T - SouthAfrica.

Editor
Nicky Furniss
Not all doctors are made equal. And not all countries
approach medicine in quite the same way. Living in Japan
for four years taught me that.
Like the doctor who insisted I get topless just so that he
could listen to my heart. Or the old chap I visited when I had
the flu. Not only was he well beyond retirement age, but he came
complete with one of those old-fashioned round headlamps you often see on
doctors in cartoons! He insisted that I complete a full hearing test and then made me sit
for 20 minutes with some yellowed plastic tubes up my nose so that he could flood my
sinuses with oxygen! I spent well over an hour there, and felt like I had survived a weird
form of initiation ritual before I was deemed worthy of being given a brown paper bag
full of soothing drugs, which had been the primary reason for the appointment in the
first place.
Then there was the doctor who I had to convince that I had a heart complaint, so that
he would prescribe me antibiotics (as opposed to the Japanese equivalent of Disprin)
for a raging bout of bronchitis. And don’t even get me started on the story of a friend
who had her appendix taken out in a Japanese hospital – under local anaesthetic and
wide awake!
Thanks to these horror stories, I spent my time in Japan fervently willing away any
major illnesses (which worked for the most part), and I even avoided going for a regular
dental check-up when I heard that many Japanese dentists don’t wear gloves.
That said, when I returned home, I learnt the hard way that prevention is always
better than cure. When I did finally make a dentist appointment I discovered that what
could have been a minor filling, had it been picked up a year before, had now morphed
into a full blown, and rather painful, root canal. On the plus side, though, my new dentist
does wear gloves.
This is not to say that I haven’t had my share of bad medical experiences in South
Africa. Like the specialist who whipped me through her rooms like I was on a conveyor
belt, barely spoke to me for two minutes and then charged me R1,000 for the pleasure!
But irrespective of whether you get a beaut of a doctor or a blah one, it’s worth any
embarrassment, discomfort or cost to ensure that you are healthy and remain so.
Nothing is worth much in life unless you are well enough to enjoy it. So this month,
why not make it a priority to schedule your next dentist appointment; finally go to see
your dermatologist; ask your GP for a full medical exam and get your blood pressure
and heart rate checked – even if you have to go topless to do so!
Stay healthy!
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