I went to the travel clinic today (still at university health services, just a different physician). I was used to waiting 45 minutes and getting okay care at the community health center near my house before going back to school, so prompt service is surprise enough. Then the doctor introduced me by her first name. Do they deal with so many other doctors that there's no need for the title? Maybe. I prefer feeling like my doctor is a real person and not just a member of some elite class, so I'm down with it. Once we got into her office, I was pleasantly surprised, almost touched, that she had printed off the CDC's country guidelines for Malawi for reference. Such organization and attention to detail! She made a point of saying that it was for me to keep and highlighted important sections. Definitely a keeper.
[Sidenote: this is also the place where a doctor lingered an inappropriately long time to watch me change, so it's not sketch-free. come to think of it, there was also some dude cruising me in the waiting room today. see, gays *do* erode the foundation of our country's institutions!]
I got malaria meds, ones that also help prevent traveller's diarrhea, a nice side effect. I took malarone before and was fine with it; I wasn't trying to take mefloquine cause that stuff just f's you up. She said that anyone with a history of anxiety and depression shouldn't take it; I luckily have neither (being high-strung is close enough to anxiety for me), I just don't want to go crazy.
I didn't need any shots, since I have Hep A&B taken care of and although my prior shot has timed out, there's no meningococcal activity in Malawi. I did need to do something about typhoid and opted not to get a shot because: a. it only lasted 2 years instead of 5 and b. was slightly more expensive. Then I remembered that I had tried the pill form before and somehow screwed it up (it's a little complicated: you have refrigerate them and take them every other day for four total doses) and that I'm travelling this weekend and will have to keep them in a freezer bag or something for the flights. Anyone have a portable cooler I can borrow?
[Sidenote: this is also the place where a doctor lingered an inappropriately long time to watch me change, so it's not sketch-free. come to think of it, there was also some dude cruising me in the waiting room today. see, gays *do* erode the foundation of our country's institutions!]
I got malaria meds, ones that also help prevent traveller's diarrhea, a nice side effect. I took malarone before and was fine with it; I wasn't trying to take mefloquine cause that stuff just f's you up. She said that anyone with a history of anxiety and depression shouldn't take it; I luckily have neither (being high-strung is close enough to anxiety for me), I just don't want to go crazy.
I didn't need any shots, since I have Hep A&B taken care of and although my prior shot has timed out, there's no meningococcal activity in Malawi. I did need to do something about typhoid and opted not to get a shot because: a. it only lasted 2 years instead of 5 and b. was slightly more expensive. Then I remembered that I had tried the pill form before and somehow screwed it up (it's a little complicated: you have refrigerate them and take them every other day for four total doses) and that I'm travelling this weekend and will have to keep them in a freezer bag or something for the flights. Anyone have a portable cooler I can borrow?
Labels: doctor, malawi, summer, transition
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