75 dollar health care

I got the chance to attend some training for work last week in Brisbane, which I was pretty happy about. Brisbane is the largest city, and the capital, of the State of Queensland. It’s about an hour drive north of where we used to live in the Gold Coast, so while we were in town, we got to pop in and visit a bunch of friends we left behind, which was super fun. Plus we got to stay in a flash hotel in downtown Brisbane, with an awesome view of the city.

I’ve learned that I am definitely a city person, despite my constant need for solitary time. Mackay is a nice small quiet city, but lacks the cultural diversity and cultural activities of a real city, which I constantly crave.

The only setback was my health. I discovered at the beginning of the week that I had a bladder or urinary infection of some kind. I’ve had one before, but not this severe. I thought I could handle it, but suffered extreme abdominal pain Monday night that made me give in and see a doctor for the first time since I’ve lived in Australia. I wasn’t sure how it would go, but walking through the process with Theo a few months back eased my apprehension.

We were running an errand at a shopping center near our hotel and stumbled upon a doctors clinic, which is not that uncommon to see in random places here. We walked in - it was nearly empty – and enquired at the counter about the appointment openings and prices. We were told $65 for a short visit, and the doctor was available immediately! Nice. Waited about 10 minutes, saw a doctor, peed in a cup, and I was gone in 20 minutes with a prescription in hand. Walked to the pharmacy next door and paid $9.90 for the full course of antibiotics. All this without excessive paperwork – I only filled out a name/address sort of flyer not even a full page long. I didn’t present any medical insurance card, and they didn’t even really care if I had insurance or not.

I do happen to have insurance, so all I will do is mail my receipts off for reimbursement. I’m not sure yet what to expect in that department, but I’ll let you know. At this point I don’t even really care, because I’m so grateful I only spent $75 for super quick, awesome health care in a time of need. This is exactly how it should be – no hassles, no worries, and no paying an arm and a leg.