My day at Campus Health

My back has seen no relief so I went to campus health yesterday to get some help. The lobby was packed with students who had masks over their nose and mouths. It looked like something out of a zombie movie. I tried to sell my injury as much as possible on the form they make you fill out explaining why you’re there. I said I had “sever and acute pain in my back and neck.” It seemed serious to me. I walked up to the desk confident in my rhetoric. After my information was put into the system I was still told the wait would be more than an hour. Doh! I told the women at the desk that I was very busy with homework so I would be back in half an hour. I wasn’t going to wait around in a room swimming with the swine flu. As I got up from my chair to leave and picked up my backpack, I let out a little grunt for dramatic effect. I really was in some serious pain and I wanted to be seen as soon as possible. Let the flu people wait, I thought, I have a serious injury here that demands attention! I left and got a sandwich. When I returned and sat in a chair the same woman from the desk gave me a little nod when she saw me and I saw her put a slip on top of the pile. I couldn’t tell if she was smiling because her mouth was covered but I was the next one called and I figured she did me a favor. I saw some nasty gazes from the eye above the masks of students who had been waiting since before the first time I got there. I saw the nurse in triage and explained my symptoms to her. I was obvious in pain and my neck was at a weird angle as I spoke. She sent me upstairs to see a specialist. I waited and I waited. Besides the pain and discomfort I was in, it wouldn’t have been so bad had the university’s wireless internet worked in the building. As I waited, I thought for a brief second that maybe there shouldn’t be a public option health care option in this country because it will led to longer waits. In retrospect, I think it was just the pain talking in my head. After waiting for 45 minutes I was called back to the room and had my temperature and blood pressure taken, which really annoyed me because I was in so much pain and it seemed irrelevant to me. When the doctor finally came in the room, I blurted out “I’m dying here man.” He replied, “Hi I’m doctor so and so. Good to meet you Evan.” I laughed and finally calmed down a bit. I told him what was wrong and he did some tests. I found out I had a pretty nasty spasm. He gave me some great information about the spine and taught me healthy way to stretch out my tense neck. He gave me a prescription and sent me on my way. I now feel better but the mussel relaxers that I’ve been taking make me extremely groggy so I’m only taking a third of the dosage. The hot/cold treatment the doctor recommended seems to be the most helpful. I’m really hoping it feels better tomorrow because the pain and the grogginess are really getting old and are making it hard to focus on anything.