Vow of Silence

Today was another exciting adventure in South Korea. I went to the hospital!

Not as serious as it sounds, I promise.

I mentioned before on here that I have been having a sore throat and losing my voice. Well, after two weeks of it just getting WORSE (ugh), I finally asked my boss to try to find me a sub for Friday and made an appointment at an international clinic for Saturday (today).

I decided not to get lost trying to find the hospital from the subway, so I grabbed me a taxi. It took a little bit longer than I had anticipated... almost an hour in the cab! But it was only 15,000 won for the ride (that's less than $15) so it wasn't too bad. I was almost late for my appointment, though. I was kind of worried that I would miss my appointment and have to figure something else out. But I was good.

Once I got there, it was pretty smooth sailing. I found the International Clinic on the 2nd floor and checked in. I brought way more documentation than I needed, but I was PREPARED. I also found out that some of the Korean on my Alien Registration card is my address. Who knew?

Well, the nurse lady at the clinic was very nice and spoke very good English. She took my information and then took me over to the ears, nose and throat specialist. He spoke a little English... mostly words that deal with his profession. So I told him (and I think he could tell from my speaking voice... which is terrible right now) that I hurt my voice. Painful and swollen. He asked "foreign body in esophagus?" No. So that rules out injury by stupid American potato chips.

Then we move up and over to another chair where I can immediately tell this was going to involve something being put down my throat. And sure enough he shows me how to hold my head and open my mouth so he can put a camera down my throat. It was gross but I didn't throw up (came close, though... ugh). It hurt. Ouchies. :(

Then he and the nurse lady from the international clinic (English speaking lady!) explained a little about what was wrong, showing me on my own special home video of my vocal chords. Nice. Even I could tell that one side was more swollen than the other. They explained that I was getting like a callous on one of them. At least, that's what it sounded like. They said a hard spot was developing on one side, causing irritation and the swelling after I was talking for a while. They sent me home with meds and instructions to rest my voice.

Now, "rest your voice" can mean a lot of things. But after going back and forth with them they said no talking unless absolutely necessary. For a teacher, absolutely necessary is a little different than normal people and I asked if it would be okay to teach. The nurse explained "absolutely necessary" as "if there is a FIRE." She also said too much talking could hurt it forever. Ah. Okay. Permanent damage is at risk here. So no talking at all.

Getting the meds was also fun. They gave them to me, not in bottles, but in individual rip off packets!! It's awesome. I have a packet of pills for morning, noon, and evening stuck on the side of my fridge. Morning and evening has me taking 4 pills, but I only have three for noontime. Good times.



That's a lot of pills for a sore throat.

I told work (that was fun...) and it's going to be hard for everyone but they said they will try to get me subs for this week. The reason it's so hard is that it's the FIRST WEEK of a new term! I'll miss out setting up my class for the whole term! I'm so sad that I won't be the one to greet them and welcome them to my class.

If they CAN'T get subs, I'm supposed to teach mute. :/ I hope they find subs.

I'm already finding that not talking is REALLY HARD. And boring. This week will be super boring. BLAARRGGHH!! I have no one to hang with since everyone will be WORKING, I can't talk, and I don't want to just go shopping every day. I'll have to find some things that I can do so I don't go CRAZY with nothing to do this week.

Things that don't involve talking.

I'm going to go crazy...

On the GOOD side, my visit to the hospital is by no means going to break the bank. I have to make a separate insurance claim on my own, but even putting the cash up front isn't too bad.

International clinic registration, specialist consultation, and camera procedure thing: 73,090 won
Medications (4 different medications): 29,610 won

That's only 102,700 won, about $90.55. Not bad at all, and I'll talk to dad about how to make the insurance claim so I'll probably getting back some of that money.

I was also very impressed at how fast this all moved. I got there at ten after ten in the morning and was out of the hospital before 10:45. Also, I went across the street to the pharmacy and they had my prescription ready to go in less than five minutes. Super fast.

The really bad part of all this? I probably shouldn't sing in the Messiah. I am SUPER SAD about that. Messiah was really going to make my Christmas. Now I have to e-mail the director and say I can't. Also, I had a WAY better chance of getting a solo here since there are, you know, only about 12 people in the whole freaking choir. I REALLY wanted to try to swing for my favorite solo right before "Glory to God." Back home, we have actual trained opera singers who get the solos (you know... cuz they are AMAZING). I totally would have gotten to do one here. Suck. I'll just have to try out next time we do Messiah at home and hope for the best.

Well, you might get a few extra fluff posts this week since I'll be home all week with not much to do but hang out in my tiny, tiny apartment.

And, just because I can, here's a video about my vow of silence.



Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving weekend. Wish me luck that these meds work and the doctor will tell me my throat is fine when I go back next week! *crosses fingers*

Loves!!