Sunday, September 14, 2014

The Medicals, in Barcelona.

And the Spanish cruise line demanded that I had to have special safety trainings, and my employer had to comply... I was navigating around the Med, lots of Italy, little bit of Greece, Montenegro, in a pax cabin, sometimes with a window... Difficult life, I have to say...
The thing is that, from one minute to the other I have to find a medical facility that could provide me with full set of Medicals, and a nautical school that could certify me in several safety trainings. And that I did.
I disembarked a Saturday morning in Barcelona, took a taxi and went to the clinic that was going to do me all the tests, I arrived and was treated like a king from the very first second input a foot in the clinic. Well, for the money my company was paying for this medicals, better for them to treat me good...
First thing, blood extraction. Yes, please, so I could have breakfast, since I was still with an empty stomach, not to add an extra layer of fat on top of the test tube. As I said, it was Saturday, so the clinic was empty, it looked like I had the clinic for myself, and in fact, some of the specialist were brought just for my exam. Walking all along those grey, sanitized and long corridors was kinda surreal, all the time following my host and guide, that was taking me from one doctor to the other. 

The otorrinolaringologist (wow, I wrote that word without using the spellcheck) determined that my left ear suffered a little of all my years bartending in the nightclubs, but not enough affect me in my professional life. So, when in don't listen to something is not a physical problem, just selective hearing.

The oculist confirmed that my right eye noticed that is 40 years old, but the left one has not. Anyway, it is advisable that I use my glasses...

The radiologist made me stick my chest to a cold cold metallic surface with the shoulders forward. And I snissed during the shoot, so I had to do it again.

The interesting part was when I got my ECG, which was at the same time that I was getting some shots, and I found myself in an examination bed surrounded by two pretty tall nurses, pretty and tall, being naked from the waist up (me, not the nurses), while one of them was applying me those little suckers, you know, the electrodes, that there were not sticking because of my hairy chest. Yes, I didn't have a trim on that in quite some time, but I guess that I will do it soon, since some of those hairs are noticing that are already 40 years old, and beginning come out white, anyway, while one of the nurses was stabbing needles in my shoulders the other was making some electricity run along my body and taking my blood pressure. Again, interesting situation...

After that, the time for the doctor that was going to fill up the whole report came, and I was lucky (no, not a female doctor) an very funny, great humoured, white beard and blue kind eyes. Born in Montevideo, Uruguay, getting his MD in the University of Buenos Aires and after living for more than 25 years in Barcelona, Dr Alvarado was a character on himself...

-Eddie, your heart is a clock, but your blood pressure is high. Leave the salt shaker on the table, and drop the chips at night. By the way which is a good cruise line to try cruiseships for the first time?

We went over the two sets of medical exams until they were filled up in full, which kept me in the clinic until 1:30pm...