, LBJ, for everybody.  You don't see private practicioners or clinics.  There are no specialists, or at least very few.  A significant proportion of the physicians are here on 2 - 4 year contracts.  A couple small out-patient clinics in the further ends of the island complete the health care picture.  The result is wait time.  I arrived at the ER about 7:30 a.m. and, eventually, found the business office to pay my $10 co-pay.  I took the receipt back to ER and waited until about 8:30 for someone to arrive and start processing people.  By that time it was quite crowded.  I got to watch Samoan rap music on the TV in the waiting room!  You can just imagine how thrilling that was.  I did meet and talk to a few Samoans  who also waited, so the time passed.

Inside the waiting room; triage room.  Taken end of day when not busy.

     Around 9:30 the nurse started triage, and I got in an hour later.  But then things picked up, as I was able to see the doctor soon thereafter.  Here's how it went:

Doc Kolone:  "That knee looks awful.  What did you do?"

Me:  "Scraped it on some rock."

Doc Kolone:  "What kind of rock?"

Me:  "Lava & coral rock."

Doc Kolone:  "Wrong answer."

     Next thing to happen was an IV of a couple pretty serious antibiotics.  That took over an hour, followed by a dressing and some prescriptions.  I was out shortly after noon!

     But wait, I needed to fill them.  I was # 14 at the pharmacy; they were at #54.  So another happy hour was spent until my number came up and I actually got my drugs.  Left after 1:30 p.m.

Pharmacy down the sidewalk - open air!

      A return visit two days later for a checkup was better.  Funny, my appointment was for a given day, no time.  That's how they do it here, if you get an appointment it is for a day and you show up sometime that day.  And then wait your turn.  People start there by 5:30 am.  Anyway, another $10 co-pay and a wait in the lobby as nobody was there to check me in.  But Doc Kolone saw me through a window, waved me in, checked me out and sent me away.

     Actually, aside from the extensive wait, I had good care and it was successful, I'm OK now, infection gone and wound healed.  But it's a small island, and poor, so anything beyond a relatively simple condition mandates a trip to Hawaii or the mainland for treatment.  Don't get sick here!