Sunday, September 24, 2006

The Nostalgic Clinic

I had not been feeling well since the day I returned from Taiwan. I have had running nose, cough and occasional fever even before I stepped onto the plane back home. My condition was so bad that it affected my ability to think properly, and I have been making many mistakes at work. A few days ago, I even forgot to remove my keys from my motorbike after parking! This was when I decided that I should go visit a doctor.

My parents told me to visit Dr. Chong, a doctor whom I have been visiting since young. They said that Dr. Chong is very good at curing common flu and coughs. I immediately knew who they were referring to, although I haven't been there for over a decade. The moment I stepped into the clinic, I was surprised that the decorations to the clinic was still the same as what it was when I last visited: a shelf full of magazines was located just next to the waiting area hanging directly above it was the old traditional rotating fan. Even the receptionist remained unchanged. I remembered her, but of course she couldn't recall who I was. I produced my IC for her to trace my records, not quite sure if they still have it with them. Within a short while, she managed to retrieve an old record card which still beared my old address (I had shifted thrice since then). What took me by surprise was the first page of my record card: the first entry was in 1987! I couldn't recall my childhood years, but it seemed that I was quite a sickly child then, since the whole record card was full of clinical visit entries.

There wasn't much people that morning, so I did not have to wait for long before it was my turn to see the doctor. Although I had not visited this doctor for ages, but I thought this doctor looked rather unfamiliar. I wondered if this was another doctor, until the moment he started to speak. His gentle voice (almost to the point of being a whisper) instantly confirmed his identity. I told him of my illness, and he immediately knew what I was suffering, and he gave me some prescription. I thought I would be only given two to three drugs to take, but I was surprised that I was given about 5. Taking medication is already a drag for me, and now I had to take so many! Well, there's nothing much I can do, if I want to recover fast.

It was a short clinical visit that lasted less than half an hour, but it had brought back many childhood memories. It's amazing how this small clinic remained unchanged for 2 decades, when all surrounding shops had changed in one way or another.

2 comments:

juanjuan said...

oh... better take care. kh time table is out. za huo ji is very thus startin fr ext thus. get a copy fr xz next thus...

Kongming said...

take care