Monday, February 17, 2014

Minute Clinic Experience

Yesterday morning, I woke up with one eye basically encrusted (is that a word?) shut.  It was very bloodshot the whole day.

Today, that eye was slightly encrusted but my OTHER eye was twice as difficult to open as the first one had been yesterday.

It seemed that this was some viral conjunctivitis, and coupled with some other mild symptoms, I didn't know if it was *just* pink eye, or if I might also have strep throat.

Enter the Minute Clinic.

I drove down 38 to the CVS at 1900 Main.  I signed in at a kiosk and was told I had an hour-long wait. No big deal -- I had a few books in the car, and I sort of set up shop at a chair inside CVS while I waited.

Slightly less than an hour later, the Nurse Practitioner called me in.  She did a strep culture, which came back negative six minutes later.  She took my temperature (fine, no fever) and checked other vitals.  She looked at my eyes and was able to say, without any doubt, that it was a case of conjunctivitis.  She wrote a prescription for Cipro eye drops (two drops every two hours, per eye, for two days, and two drops every four hours afterwards), which she submitted electronically to a CVS in Lowell (...and was ready by the time I got there).

Everything was very easy.  I gave her my insurance info, and she wasn't 100% sure if I would've needed a referral to avoid a bill (regardless, I did not pay anything on the spot).

Either way, I'm on the way to solving the problem, and I avoided the hassle of scheduling a visit with a primary or of spending half the day (or longer) waiting in an ER.  

1 comment:

C R Krieger said...

Excellent.

I will spend more time trying to prove to Blogger that I am a human.

Regards  —  Cliff