I am writing this while either sitting with my left butt cheek off of the chair or while standing up. Standing up is actually much more comfortable! Last Thursday I was bitten by some kind of a bug and it has turned into an abscess, about 3cm, that is really quite painful while sitting. Dr. Raju has been treating it for several days now in an effort to make it burst and it is close, but not quite there. So I took the auto-rickshaw to the local hospital and 
was really pleasantly surprised at the level of care and the price! Dr. Raju wrote a letter of introduction for me to take to the hospital. I went to the out-patient reception area, gave them the letter and they set me up with a consultation with a general practitioner, price Rs. 250 or about $6.00. After taking a look at the area he thought I should talk to the general surgeon. At that point it was back to the reception area for some new paperwork (but no extra fees) and then off to the general surgery office. There I was immediately greeted by a couple of interns that took all of my information and then took me back for an exam and then a quick visit by the doctor. He suggested that the abscess be lanced and allowed to drain and they could do the procedure tomorrow. They would require some blood work before they did the procedure and the interns thought I should have the blood samples taken today and then I could come back in the morning and they would lance the abscess.
I was soon off to the receptionist/cashier to pay for the blood panel and test for hepatitis and HIV. I was told they require the latter two tests for all patients, which sounds like a good policy to me. The blood work was a little more expensive at Rs. 1,225 ($29) but quite reasonable considering some of the bills I have seen come across my desk for blood work in the last year. Again I walked in, was waited on promptly and then sent off to the pharmacy for some antibiotics and something to help with the pain, Rs. 632 or about $15.
So now after only 2 hours, including my rickshaw taxi rides, I am back at the clinic resting. I am taking the new medicines as well as those that Dr. Raju gave me in the hopes that it will burst either today or tonight…..but if it doesn’t I will be back at the hospital tomorrow morning to help it along. I leave India in eleven days and I want it to have plenty of time to heal before I have a 15 hour Delhi to Chicago plane ride!
I have to say, I was impressed with the care and service I experienced today. I wasn’t able to choose from a menu of doctors but the ones I saw were competent and spoke my language, which I appreciated. Except for a little jostling for position in lines, I moved around in the hospital with relative ease. One thing about India, whether you are in the grocery store or the hospital, you do have to be assertive about getting into and keeping your position in lines. Ah…the adventure continues.