At first, it was a dry feeling in the throat. By afternoon last Sunday, there was a mild fever too. I felt old, my joints stiff. Come Monday, there was breathlessness too — I reported sick, and took the day off work. Could it be swine flu? I searched online, found the closest testing centre, and headed to get tested.
Responding to a telephone enquiry, a lady at the hospital said, “Sir, you could come at any time. The registration and testing process will take an hour or two. Results will come in after a day or so, the sample has to be sent to Nimhans.”
Arriving at the hospital, I was surprised by the long queue. Mask-wearing denizens swarmed around the registration counter, vying to hand in registration forms and pay the Rs250 that the hospital charges to be registered as an out-patient. An hour later, I had filled 60 pages of autobiographical detail and paid up to be registered. Room 6 was my next stop.
A crowd of nearly 80 people were gathered in room 6, jostling for the attention of the receptionist and nurse. The nurse took my forms and said the doctor would see me in an hour. Two hours later, I was still reading posters about how swine flu could spread in crowded places. This out-patient department had patients with a range of complaints — could there be swine flu patients waiting along with those suffering from other symptoms? The others around me were anxious too — reading all the literature on the walls, biting fingernails, waiting.
Two hours later, I asked the nurse how much longer I’d have to wait: “Sir, please cooperate. It will be at least another hour.” It was a good four hours later, when I had finished a good chunk of the novel I was reading, that I was called in for an examination.
A young doctor first examined me and kept me waiting for about half hour. Then another doctor examined me, and finding I was febrile, referred me for a blood test and X-ray. All this while, I thought I was in line for the swab test, the standard procedure to check for H1N1 influenza.
The senior physician explained, “We need to first test blood and rule out a viral flu. After you’ve taken these medicines, if you still feel unwell, walk into the other building where the swine flu samples are collected. For now, just rest and wear a mask.”
I had waited five hours for this! “Another thing — I’d suggest ‘preventive quarantine’ for a few days,” the doctor said.
I picked up the X-ray and blood test results the next day. I felt much better already. “Don’t worry, you don’t have swine flu. It’s a common cold,” the doctor said. Relieved, I walked out, my wallet lighter by Rs1,100.
