the day in the life of a SARS patient
I wake sweating at 6 am and have a bath to wash the fever away . . .I then fall back asleep . . .I hide in my room until the roommate is in the washroom, he thinks that I have SARS, and I don't want to have to deal with him hiding from me . . .I just miss the bus, good thing, cuz I don’t' want to have to hold my breath the whole. . . I take a cab, and hold my breath anyways, I don’t' want the cabby to say anything. Through my three hour exam, I cough cough away, when I'm leaving I hand the Procter the exam, she looks at it, then at me and looks up and says "was that you coughing?" I say yes but I don't have SARS . . .she has been so nice to me in the past but today, she doesn’t want to touch my exam and starts asking me about my temperature . . .I leave with out saying a word. I get on the subway to get to the SARS clinic; they will deal with this once and for all.
On the subway I cough a bit and everyone looks at me, no one moves way and I'm actually surprised. At the subway waiting for the bus, I think making a phone call, but I don’t' want to touch anything. The final bus is really bad, I feel that everyone knows where I'm going and they really just want to go shopping across the street from the hospital and not deal with me at all . ..
The SARS clinic is straight out of "OUTBREAK", a man fully covered from head to toe lets me in on glass door that only he can open, there I have to put on a mask, wash my hands and wait for the nurse. She comes and asks me a few questions; she too is covered from head to toe. I am then escorted into the main area, where they take my health card. I have to basically scream to get through the mask. They take my temperature (its a few degrees high, but nothing to worry about) and send me to another room. I sit on a chair covered by a cloth and wait. I know they know I'm there my coughing is continuous and very loud . . .finally the doctor shows up our session is short and sweet, I don't have SARS, but the women who watched us, has me sign a form that says I wont go outside for two days, and if my symptoms don’t' go away I have to call them for more info . . . I am escorted out and told to take my mask off and wash my hands once again. My ride home was a bit less stressful, since I had proof that I dint' have SARS, but people looked at me the same way. I though about wearing it around my neck, if they are going to be staring they mise well feel better about me being there. When I get home I put the paper on our kitchen board for the roommate to see, he doesn’t have to worry anymore, I won’t give him SARS . . .