Rain pelted the metal gutters, and water gushed down its spouts. It sounded like days when my friends and I used pots and pans to make music. Sometimes we were out of rhythm, but to us, we were the best musicians.
I peeked at the clock then pulled the covers over my head. What was my thought process when I choose this time to see the doctor on the weekend? The sound of the rain lulled me back to sleep. I woke up again at eight o’clock.
Two weeks ago, I had sour throat, wax and canal, my neck hurts, and a temperature of 100.7 degrees Fahrenheit. Dr. Doe diagnosed me with strep throat and infected lymph nodes, thus the symptoms of the wax and canal and the high temperature. The doctor prescribed antibiotics and requested I return in two weeks. She didn’t administer any tests for COVID-19.
With no time for delays, I sped along the deserted highway. People were taking heed to stay home, but here I was, venturing out to the Wild West of Westchester and into the den of sick people. I was determined not to touch anything. I used my hips to push the door open. Inside, there was no one in the waiting area. So, I walked up to the reception desk and told her I was there for my follow-up appointment.
“Please give me your phone number.” The lady requested. She wore a goggle and a mask the necessary dress code for the fight against Miss Carona Virus.
“What?” I asked, confused. Why did she need my phone number; I was here for my appointment.
“We need you to go back to your car, and the doctor will call you when it is your turn,” she responded.
I recited the numbers to her, and she wrote it down. I took two pumps of their hand sanitizer and sashayed out of the office. The process had changed since my last visit. Westchester was now an infected city, where Carona was loose, spreading her spurs to anyone susceptible.
I lathered the hand sanitizer all over my hands. Like a cryo system, any germs that lurked about got frozen to death, not frozen to preserve.
I sat in my car and waited for what seemed like ten minutes then, my phone rang.
“Hello,” I answered.
“Good morning,” Dr. Doe responded. “You are here for a follow-up?”
“Yes.”
“Have you experience any sore throat or coughs?”
“No.”
“Fever?”
“No”
“Okay, come on back in.”
“Okay!” I ended the call, walked back to the office, and I saw this.
Dr. Doe came inside the examination room with her armor on. She asked me the same questions and documented my answers on her laptop. She washed her hands and put on a pair of gloves. She examined my throat and ears with her otoscope, then, like a keyboard, her fingers tapped around the sides of my neck tickled me to laughter.
“Did that hurt you?” she asked.
“No,” I answered.
“Okay, everything looks good. Go home and stay safe!”
“I will!” I reassured her. “You stay safe as well.”
Instead of risking my life to be in the office, or catch a cold being out in the rain, I could have answered those questions via a phone conversation.
If you have an appointment with your healthcare provider and it is not an emergency, do not risk going to the office. Please call and ask if they offer telehealth services, where you can be seen via audio or video format. You can also cancel the appointment for a future date.
Stay home! Stay safe!
Okay, I said it!