What was supposed to be a short, four-day workweek turned into an even shorter week due to illness. I only worked Tuesday this week and was off sick on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Monday was a national holiday. This was my first time of ill health in Korea and it was a doozy. Wearing a mask for a year and a half protected me from getting sick, until this week.
I was doing one on one speaking tests with students at my boys' school on Tuesday when the first signs of a cold appeared. I was developing a cough and sore throat. By the time I got home afterward, I knew that I was definitely catching a cold and by 8pm, I contacted my co-teacher at my main school to let her know that I wouldn't be able to come to school the next day. It wasn't a problem because I didn't have any classes that day as students were writing their mid-term exams.
I was completely laid up in bed on Wednesday with a severe cold after having spent a sleepless night coughing and sneezing. My co-teacher regularly checked in throughout the day asking for updates on my condition and body temperature. I sent her photos of my temperature displayed on my digital thermometer and slept as much as I could in-between her incessant texting.
At first, she asked if I wanted a COVID-19 test but I declined because I was sure it wasn't COVID. The next morning, I was still sick and asked again to stay home. Around that time, my right ear became blocked and I worried that I had an ear infection. I had a fever and was now practically deaf in one ear.
My co-teacher consulted with the school nurse, who informed me that if I was still exhibiting cold symptoms, I wouldn't be allowed to come to school the next day unless I got a covid test. So, Thursday afternoon, I travelled by myself on the subway to the COVID-19 testing facility. I had been there once before but was driven by another teacher.
I arrived at the testing facility without incident, although I was completely exhausted and would rather have just stayed in bed. The staff helped me complete the required paperwork as I couldn't understand Korean, then they directed me to the nurse who shoved a long prod up my nose, and then another one in the back of my throat which made me gag. She had to try twice in my throat because I was resisting too much. Still, I was in and out of the clinic within 15 minutes.
The results of the test would come the next morning. As such, I was to stay home until it was official that I didn't have COVID-19. If I still felt sick, I could spend the entire day at home.
I was still fairly sick when I got the text at 9am which indicated that I did not have COVID-19. I had already missed my first-period class but decided to go to school anyway. I was sick but at the very least I needed to collect some files to prepare for my upcoming lessons. I showed the school nurse my COVID-19 test results and went to my desk. When the teachers saw me, it was clear that I was still too sick to teach. Several teachers gathered around me, to have a meeting about me that I didn't understand. Apparently, they were working out who of them was to take me to see a doctor.
My co-teacher made me fill out the log sheet and get the vice-principal's signature to validate my sick time, then we left to see an ear specialist. It was only a 10-minute walk from the school. At that hour of the morning, there were only two other people waiting to see the doctor, so we were in and out very quickly. The doctor sat me down and proceeded to examine my throat, nose, and ears. He inserted a long spike into my ear that was actually a camera. I saw the inside of both of my ears up on the screen. Much less wax than I was expecting.
The doctor spoke mostly in Korean but mixed in some very technical medical English that I couldn't understand or hear because of my ear. But my co-teacher interpreted that I had an ear infection. Apparently, I was born with "a weak ear system." And I should "not blow my nose into tissue so violently." Fluid had leaked into my middle or inner ear, and it was infected.
The doctor prescribed 7-days' worth of antibiotics, cold medicine and pain killers. The doctor's visit cost about $5 dollars which I paid upon leaving, and the medication cost $10 dollars. My co-teacher explained that the medicine was more expensive than usual because typically doctors only prescribe 3- days' worth of pills, but I needed medicine for a full week. I was to take a packet of five pills with meals three times per day for the next seven days.
Once we left the pharmacy, I was free to go home and rest. My co-teacher had not anticipated how quickly the doctor would see me, so she was quite obviously stalling on her way back to school. She usually walks at a very fast pace but was now dragging her feet. It was clear she didn't want to go back to school right away. We took a little detour, she asked me some English grammar questions, and finally arrived in front of my apartment building where she positioned herself so no one at the school could look out the window and see us. She proceeded to chat for a few more minutes before she departed and I went inside my apartment to lay down.
As I write this, it is only two days since my visit to the doctor, I still cannot hear from my ear, but I think my cold symptoms are almost gone. I'm still very tired. Thankfully, it is another 3-day weekend, so I have plenty of time to rest up before I return to school.
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