Today was the dreaded day of annual health checkup - an entire day spent running from one department to another of the hospital till I began to feel really ill & consoled myself that it is the hospital which was a place one can safely fall ill in. But no, what I felt is one has to be 200% full of energy to undergo one of the health exams in a erect position.
When I had enquired the previous day, the lady at the reception had told me to come by 8.30am, so when I reached there after 9.00 am I thought that I must be late. But the reception was quite empty of people, with a sole receptionist. When I enquired about health checkup she firmly told me that there was no such package for my company. Around ten or fifteen years earlier I might have meekly accepted this, but age has given me a certain gumption so that I can argue back with people to a certain extent. I spoke to the receptionist the other day over phone, I told her, and she had assured me that the package was available. The other lady still refused to accept this. "But, I told her, " Madam M, spoke to me, and assured me", I argued plaintively. On hearing the person named, the lady recapitulated and directed me to go to the first floor and speak to the person concerned. Madam M was at her desk, and thankfully she remembered speaking to me over phone. Still it took her an hour to convince her other colleagues that I was eligible for the health package. It was almost 10.00am when, formalities completed, I trooped into the blood sample room to have my blood taken. My number was 22 and it came after half an hour's wait where I stared idly at numerous patients and their relatives thronging there. The rather young lab assistant girl was smooth and deft, taking blood, labelling the various bottles and mixing the reagents all with swift practiced movements. She reminded me to come for giving a sample again after breakfast.After this I moved to the x-ray and sonography section which was swarming with patients. Sonography is a procedure which has to be done on a full bladder. So the uniform instruction given is that drink water till one's bladder feels like bursting. I dutifully finished of the 1litre bottle of water which I had bought with me, hoping that I would get called in between, but to no avail. After almost an hour's wait and two reminders to the reception, I was at last called for the sonography test. Loosen your salwar drawstring and lift your bra up, I was instructed, and so I lay there bare and supine on the bed for almost 10mins before the doctor , a lady, came in. She applied the sticky ointment on my stomach and quickly moved the mouse on my stomach. "Your bladder is too full", she said," You need to urinate, and come again", "come fast", she uttered encouragingly. This was what came of following instructions too well. So I went and came back again, and the procedure was completed at last. Next I went to have breakfast at 12.00 noon after two hours of which my next blood sample was to be taken. Cheese Sandwiches with green chutney and a bowl of sewai, a cup of hot tea was the breakfast which I enjoyed as I was extremely hungry by this time. I was then directed by Madam M to go for my ECG, which was done by a rather strict looking lady technician. Next please go to gynae dept, dental and ENT,I was directed. At the dental dept I was advised by a pretty looking young dentist, that I needed to get my teeth cleaned of tartar. Promising to do it at a later date, I then moved to the gynae dept where there were around 3-4 young intern type doctors with an elderly head doctor. They desultorily took down my history and conducted a rather painful examination. After completing the ENT checkup, I went to the cardio section which again was full of patients. After waiting for almost half an hour I was called in for a stress test. This was the first time I was having a stress test, and I was rather curious. The technician asked me to remove all my upper garments, which I rather unwillingly did at last. then she applied 10 electrodes around my heart area, had me cover myself with a hospital gown, and plugged the electrodes into the GE make monitoring machine. Then she directed me to walk on the treadmill, and my heartbeats, pulse and pressure was monitored as the treadmill started slowly and then gained in speed. After walking for around 10mins , the pulse was 150bpm, stage 3 exercise, I had achieved my target, the lady said. So I got off and put my clothes back on. The pressure of my feet was then taken by another nurse who said that she was a student of MSC nursing and wanted it for some study which she was doing. At nearly 1.30pm, I went down for the eye checkup. Here I was told that it would take at least half an hour as there were several patients before me. So I gave my name for the queue, and moved to the cubicle of Madam M for consultation. What a talker the lady is! Every time I saw her she was always talking on her mobile with someone. I now asked her about the mammography and she got ready to accompany me downstairs, as another foreigner lady was there as well. So we went down to the test section. The doctor came after 10mins, during which I gave the blood and urine sample at the lab. Mammography was another painful process, where I again had to remove all my upper clothing and stand bare while my breasts were pressed painfully by the machine during the test. 4 slides were taken. Don't move your head, look there, look here were the curt instructions given by the technician during the process. At last after completing it, the doctor asked me to wait for aquarter of an hour more, to check whether it was all ok. After her green signal, I then moved to the eye section where it took me almost two hours more. Initially a technician checked my eyes, in the second round I explained to the doctor about the floater in my eye. She wanted to check my retina, so I had some drops put in and rechecked my eyes after 45mins. After getting this all done, a mammoth task by any standards, I returned home at around 4.30pm, tired but triumphant.
When I had enquired the previous day, the lady at the reception had told me to come by 8.30am, so when I reached there after 9.00 am I thought that I must be late. But the reception was quite empty of people, with a sole receptionist. When I enquired about health checkup she firmly told me that there was no such package for my company. Around ten or fifteen years earlier I might have meekly accepted this, but age has given me a certain gumption so that I can argue back with people to a certain extent. I spoke to the receptionist the other day over phone, I told her, and she had assured me that the package was available. The other lady still refused to accept this. "But, I told her, " Madam M, spoke to me, and assured me", I argued plaintively. On hearing the person named, the lady recapitulated and directed me to go to the first floor and speak to the person concerned. Madam M was at her desk, and thankfully she remembered speaking to me over phone. Still it took her an hour to convince her other colleagues that I was eligible for the health package. It was almost 10.00am when, formalities completed, I trooped into the blood sample room to have my blood taken. My number was 22 and it came after half an hour's wait where I stared idly at numerous patients and their relatives thronging there. The rather young lab assistant girl was smooth and deft, taking blood, labelling the various bottles and mixing the reagents all with swift practiced movements. She reminded me to come for giving a sample again after breakfast.After this I moved to the x-ray and sonography section which was swarming with patients. Sonography is a procedure which has to be done on a full bladder. So the uniform instruction given is that drink water till one's bladder feels like bursting. I dutifully finished of the 1litre bottle of water which I had bought with me, hoping that I would get called in between, but to no avail. After almost an hour's wait and two reminders to the reception, I was at last called for the sonography test. Loosen your salwar drawstring and lift your bra up, I was instructed, and so I lay there bare and supine on the bed for almost 10mins before the doctor , a lady, came in. She applied the sticky ointment on my stomach and quickly moved the mouse on my stomach. "Your bladder is too full", she said," You need to urinate, and come again", "come fast", she uttered encouragingly. This was what came of following instructions too well. So I went and came back again, and the procedure was completed at last. Next I went to have breakfast at 12.00 noon after two hours of which my next blood sample was to be taken. Cheese Sandwiches with green chutney and a bowl of sewai, a cup of hot tea was the breakfast which I enjoyed as I was extremely hungry by this time. I was then directed by Madam M to go for my ECG, which was done by a rather strict looking lady technician. Next please go to gynae dept, dental and ENT,I was directed. At the dental dept I was advised by a pretty looking young dentist, that I needed to get my teeth cleaned of tartar. Promising to do it at a later date, I then moved to the gynae dept where there were around 3-4 young intern type doctors with an elderly head doctor. They desultorily took down my history and conducted a rather painful examination. After completing the ENT checkup, I went to the cardio section which again was full of patients. After waiting for almost half an hour I was called in for a stress test. This was the first time I was having a stress test, and I was rather curious. The technician asked me to remove all my upper garments, which I rather unwillingly did at last. then she applied 10 electrodes around my heart area, had me cover myself with a hospital gown, and plugged the electrodes into the GE make monitoring machine. Then she directed me to walk on the treadmill, and my heartbeats, pulse and pressure was monitored as the treadmill started slowly and then gained in speed. After walking for around 10mins , the pulse was 150bpm, stage 3 exercise, I had achieved my target, the lady said. So I got off and put my clothes back on. The pressure of my feet was then taken by another nurse who said that she was a student of MSC nursing and wanted it for some study which she was doing. At nearly 1.30pm, I went down for the eye checkup. Here I was told that it would take at least half an hour as there were several patients before me. So I gave my name for the queue, and moved to the cubicle of Madam M for consultation. What a talker the lady is! Every time I saw her she was always talking on her mobile with someone. I now asked her about the mammography and she got ready to accompany me downstairs, as another foreigner lady was there as well. So we went down to the test section. The doctor came after 10mins, during which I gave the blood and urine sample at the lab. Mammography was another painful process, where I again had to remove all my upper clothing and stand bare while my breasts were pressed painfully by the machine during the test. 4 slides were taken. Don't move your head, look there, look here were the curt instructions given by the technician during the process. At last after completing it, the doctor asked me to wait for aquarter of an hour more, to check whether it was all ok. After her green signal, I then moved to the eye section where it took me almost two hours more. Initially a technician checked my eyes, in the second round I explained to the doctor about the floater in my eye. She wanted to check my retina, so I had some drops put in and rechecked my eyes after 45mins. After getting this all done, a mammoth task by any standards, I returned home at around 4.30pm, tired but triumphant.
