Before I write about my experience today with Israel's medical labs and nurses station, I have to write about what happened after I blogged last night. Basically, this apartment is The Money Pit. Do you remember that movie from the late 80's? I do because I spent an entire winter break when I was in elementary school watching that movie. It was one of the few my Dad had on VHS and I still can practically repeat what happens in each scene of the film. I couldn't get the image of Tom Hanks, sunken into the floor in the oriental rug, out of my mind last night as I was faced with yet another apartment situation. So, I went in for a luxurious soak in the tub complete with bath bomb and bath salts and was thoroughly relaxed and warm and all ready for bed when I opened the bathroom door to a flood of water and gunk. Not knowing where it came from, I called Itai to come over to bear witness to the latest problem, and together the three of us (Itai's girlfriend Fiona was over too) tried to determine the water's origin. They left me to clean up the water with the suggestion that the amount of water draining from the tub forced water up and through the pipe in the bathroom that is meant for a washing machine (I don't have one but use that nook to house my bucket and luggage). I went to wash my floor for the second time that evening when Itai called to tell me that his apartment flooded too and that he called his Mother to take care of the problem. Happy that at least I wasn't the only person cleaning up junky water, I went to bed thirsty and not necessarily looking forward to today's experience.
I overslept by an entire hour and jumped out of bed at 8:30 a.m. frantic. The blood labs are only open for a certain amount of time and since the I needed to go to closed at 10:00 a.m., I scrambled. Fortunately, I found a cab right outside of my door and the driver, Nissim, charged me 40 shekel to get to the lab. I should have argued since he totally cheated me (he took a little tour of my neighborhood before getting on the highway literally up the block from my apartment that could have gotten me to the blood lab an extra 15 minutes earlier but he had to justify the amount he was charging me so he went down side streets in the complete opposite direction thinking I didn't know my way around town) but I had no choice since it was rapidly approaching 9:00 a.m. and I had no idea what to expect. Nissim had an Elvis figurine with a Chamsah hanging on his rearview mirror and so I asked him if he was a big fan (he was a huge fan!). He told me a little bit more details about the Elvis shrine at some gas station near Mevasseret Zion. He said that it was a really nice little area dedicated to Aharon and that's when I was told that Elvis was a Jew. Did y'all know that? I had no idea Elvis's Mom was Jewish. Now I really want to go to that gas station to check out the memorabilia they have collected. Maybe I can get there before I leave to come back to the States next week.
Anyway, we get to the blood lab and, like at a take out restaurant, I grabbed a number and waited my turn. When my number was called, I walked in and they asked all the preliminary question.
Am I pregnant? (nope)
Had I fasted for at least 12 hours? (yup, and boy was I parched)
Was I awake for at least three hours? (Umm, no).
Problem!
Apparently, to test for the hormone Prolactin, I needed to be awake for at least 3 hours otherwise the test wouldn't be accurate. Now, the Dr. never told me that, all she told me to do was fast for 12 hours before the blood test. There were also a whole bunch of other things I needed to do around the blood test and basically, if they didn't take the blood today, I would have been in big trouble. I was on the verge of tears, explaining that I couldn't leave today without them taking blood, and the manager took pity on me and said I could wait until 10:30 a.m. and they would still do the test. With an extra hour to kill, I went upstairs to the nurses station to get the flu shot. Of course, I had no idea how to ask for it in Hebrew, but the nurse was able to figure out what I wanted and it was pretty painless. After they asked me if I eat eggs (I do!), the nurse administered the shot and now I can come back to the States already vaccinated!
So, I went back downstairs to the blood lab and waited and watched people come in and out. It's especially interesting watching people running in at the last second and begging to let them take blood for various reasons. The manager came out and took the numbers away and some people had temper tantrums when they were turned away. There were a few babies coming in for blood work and it was heartbreaking hearing their cries through the door. Finally, at exactly 10:30 a.m., I walked into the room and rolled up my sleeve. I handed the woman my paper and she printed out corresponding stickers with bar codes on them to wrap around the vial. When I saw that she had printed out 10 stickers, I got a little concerned. I thought they were just taking 1-2 vials! She put three on the urine sample cup and vial and then proceeded to pull out 7 vials for blood. Now, I'm really not squeemish or anything, but I think 7 is a bit much. I've never given more than 3-4 before except for the time I donated blood at Sloan Kettering (but that's a whole story for another time). Fortunately, this woman knew exactly what she was doing and managed to find my vein and filled up the vials fairly quickly and painlessly. Then she handed me the cup and sent me to the bathrooms, where if there wasn't a picture diagram of what to do, I would not have known what they wanted from me. Instead of just filling up a cup, they also hand you this vial that needs to be stuck through the top of the pee cup. The cup is created with these vials in mind so there is something there to puncture the top of the vial, boy man was it a pain figuring this all out. Once I was done, I walked outside and there was this row of urine samples across from the bathroom. No one was around to watch them or anything, but the vampiress told me to leave it in this window and then I was done. Fortunately, she had opened the window from the other side so I knew I was doing the right thing.
I gladly walked out of there, happy that at least that part was done! The only problem was that I had no idea where I was, and didn't know where I could go to find a cab. So, I just started walking and looking for a bus stop, any bus stop. Fortunately, there was a bus stop a few blocks away and I was able to get on the 21 bus which goes right up Ibn Gvirol street. I got off on Ibn Gvirol and Arlozorov and walked the couple of blocks home, stopping into Supersol to pick up what I need to make the sesame noodles and peanut sauce for our goodbye party on Tuesday.
By the time I got back into my apartment, the adrenaline rush had worn off and I was thoroughly exhausted. I ate a bowl of cereal, hoping that the food would rejuvinate me, but I was still feeling lousy. So, I crawled into bed for a bit and slept for almost 3 hours!
Now I have to get started on my final paper, which is due on Tuesday!
Song of the day is Suspicious Minds by Aharon, the Memphis King!
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