Africas Best Hospital With A Doctor That Couldn’t Care Less…

So as my previous post mentioned I was due to visit Africa’s best hospital also known as the ‘highest quality and safest health care in Africa and the Middle East’, as mentioned on their website! Nope this is not me advertising big for them, im just quoting their website! This hospital is located in 6th October city, which is on the other side of the Nile from where I live and in Egyptian terms ‘on the other side of the world’… Traffic in Egypt is ridiculous, so even though it might not be that far away, 54 km to be exact, you have to consider all kinds of situations… There will probably be a minimum of 2 accidents on the way there, most likely a truck will lose some of its goods on the highway which will cause a little traffic problem, a car will most likely be on fire along the way and people will slow down to ‘check’ like Egyptians always do, super nosey! And if your lucky the people who work in Cairo will not have started their commute home, which includes millions of people! So we left pretty early to make sure we got to the appointment on time… It took only 1 hour and 45 minutes to arrive! A total of 2 accidents, but not serious ones, and a burnt out car…

We enter Africa’s best hospital! It looks like a hotel lobby with two suit dressed men sat behind a reception area. No signs anywhere… So we had to ask and they pointed stupidly in the direction where everyone was walking… Like we should understand this is the way!? We enter another reception-like area and join the queue for ‘registration’… We sign in and they tell us to go pay for the appointment… One of the only countries (EGYPT!) in the world where you pay before you get the service.. Is this so incase you die before your appointment the doctor still gets the money for the booked appointment or what? I mean its normal to give the service and THEN pay… not pay and then hope you get the service you paid for… Anyways we paid and we were told to go and have a seat… So we entered a large waiting room… It looked like a bus station, with the most dirty seats and people you can imagine… Parents were sat feeding their children (IN A HOSPITAL WAITING ROOM!!!) and most of the children were passed out on the floor wiping up as much of the bacteria they could… One child was even sat licking the arm rest on the metallic chair… There was food wrappers all over the floor and chairs, old crumbs and empty cans.. I mean who eats at a freaking hospital! I’m there for my appointment and then I leave, it’s not a freaking day out with a picnic in the waiting room!

Thank God the hospital was good on timing, because only 10 minutes late my name was called: Keeereeestiiiiiin Caavvaaalllyyy? No im not related to the designer Roberto Cavalli…

The nurse showed us to the doctor’s office… A 40ish man greeted us… He spoke really good english and seemed like a decent doctor.. At this point I was just over the moon because I had managed to actually get the right appointment on the right day, at the right time, and there was actually a doctor here to see me!

So the doctor asks me what he can do for me! I told him im 25 weeks pregnant and would like to do a check-up to make sure everything is okey… He then asks me if im on my period… WHAT? I just told you im 25 weeks pregnant… Umm okey so tell me the last time you had your period… I’m sure im 25 weeks pregnant, ive been to 2 ultrasounds before… Okey so tell me about your last period… (This doctor was a BROKEN RECORD!) If he was sooo freaking interested in my period, then I guess I just had to tell him… 1 december… Okey so you are….. 25 weeks pregnant! OMG EUREKA moment! The brain cells have turned on and he is awake! YES as I mentioned im 25 weeks pregnant…

Okey so do I need to write a pregnancy sheet about you… Where do you live? We live in Rehab… Oh no that’s way too far to travel for delivery… So I guess there is no point in filling out your information as you will not be delivering here… Actually im delivering in Norway… Oh okey well this will be the first and only appointment with me then? umm probably… Okey… And the doctor immediately switched off again! It was like the huge dollar signs that walked in the door pregnant just disappeared when he realised he would not be getting the final jackpot of money when he delivered my baby!

Okey so then why are you here? YA DOCTOR…. I’m here to check my freaking pregnancy… I need to do all the blood tests and the glucose test… Ummm we don’t do glucose tests here in Egypt… What blood test would you like me to do? Umm for a minute there I thought you were the doctor and knew what blood tests I need to do… Okey why don’t you just take these blood tests and it should be okey… He ticked off some tests on a sheet and gave the sheet to me… So you can do the tests whenever you want and when you get the result just do whatever you want to them… I don’t know send them to me in an email if you need, or just throw them away… WAIT WHAT?!? Did the doctor just tell me I could throw it away!? Okey why am I here if he doesn’t care, WHY THE F IS HE HERE IF HE DOESNT CARE ABOUT HIS PATIENTS?!?! Why would I take a blood test and throw the results away? I mean blood tests are not a hobby for me! What is wrong with the brain cells in this doctors head?

Okey so what I can do now is do an ultrasound to check the baby… But first you have to go pay for it… So my husband had to go back to the entrance to pay for the ultrasound and bring the receipt back… While I was waiting the doctor asks me what part of the states I was from?! Okey doctor… I have a Norwegian passport and I just told you im giving birth in Norway… Not all english speaking people come from the states…

So my husband returns with the receipt showing that he has paid for the next part of the service… The doctor then proceeds to the ultrasound.. As soon as the doctor puts the ultrasound wand on my stomach the baby gives one hard kick! It was like he remembered the evil woman last time hitting him with the ultrasound wand!

The doctor tells me that the baby is healthy, still a boy, and will be a tall one! After the ultrasound finished he closes my file and says ‘okey, so you have a healthy baby, have a nice life’…  If you need anything else here is my business card, and if you want you can send me the blood test, or not!

…and so we left Africa’s best hospital with nothing but receipts… No ultrasound photo, no blood test results, no glucose test results… So yeah in conclusion it was a lovely experience.. It only took us 2 hours to get home… A good day out!

Here are a few photos from a recent trip to Luxor!