DOCTOR, SLOVENIAN STYLE

I get motion sick! So riding an overnight ferry from Korcula to Rijeka for 18 hours is not my favored form of transportation. I took several Dramamine along the way which makes it OK to travel but I can still feel the movement of the ship. But after a week I was still feeling the movement of the ship anned started to wonder if something else was wrong.

I need to add in another fact that makes this all that much more complicated; the night we arrived in Ljubljana, I fell. We were out to dinner and my chair (just my chair, no one else's) was up on an 8 inch platform. When I got off the chair to leave and took a step backward to get away from the chair, I fell off the platform (not a pretty site). I hit my butt and arm and felt several muscles in other parts of my body strain but I did not hit my head. However, like I said, when one week later the boat is still rocking, I'm wondering if somehow the fall impacted me more than I think.

My pre-trip research had the name of a health clinic and the Bureau of Tourism confirmed that this would be a good place to go. So Thursday morning I head out to the doctor. I arrive at the clinic and information tells me to go up one floor. Up one floor are lots of doors, lots of chairs, and lots of people waiting but no additional "information person." I head back down and ask again. I am then handed a piece of paper with three room numbers on it and I'm told to knock on one of the 3 doors, my choice. I then have to choose whether I want the doctor behind door #1, door #2 or door #3 -- suddenly I'm on "Let's Make a Deal." I opt for room 143 because it's the first room number I come to. A woman opens the door and speaks to me in Slovene. I ask if she knows English and she says, "a little". I tell her I would like to see a doctor. She asks for my passport, takes it, indicates I should wait in the waiting room and then closes the door. Now I'm on "Let's Make a Deal" and they're holding my passport hostage! I wait for 45 min. to 1 hour and they call me in. The doctor spoke some English and was very nice. She did a basic neurological exam and seemed to feel that everything was OK and was convinced that I was still feeling the consequences from the ship rocking which could easily last that long she says. She gave me a prescription which I could take to help stablize my head until things improve on their own. For this I paid full price since I am not a Slovene Citizen,7.75E (approximately $11.50 US). I then filled my prescription, again for full price, to the tune of 15.00E (about $22.50 US). Both of these costs are less than what I would have paid at home as my co-pay as a fully insured individual! MAKES YOU WONDER!!!!

We never for once thought that four people traveling for a year could make it through the year without needing a doctor at least once. I just wasn't expecting it to be so soon or for something as bizzare as a motion sickness hangover. I'm hoping for a speedy recovery and for all future health issues to go as well as this one did!