No Refills

Being sick in Korea is a somewhat scary and totally unfamiliar experience for my mind, body and soul. I am not only unaware of the "oriental medications" that they offer as remedies for whatever is ailing you, but my body has no protection against the germs that are attacking it here. Everything is new, lethal, and unforgiving. But there is no way to prepare yourself for the agony of being sick in a foreign country.

 

When I first got to Korea I got a minor cold. It was your everyday cough and runny nose which led me to my first adventure to the pharmacy. Halleluiah they spoke English! But this was not comforting for long. In broken English the pharmacist gave me medication, almost stammering on his explanation of how much to take and how often. He then proceeded to give me packets full of herbs that I could not pronounce. As I looked around the pharmacy I realized these bottles of herbs in the shape of balls were everywhere, and were an everyday solution for an illness or pain in your body. At my quizzical face, he then uttered "oriental medicine." Not feeling well, and understanding nothing on the labels, I knew I had to have blind faith in this man I had known for 5 minutes. I took the medicine without too much thought, swallowed the herb packet which tasted like charcoal, and was better in 3 days.

herbs at pharmacy

Now, recently I had a much worse case of what I have been referring to as the Korean flu. I was absolutely wiped out, feeling exhausted after sleeping for 13 hours, and had the whole shabang; sore throat, coughing, runny nose, sinus infection, head ache, etc. It was awful! I knew that the pharmacist's over the counter medication and herb packets would not get rid of this virus so I went to the doctor instead. This was also a brand new experience for me. I was nervous, irritated, and desperate so I was hoping this would not be too much of a problem. I walked in to see the doctor, who began speaking in Korean to me until he realized I had no clue what he was saying. Once he switched to English I told him what was wrong with me and after a quick check up he started writing down some things on his paper. He then said to me "antibiotic, you need, medical injections, OK?"
My face must have been priceless, because I thought he wanted me to go home and inject myself with medication! He then said "you do?" (which I later understood meant, 'have you done this before?', but I thought he was saying do you want to go home and inject yourself!) So I said "NO!" and so he wrote something down and said "OK, OK, three days, bye bye."

I walked out of the doctors office, so confused thinking that when I got my prescription it would be needles or something! I went to the pharmacy and instead was happy to find simple good old pills. Who would have thought I would be happy about that. But then I realized how many he had given me; 6 for breakfast, 6 for lunch, and 6 for dinner.

"Wow, I must be pretty sick" I thought. I proceeded, once again in blind faith, taking these pills which I was very unclear as to what they were exactly. I know one had to do with my nose, one with throat, and one for pain, but the sheet of paper written in Hangul (Korean) was not helping me to understand my prescriptions any more than simply looking at them with wide, questionable, bloodshot eyes.  

These three meager days, came and went, and I still felt terrible. I asked my Korean manager if she could call to get me a refill on my meds (as they were slowly helping), and she looked at me very confused. She asked me if I had gotten the medical injection, which she then explained if a very common thing they do here for people who are very sick. They inject them with a high dose of antibiotics and it makes them feel better in a few hours. After a few minutes of feeling frustrated I was not offered this miracle drug, I remembered my conversation with the doctor. "OH, that's what he was asking me!" I said aloud. I proceeded to tell her I got pills as my antibiotics and I needed a refill. She then said I had to go back to the doctor. WHAT? I DON'T UNDERSTAND! NO REFILLS? I will have to pay to see the doctor again, and take off work on top of that! He JUST SAW ME, why can't he just give me a few more days worth? 

Needless to say, I was furious. I was sick, exhausted, and felt like I was running around in circles just to try to get rid of these invasive, unforgiving Korean germs!

I returned to the doctor 15 minutes before he closed that day, and told him I was still sick. It's a good thing he didn't understand sarcasm, because I had quite a bit for him by that point in the day. He tried to give me 3 more days of antibiotics, and I made it very clear that was not enough! After a little back and forth, he agreed to 5 days since I had to ask off work to go and see him. This ended up being the necessary amount because this virus stayed with me for almost 2 weeks.

Like I said, being sick in Korea is difficult and a little scary. You are taking things you don't know the names of and swallowing herbs that taste like charcoal or Indian food. One time I even had an herb packet that tasted like ginger bread.....one of the better ones obviously. You are throwing caution to the wind in hopes that the wind doesn't send you flying back into the side of a building more damaged than when you started. But the worst of it is simply this; having no refills basically............sucks.