mind the doctor.

Today was my second experience with the university doctor, and it definitely shook my faith in him much more than the first time.

So I've had a terribly sore throat for the past two weeks, and today it became very painful to even swallow. So I took my handy flashlight and shone it down my throat and looked at the mirrored image of my inflamed tonsils and saw large white spots dotting the reddened surfaces. I showed Collin, and we both agreed I needed some good old antibiotics. 

I tried telling Krishnayya, our father figure here in India, that all I needed was to have the doctor tell us the kind of antibiotics to get. I was very adamant about not wanting to go, and we have in several instances just called the doctor to tell him what we know should be done so I thought nothing of my request to just call him this time. But Krishnayya wouldn't have this. He told me to not be a baby and to go to the doctor. I was mad and just knew something would be askew by going. But there's no saying "no" to Krishnayya. 

So we hopped on Krishnayya's scooter and headed to Andhra University's campus to visit the doc.

We wait for a few minutes for the other patients in the room to finish up and for the doctor to finish his daily paperwork of signing sheets of paper that were held in front of him by his assistants. Finally I took the chair beside him. 

"What is your problem?" he asks.

"I just have a sore throat. It's very infected with white spots on my tonsils, and it's very painful to swallow."

"Ah. Have you been eating cold ice cream? Cold drinks, water?"

"No..."

"Well, why do you have a sore throat then?"

I stared at him dumbfounded for what felt like minutes, then I blinked, shook my thoughts free from being so astounded by his logic and told him,

 "It's an infection...like a virus, or bacteria...an infection."

"No, no. It's because you're in India."

"They do have these infections in America too, sir."

"No. It's because you are here in India. India is hot, America is cold."

I had nothing more to say on the matter because he was obviously right, and I was silly for thinking the infection in my throat was caused by bacteria or viruses.

Well, despite his logic in thinking my throat infection was instigated by cold ice cream and being in India, I was impressed that he did end up prescribing me with antibiotics, along with antacids. When I asked about the antacids, I was told that they were for digestion. "But that wasn't part of my symptoms," I said,  and Krishnayya told me simply that it is common. So I had to quickly put two and two together and figured that these pills for digestion were to aid my body in handling the antibiotics. 

In any case, after the first time of going to the doctor knowing I had swollen lymph nodes under my armpits and knowing antibiotics would do the trick, and him telling me that wasn't the problem and that I had ingrown hairs from shaving and that I shouldn't be shaving my armpits, and after today's remarkable visit, I will just have to self prescribe if any further illnesses occur. 

But now I know where to go if I want a supplementary opinion to my own diagnoses.