Wednesday 7 March 2012

Qu'est-ce qui se passe, Doc?

It's strange what things can be cheering.  Since I've been here it has occurred to me that at some point I would need to find a doctor and explain my migraines and get my medication.  This filled me with fear and something approaching horror.  What if they did not have my medication here?  What if they insisted on stacks of tests before they would just bloody give it to me?  What if they just said no, or could not understand me?

So, down to my last tablet, I went.  I've found a neat (in the English sense but possibly also in the American sense) way of tackling scary tasks is to imagine I'm doing them on behalf of someone else.  Being a congenital helper, this seems to work. 

The doctor was a very young, calm and sweet lady.  In my hastily-knitted and rather dodgy French I managed to give her my medical history.  And she gave me my prescription.  Oh joy.  I cannot say strongly enough what this means - basically without Sumatriptan my life is unmanageable due to the migraines.  And I need that like I need a hole in the head.

5 comments:

  1. My French doctor was the best doctor you could ever wish to meet. I too imagined all sorts of problems in advance and - just as with you - it all went seamlessly. In England, go in with a sore thumb and they say 'well, if you just lost some weight...' - my French doctor told me he thought bigger women were sexy and fun.

    Vive les docteurs.

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  2. haha! It was such an entirely different experience from going to the doctor's in the UK. I walked into this peaceful building with music playing gently, and there was no-one waiting so I went straight in. The doc was so young I thought she might be the receptionist...

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  3. I've found docs here to be quite 'sympa' too -- and often have their offices on ground floor of their homes, which is consoling. Some of them a bit too into various 'alternative' things that I wasn't interested in at that moment -- but very open to discuss -- guess they are not 'on the clock' per visit or whatever re practice management. Being sick in a foreign language is tough, but preventative care here seems v good. So glad you found vital meds -- and I play same game, I find the 'script' for the situation and then 'act' it. Much easier than really being there :-)

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  4. Luckily I don't really get that sick. The migraines are the only thing that need managing. But that's another obstacle vaulted. One by one...

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  5. I love your idea of doing scary things on behalf of someone else. I try to get through things by saying I'm not scared of anything - but now I can say the same... but I have a friend who is...

    Glad you had such a positive experience and thus avoid the more dramatic (and painful-looking) alternative.
    Axxx

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