YER UNFIT TO FLY - CAIRNS & SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - DAY 5
My suspicions were true. I woke up this morning to some pretty bad pain in my right ear. I tried to use my body heat, and sleep in grandpa’s beanie, and a sweatshirt in our hot and humid room, but it didn’t help in the least. I took NyQuil and I think it kept some of the symptoms at bay, but I needed to see a Doctor. I woke up 6AM and began researching hospitals nearby, Swedish Visa and coverage, our health insurance coverage, etc. I learned had to find a general practitioner to be seen relatively soon.
Rachel wakes up only 30mins after I do, and I tell her I need to see the doctor. We have the car still, but she tells me it’s walking distance. It’s a VERY hot and humid morning. The walk ends up being many blocks away, and we become tired, hot and sticky immediately. Also this was all before breakfast because I still had to make my flight. We eventually make it to the hospital, but it’s too early for anyone to be sitting at any of the information desks. We walk around to another entrance, but it’s to the E.R.
I was told to avoid this in my research and I told Rachel, but I don’t think she heard me before we left, and she was the one navigating. No worries, I felt bad that this was how Rachel had to spend her morning, and baby me. I was only peeved that we wasted so much time walking and didn’t take the car. I was stressed for time to make my flight, and I should’ve asked how far it was.
I walk into the E.R. and explain my situation. They’re of course willing to help, but they note the visit could be $300-$500AUD. They also tell me there’s a 24hr clinic a few blocks back the way we came. I feel better about back tracking to the hostel, but now this will take more time.
We head over, and there’s 7 people ahead of me in the queue. I find this out halfway through filling out paperwork. As the nurse informs me of this new information, I stop writing. Defeated and a little pissed that I can’t see anyone before my flight, I apologize and hand the paperwork back- It’s impossible that the doctor could see me within the hour.
I thank Rachel for taking me and following me around. We have time to get breakfast, so we go back to our first brekkie place from the day before and eat with the locals. I order the same thing as yesterday, and as we take a seat outside, I see a sign above Rachel’s Head for a Tourist clinic. Thank God! I tell her I’ll be right back, and pop in. I explain everything, and say, "I have to leave for a flight by 9AM- Is there any way the doctor can see me now"? They didn’t have any patients, and it was a fraction of the cost to see him here instead of the E.R. The only Doctor makes himself available for me. I rush out to tell Rachel where I’ll be, and if she could ask to get my food to go. I pop back and the Doc takes a look.
While looking at my ears, the first thing that comes out of his mouth, “Yer unfit to flye, did yew know thet”? I have a surge of panic but say nothing. He looks at my other ear, and asks if I’m able to pop them. I can. He changes his mind and explains... “Yew have berst membrayns in both yer eers from dieveng and not eqwalizing pruperlay- Grade tew in yer raight eer, and grade three with some blood in yer left eer”. The blood part freaks me out, and I ask if it’s serious. “Naw, I’ll give you some prednisone, special eer plugs for flying, do a sonar thing for yer eers, a bitta sudafed and bob’s yer uncle”! This sounds great, and so much easier than antibiotics for an infection.
He comes back to give me everything. He sits down, looks me in the eyes, and very seriously tells me, the sudafed will make my heart race, but he wants me to take two for flying today as well as two prednisone tablets. I’m weary of the look of warning he’s giving me, but it seems okay. He also tells me I’ll need to pop my ears every 20-30secs once the descent starts or I’ll rupture something. Cool cool, cool, cool cool cool.
On the road again, Rachel drives me to the airport, I inhale breakfast with two prednisone tablets, get dropped off early and check in for my flight. No problem!
I hang around he gate, taking full advantage of the WiFi. I think about the flight, and I’m worried that the descent will hurt my ears- The medicine he gave me are for anti inflammatory, not pain pills. As a precautionary measure, I buy a box of Advil.
Just before we board, I take two sudafed as instructed. We get settled on the plane and take off- No pain in my ears. Next thing I know, the sudafed kicks in. I’m sweating PROFUSELY- So much so, that I’m embarrassed to take off my sweatshirt. My armpits have become two Niagra Falls. My heart is indeed racing. I’ve never taken speed before, but I imagine this is what it must be like. I’m fidgeting and tense, I’m barely blinking, I'm staring off into space, and at some point, I'm clenching my teeth, and gripping the arm rests with white knuckles. I listen and skip through songs rapidly on my iPhone, and inhale food, juice and tea in under 5 mins. I’m not even hungry.
I kind of think this is funny. I’m not suffering or in any pain, I just feel like I’m on steroids and need to lift up a building, or quite possibly exit the plane at 30,00 ft and Superman the aircraft to our destination.
Upon descent, my nerves kick in for how my ears will receive this. Already full of drugs, I pop two Advil in addition to my pill party, in hopes of preventing any excruciating pain. I would never do this, but the Doc insisted on the first two sets of pills, and I really felt the Advil might be necessary considering the circumstances. I wear my special ear plugs, chew gum, and pop my ears over and over every 20-30secs for the whole 40min descent. I’m totally fine. It worked- nothing ruptured! And I didn’t feel a thing.
We deplane, I get my bag, pull some more cash and ask about the metro. Believe it or not, the metro stop toward my hostel is actually far past it, and a private line, only costing $3AUD less than the shuttle I took last time. The shuttle really is the best and cheapest option! This makes me feel better about my first day here. I book a one way shuttle and get dropped off directly at my hostel. Easy. I check in and find out that we got a FREE upgrade to a private twin room because our original 4 female dorm is fully booked. AWESOME!! It’s like sleeping in a hotel for two days with a private shower and cleaning service for the price of a 4 bed dorm!
I drop my stuff, shower and wait for Rachel. The sudafed wears off and I hit the wall. All I want to do is sleep- I’m totally exhausted from the meds. I keep awake by trying to fiddle with the horrible WiFi connection until Rachel shows up in a shared cab with Ashley and George. Rachel and I might split a cab back to the airport the day we leave. It's definitely cheaper than the shuttle.
She drops her things, and we head out for food. We stop in a Persian place. I ordered some dolma (Armenian sarma), with my main dish, and we devour everything. We chat up the Spanish waitress, Andrea, because are the closing customers. She works in the music industry but is working in Australia because Spain’s economy isn’t doing well right now. We talk about Trump and have to apologize for it (again), the film industry, and Rachel’s engineering career- It’s a nice night.
We’re back now, and managed to stay awake until 11PM! A new record for us. We’ll see if we can actually “sleep in” until at least 7:30AM tomorrow, as our usual body clock wake-up time has been 6AM every morning.
As always, love you guys!!
-eM
