Thank God for Antibiotics

Joyce Choi

Blog #3

6/21/18

Thank God for Antibiotics

Being sick when you’re away from home is always the worst. I was starting to feel a little weird, and my throat felt uncomfortable starting Saturday night. It hit me full on Monday morning, and I couldn’t even get out of bed. I was expecting to feel better Tuesday morning, but when I didn’t, I realized something had to be wrong because I normally have a pretty high pain tolerance for illnesses and just push through without it affecting me much.

So I decided to go to the doctors, but my health insurance didn’t have in-network coverage for the D.C. or Maryland area, and the first office I called gave me a quote of about $200-$400 for one visit, not including other possible procedures I might need.

I was about to just give up and not go but decided to ask Katie (basically our mom for the duration of our stay here) for any suggestions on what I could do, and luckily she had a solution of checking out the Minute Clinic at CVS, bless her soul! That place was a lot cheaper for sure. I ended up going there, had to wait an hour, felt like dying for that hour, and when she got to me and checked my throat, she immediately knew I had strep before even doing the actual test; I guess that’s how bad it looked from even the naked eye.

Anyways, the antibiotics kicked in, and I am officially well-functioning and back to civilization.

Also, while laying in bed, recovering, and having plenty of time to think about life (we all have those moments), I had a realization of the many blessings God has graced me with:

1. I have good friends and a good community
1. Katie pointing me in the right direction of affordable health care
2. Estefany picking up medicine for me Monday before I found out I had strep (she is so sweet)
3. Work interns bombarding me with get well wishes and checking in on me
2. I was able to afford the doctor’s visit
1. Some people aren’t even able to go get their symptoms checked out at all because it’s just a “luxury” they can’t afford (It shouldn’t be a luxury to begin with)
1. I want to look into helping out and volunteering at free health clinics when I get back home
2. I could also afford the Lyft going to and from my building and other extra things I had to buy because of this whole ordeal like Advil and extra toothbrushes
3. I found out almost immediately which doesn’t normally happen since I usually wait out my sickness a couple days before going to the doctor’s
4. The fact that antibiotics even exist... They are truly magical.

Also, we discussed the topic of freedom and how it relates with justice for Bible Study yesterday, that I was thankfully able to attend. The first word that popped into my head when I heard “freedom” was the associated word,  “liberty.” However, it wasn’t necessarily a good thing because I think that freedom via the idea of liberty is more of an idealistic thought rather than realistic. That’s because in today’s society, we all have different ideas of freedom, and they may not necessarily coincide and may even infringe upon each other. I hope that we aspire to one day each have what we view as freedom to be gained, not just for the oppressors but also for the oppressed. Lucas also brought up a verse in the Bible, Galatians 5:13-14, that fit in with our topic very nicely and that I think is essential in living out our freedom.

Side note: As for food, since I am always a foodie, I didn’t get to eat much this week, but I’m going to be eating at The Bottom Line tonight for dinner so will update on that.

Update: didn’t even go to Bottom Line.