If I had to chose a country to be sick in, it would probably be France. My cold and cough and sinusitis had subsided and I thought I was on the mend, when on Friday evening I had a relapse. Thinking I would make it to Monday morning I managed to keep myself together until Sunday afternoon, but just could not go on any longer, although I am very pain tolerant.
So what are the choices a patient faces here. You could go to the hospital emergency room where of course with my symptoms you would not be treated as an emergency case, and after a wait of four or more hours and after paying around 48 Euros you would be sent home with some Paracetamol and the advice to go to a doctor's office the next day.
Or you could chose to call SOS médecin (The phone number from anywhere in France is 3624. You just need to let them know which département you are in, which means you need to know the first two digits of your postal code and the rest follows.) have a doctor come to your home, give you an examination and the needed prescription right away, all that for 52 Euros.
I had the biggest hesitations calling this service and it was only when I really felt I could no longer take it that I called and once the doctor arrived (it can take up to two hours for a doctor to get to your place, mine was here in 30 minutes) I apologized to her, but she just said "That's what we are here for. This is exactly the right thing to do" which made me feel better right away.
I think this is great. But then on the other hand, maybe I should not have been so stubborn and gone to see a doctor earlier on. But then again, I hardly ever had colds that persisted that long or were that severe in 20 years.
Now I am armed with all it takes to get rid of the infection, even a referral for a sinus scan.