Man o Mono

It's been quite a while since I've done a blog entry, so I've decided to do a true Canadian entry. For those of you who don't know, I've been battling the lovely disease mono for the past 2 weeks or so. Thankfully my case has been a very mild as I only had swollen lymph nodes and tonsils, a sore throat, and a likeness for sleep (no fever, headache, etc.).

As you have guessed, such a medical adventure has allowed me to explore this medical system that bills me $54 per month (the most anyone pays since I'm not a citizen or landed immigrant). What exactly do I get for my money? I decided to go to the doctor when I felt really bad, which happened to be on a Saturday (always is, isn't it?). In South Carolina, that would mean that I'd have to go to one of those emergency room places and pay a fortune. But here I just went to one of the clinics that's open 7 days a week, 9am-9pm and happens to be closer to me than any restaurant. I walked in, got in line and waited something like 20-30 min (for 11:30am on a Saturday!). I came out with my prescription for penicillin since I had tonsillitis.

Then I went to get my prescription filled and found some wackiness going on. My 40 pills cost $1.77 and my secondary insurance ($175 per year) covered $.89 of it (w00t), but then the pharmacy charged some crazy $9.50 fee for filling the prescription that the insurance doesn't help with. So I ended up paying $10.38, whereas my insurance in the US would have made it only $7, though I'm sure that cost more than $175 per year + $54 per month. (Wow this paragraph makes me sound like my grandma.)

I was also told that I should get a blood test to see if I had mono, but the doctor didn't think I had mono, just tonsillitis. But it's routine for tonsillitis people since the symptoms are pretty much the same. However, the lab isn't open on Saturdays, so I had to wait till Monday. I called and decided I'd get the test if it was $10 or less. It was free, so off I went. I was back home in 30 minutes total (just upstairs from the clinic).

Tuesday the doctor called and said the throat culture was back from the lab (free!) and they didn't grow anything (tonsillitis is a bacteria infection) and the blood test came back positive for mono. So I better stop the penicillin and just wait it out for this fabulous mono virus.

So wait I did, after getting worse and not being able to talk without pain, I kept taking Tylenol and decongestant spray (a better & cheaper alternative to Sudafed!). Then when I started to feel better I was able to talk a bit starting on Friday and then by Sunday (yesterday) I could talk just fine.

I must say I'm pretty satisfied with my experience with the medical system. I did go a few months ago to the clinic that is on-campus (only M-F) and they didn't charge me anything, but then again neither did the on-campus place at Clemson ($90 per semester), so it didn't feel weird. It did feel weird to just walk out of the waiting room of this clinic and leave without paying or whatnot. I guess I'll get used to it, though hopefully not as that means I'd be sick.