Ann ill

SUNDAY 5Jan20
Ann had been felling low yesterday, and had a poor night coughing and hoarse. On Sunday morning, she felt terrible, hot, achey and nauseous, and we knew she must be ill when she agreed so readily to see a doctor. The local one was closed on Sunday, but we got a taxi to the nearby Katong clinic, registered Ann, and joined the queue. We had to wait about an hour to see Dr Jack Lee, who'd training in London at King's then married a fellow student, Sarah Packer, from UK. Both wanted to be GPs, so the easiest thing (and the warmest) was to return to Singapore and set up a joint practice. Between them, they are open for 7 days a week, from 08:30 each morning until 9:30pm, except for weekends when they only work till 12:30.

Ann's flu medicines

After an examination, Dr Lee pushed a fine probe down each nostril, then dropped the contents into a small immunosensitive slide to test for flu. This was negative, so he prescribed a series of decongestants etc, and Ann and Edwin left for a drink in the cafe next door while I waited for the medicines to be dispensed. A short while later, Dr Lee came out and drew me into the surgery to show me the result of the diagnostic screen - one of the lines had turned blue just as Ann left the room, suggesting she has Influenza strain B, possibly caught on the flight over. He immediately added Tamiflu to the regimen to fight the virus, and said Edwin must have a course as well, as he'd not been given the flu jab. I had, so was spared treatment.

Ann returned to the hotel, thankful to get back into bed, achey, coughing, and dosed high with the combination of six prescribed potent medicines. We both wish her a fast recovery and hope she looses not too much of the holiday.