Is there a doctor in the house...I mean India?

Well, today one of the kids (I won't mention any names as to not embarrass her/him) visited the doctors office. I figured this would be pretty interesting and it indeed was. Our child has been having tummy troubles ever since playing in the Indian Ocean last week. A lot of school has been missed as the child just has not been feeling "right". So I called a friend yesterday to get some doctoring advice. This morning I called our company doctor who was unfortunately out of town but he did give me a referral. So I called Dr. B and was told to come by 10 am...granted I called at 9:10. Never would this happen in the states! Wow, that was fast. So we headed out. I grabbed some cash but had no clue what it would cost. When we pulled up to the office our driver was a bit concerned as to how I found this doctor, but he was relieved when I told him the company doctor referred us. When we walked to the door the sign said, "PLEASE REMOVE YOUR SHOES BEFORE ENTERING." I thought to myself there are no way these feet are coming out of these sandals. So in we walked and were motioned to sit in the waiting room which consisted of about 8 chairs. The lady motioned for us to walk through another door and there was the exam room. Again there was a sign about shoe removal and we ignored it. The doctor introduced himself and we sat down to discuss symptoms. I was about to come unglued when he got a metal tongue depressors out. Of course those of you who knows of my germaphobia knows what was going through my mind. I later asked if those had been properly cleaned and was told yes they had been washed. So lets just pray they were really washed well. For the family member in the medical field please send me disposable tongue depressors:-)

So the exam was complete and it was determined that a bit too much ocean water just caused some bacteria to get out of hand in the stomach so now we were off to the pharmacy. But first we had to pay the bill...$3.75! I told the driver in the US it would normally be about $80. He then informed me he normally only pays $1.50 for visit at a different office. Before we left the office the doctor wanted to hear about where we moved from and what we think of it here. Propably this is the first time an American has been in his office.

So the pharmacy. I had a list of medications. The pharmacist dumped sacks out on the counter to find the right meds. After getting the medicine I settled the bill and paid about $2 for the medicine. It wasn't a bet experience just so different but than that is part of living in India, let's just say I hope none of seek serious medical care here!