Sicko, or How to Waste a Lot of Time and No Money

During my very first ever finals week, freshman year of college, I got what I thought was the world's worst food poisoning. After several hours of excruciating stomach cramps and uncontrollable vomiting my sage friend Kim pointed out that maybe it wasn't food poisoning after all. It was then that I got to make my first ever visit to the emergency room (Emory being such a top rate medical school, going to the hospital actually consisted of walking across the street from our dorm), my first ever overnight hospital stay and my first ever operation, the next evening, to remove my angry appendix.

That sucked. A lot. But on the bright side it made a really funny story for the campus tours I used to give. Also it was good practice for the fun ER visit, hospital stay, and surgery that I was subjected to this past January. Things weren't nearly as serious this time around thankfully, but I have gotten to explore the intricacies of Britain's famous National Health Service (NHS) in more depth then I ever intended or really wanted to.

I don't think you need to hear all the gory details of what happened, so the Cliff Notes are that I got a staph infection under my skin. How it got under there I may never know, but I will tell you that it is not an experience I'd recommend to a friend. Or an enemy for that matter. Although not life threatening or anything terrifying like that, it's been a pretty miserable illness and recovery. However, being the optimist that I am, I think I'll list the upsides:

Upside #1: Britain has socialized health care!

A certain smart alec Brit I know (or as they say here, a certain cheeky git) keeps shaking his head at me, "bloody foreigner's, taking advantage of our tax money." I'm not too ashamed to say this is true- the NHS has saved my poor, uninsured butt.

Can you imagine what an ER visit, overnight hospitalization, surgery, antibiotics and follow-ups would have cost me in the United States? The very thought gives me chills. Here the bill thus far has been a big fat zero. I can't say getting sick away from home is very fun, but if you're going to do it, best to do it somewhere like here.

Upside 2: I had lots of time to read!

So health care is free here, but it is also slower then the Beltway at rush hour in a blizzard. Obviously I can't complain, free is free, and it wasn't like I was dying or anything, but the waiting around must breed monk like patience into the sick citizens of England. Or give them a lot of time to knit.

Upside #3: People are inherently good!

Well that's a sweeping generalization if ever there was one, but I've encountered nothing but nice and supportive people during this whole experience. The nurses at the hospital were just so incredibly sweet and kind. So were the med students who wanted to practice on me, since I was the only patient in the ward under the age of 80. My doctor wasn't terribly friendly but he resembled a British McSteamy, so all is forgiven.

Plus I had ridiculously great support from my friends here. Jason and Liz, the Aussies and that cheeky Brit were all so helpful. I was initially very worried about missing so much work, but Christie's has been mega-supportive too thank goodness.

This was obviously a disaster that I could never have planned for and certainly wouldn't have chosen, but I know it could have been so much worse. I've described myself before as "fatally optimistic," I'm utterly determined to find the good in everything. It's an annoying trait but it sure beats feeling sorry for yourself. I just hope that I cant take lessons away from this experience, use it to grow, and hopefully someday (not quite yet, but someday) I can spin it into a really funny story.