I'm on day 13 with a migraine.

I suppose it's a post-dome now: vertigo, tiredness, confusion, and some snow. I'm still having a hard time reading for more than a few minutes at a time. I have enough energy to go to the pool for an hour in the morning, but that's about it.

I had migraine pain for 3 days before I headed to the doctor. The jack-hammering happening a few door down, was a good prompt to go see someone. It took me a while to find the Drop-In clinic I've been to a few times. I thought I was just having a migraine moment, until the elevator doors opened to show me they were renovating too. I knew I was in the right place because of the Clinic sign.

Jonathan texted me the location of the next closest clinic. They had a big sign on the door saying, absolutely no walk-ins, but she let me come in the door and tried to book me an appointment. Unfortunately their next opening was 4 days away and there are a million doctors in Singapore, so the search continued. Jonathan finally sent me to the clinic near his old office, which he had been to before. He told me to call in advance and see if Drop-In was still allowed due to COVID. I tried, It didn't go well. It went pretty much exactly like every call I make in Singapore, although even shorter than normal.

Me: Hello, Can I book an appointment?

Clinic: Mumble, mumble...Thank you. Good bye.

Then they hung up. I called Jonathan. He called and probably talked to the exact same person moments later, although as usual his call was more successful.

Jonathan: Is the Anson Road Clinic open today?

Clinic: Yes.

Jonathan: Walk in, or need an appointment?

Clinic: You walk in?

Jonathan: Walk in, okay?

Clinic: Yes.

I took a GRAB (like a taxi), because the address was a ways away. I got lost in the mall trying to find the office, and the mall security desk was no help, but it didn't matter how long I took, because at least I wasn't trying to make it in time for a specific appointment time.

I entered a super tiny doctor's office, but space is a premium here. There was a short bench to wait on the length of the short the hallway, a front desk with just enough room to stand in front of and then a cubbyhole of an room, with a sliding door to save space, for the doctor to see patients in. The office had some sort of back room too for dispensing prescriptions. Doctors here just send you home with the prescription. You don't need to go to a Pharmacy. I do love that part.

It took me longer to check in - first with my phone for Government Contact Tracing and then with a paper form for the Office - than for the appointment. As soon as I filled out my paper work, I was sent to the back to see the Doctor. 60 seconds later I had been kicked out of the office and was waiting for my prescription to be filled. I had tried to ask the Doctor was she was prescribing, but her response of "Most people really like this" kind of shut me down. As I was walking out her door I asked for a referral to a Neurologist, because I wasn't feeling too enthusiastic about how this was going.

The first prescription handed to me had Caffeine in it (at least it looked that way from the title on the baggie) and I wanted to be able to take something and go to sleep, so I asked if I could see the Doctor again to ask for something else. The Receptionist and the Doctor just hollered back and forth with each other through the wall and then I was handed something else shortly.

At home I Googled what I'd been given, because they don't include any warnings or explanation documents with the prescriptions here. They just give you a tiny baggie of pills with a few words typed on it about how to take it:

"Take 1 every 6 hours. For Pain."

I had been prescribed a pain killer and an anti-nausea drug, when I'd been hoping for an Migraine-Abortive type of drug. I took one dose without much effect of any sort, so I took a second dose after the 6 hours had elapsed and then went to bed for the night and hoped that cumulative effect of two doses in a row would help.

I woke up the next day with extreme nausea (a common side-effect of that pain killer) and popped the anti-nausea pill as fast as I could get it out of the packaging. 15 minutes later I was feeling a lot less nauseous and about to become mostly unconscious for the day. I slept from 8 am to 2 pm in the same room that Jonathan was working in, with the kids screaming in the other room, even though that Jack-hammering that was still happening occasionally through out the day a few floors down.

Thankfully we have a Helper and she hung out with the kids, made lunch and dinner, and kept the house running all with no involvement from me. I took me close to an hour to find the energy to stay awake long enough to go give her an afternoon break. When she came back after 30 minutes, I went back to bed and slept till dinner, which I wasn't still wasn't able to eat. I watched TV for the evening on my computer in bed and then went to sleep for the whole night like normal.

So I am never taking either of those 2 drugs again.

I did have the referral to the Neurologist though and Jonathan called while I was incapacitated and set me up an appointment for the next day. We're both thoroughly shocked by how you usually get to see a specialist by the next day in Singapore. It would be a 6 to 12 month wait to see a Neurologist in Canada.

The Neurologist's office was at the hospital. I had to join a long queue (social spacing lines on the sidewalk) in order to get into the building. I called the office to let them know I was running late and they were not surprised. In the line, I checked in for Government Contact Tracking with my phone, then filled out a paper declaration form that I had no COVID-19 symptoms and hadn't traveled within the last 14 days. Then I was able to enter the building to get my temperature checked and put my sticker on my shirt to show I was allowed in the Hospital. There was a huge snaking line to wait for the elevator, and then I started the check in process again once I got to the Neurologist's office.

The Neurologist was much more through than the doctor had been. He sent me home with a bag of pills: Magnesium and B12 to try for 3 months, a pain killer and a migraine abortive type of drug, and a appointment to come back in 3 months. That sounded  far away until I remembered that if I called in I could probably get an appointment with him for tomorrow.

I tried the migraine-abortive drug that afternoon. It worked a bit. The headache was gone now, but I still had the other migraine symptoms. The Neurologist had told me I could try a second dose, if the first didn't work, so the next day I tried the second dose. The day after that I tried the pain killer. I was still having migraine symptoms and I'd tried everything I had so I figured a massage was in order.

Getting a massage wasn't so simple either. My first choice was closed due to COVID. Thankfully I was able to What's App them to book the appointment, and they got back to me quickly to tell me that location was closed. It was in the mall next door and specialized in Javanese Massage.

What's Javanese Massage? I had to google it too. It's a traditional deep tissue massage that originates in Indonesia, which is just a short boat trip across the water from Singapore.

When I googled massages in the neighbourhood, the next place I though looked good seemed to had girls in lingerie in their photos. This had me questioning what type of massage they specialized in; Prostitution is legal in Singapore. Turns out they weren't offering up "special" services; they just like to show that they have pretty masseurs here.

Another place near us specialized in "Fish Spa." You get a foot bath soak complete with little fish that eat the dead skin off your feet. I'm afraid of fish already, so I was ready to freak out at this point.

Jonathan took over at that point and booked me into a massage where they made me agree online that I would not ask for sexual services, which made me feel more comfortable. He also made sure they didn't offer Fish Spa - Thank you.

I noticed that the massage technique is a bit different here. Especially when the masseuse climbed up onto the table above me to massage my back. They offered me Orthopedic Massage, but I chickened out when they said, "The tools they use will leave you with bruises for 3 days." Umm, maybe next time.

It is a bit weird, but not too bad to wear a face mask through a 90 minute massage. I made sure to wear the softest type I had. I forgot I was wearing it most of the time.

I'm thoroughly massaged now, and just annoyed that I'm not feeling up to doing anything much. I'm also thoroughly thankful that we have a Helper or none of these drug trials and appointment would have been possible in such a short period.