Adventures in French Medicine

So on Monday morning, much to my delight, I got my "convocation" letter saying my medical appointments had been scheduled. Yay! The last step (I think/hope) to my carte de sjour! Then I realize it's for the next day. Yikes!

So I tell my profs I won't be able to come to class. At 8:30 AM I head into appointment 1: chest X-rays. And Meredith was there, so I instantly felt relieved. Ramiro walked in 2 minutes lately, Michael about 10 minutes after that. Turns out all the Troyes (and quasi-Troyes) non-EU assistants had our appts at the same times and places. Meredith went first, and upon her return to the waiting room confirmed the rumors I had heard: yes, you have to strip from the waist up and no, they don't give you one of those paper vest things that we Americans are so accustomed to. Then my turn rolls around. Just half naked me, the nurse lady and the X-ray machine. Wasn't so bad though. We got our cool lung X-rays and went our separate ways (except me and Mere who hung out together for the day) until the afternoon appointments.

At 2 we had our next appointment at the centre hopitalier. Amazingly, the French have the Americans beat here: we get there, paperwork is already all filled out with our names, addresses, etc. Was a pretty basic exam: took our height, weight, blood pressure, asked our medical history- although man, did I blush when the doctor asked me about my last "reglès" and I said, "Qu'est-ce que c'est? Un rendez-vous avec un medecin," Turns out "reglès" is "menstrual period." J'ai rougi!!!

So I thought I was in the clear til they mention a blood sugar test. Ummm... although it's not an actual needle, my needle-phobic self was not happy. The nurses were so sweet, telling me to think of my family and the sunshine as she pricked my finger. A few tears and whimpers escaped. I must have been white as a ghost because they insisted I stay seated for a few minutes. When I finally met the others in the waiting room, Mere asked what took so long, and I had to admit that yes, I started crying over the damn blood sugar test.

On the upside, we got to keep our nifty X-rays! :)