Full Body Checkup In ZERO Dollar?!!?!!

15^th of January 2017, Karachi Medical & Dental College organized “HOPES” Health Expo 2017 at the Expo Center, Karachi, Pakistan, where free screening for being provided for FREE!!! I must say that the organization really nailed the event…. They brought all my expectations to life, literally <3.

 

The whole way we traveled to the venue, I and my sister looked forward to donating blood, but as soon as I reached the entrance door, my heart started thumping so hard, I got butterflies in my stomach and I got the shivers I always get in before my exams… and yeah all because of the fear of syringe. :$ Vast range of medical services from the 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd-year students of various universities was being provided at huge booths.

We walked towards the stall and after inquiry, made a registration for the Body-Mass-Index test (B.M.I. test)….and After much struggle with the inches tape, it came out just fine, 23! Yahoooo!!!Overall, that booth contained very cooperating doctors-to-be.

Then I and my sister walked forward while daddy went to receive Mummy and my Aunt’s family (mummy did a night stay at my aunt’s home). We hurried to the next station and we saw something at the corner ….. No way! It was a dentist chair!!! Woohoo… Dental checkup? I never thought this deep this exhibition can get. We quickly took the receipt and stood in the line. We consulted for my retainers and braces. The chair was placed in the open, inside the booth. It was so awkward to display my teeth to the doctor in front of a large crowd waiting for their teeth to be examined that I started making freaked faces just to calm the atmosphere.

The scenario of the spatula being inserted into the mouth and rotated 360 degrees pulling the upper lip outward, was funny. She even asked my name while my mouth wide open with a spatula rotating in it. For heaven sake, who speaks with their mouth wide open :@ I wish I had taken Ittapi‘s photo. After Dani’s turn was done, she came running towards me and shouted with joy: “I have cavity!!! That was such a LOL moment. I laughed, laughed and laughed but at the same time felt pity for her. Eventually, I had to burst her little bubble of happiness by telling her the meaning of cavity…:$ Fortunately for me, I got a good feedback from the dentist but recommended braces. HEHEHE. There were some cute bookmarks on the table. Itta api and Sallu took a “tooth bookmark”.

Here is a photo with toothy smile props…

Suddenly, Daddy came and got to know that the previous stall was offering “Diabetes test”. WHAATTT ?? WOW… ‘Im excited to avail one the expensive test for FREE… Yippee! I’m scared of needles’’. We registered ourselves. Mummy’s turn came first, she shut her eyes up because of pain, which terrified me. When my turn came, it was my official attempt to get a shot after I guess 15 years. I had a mixture of expression on my turn, I squinted, inhaled and exhaled from the mouth loudly 😀 to relax, pleaded the doctor to let go of my hand and to stop trying to distract me to pin the needle. I wanted to say “Oh, please, enough of this overacting…. I know you are gonna hit me so…just do it.” Then when I finally got punctured…voila…. It felt 0.01% of what I had been expecting.

Now that my turn was over, I became a tiger and started consoling Ittaapi who has already experienced it and doesn’t have needle phobia…. But to be honest, I wanted to just show off.. 😛 B). The sugar level result of me, Mummy, Daddy and Ittaapi’s were 99, 111, 109 and 126 respectively. I turned towards Ittaapi and was like “What did you eat, buddy?” The male doctor posed for us.

To avail as much as we could in the limited time, we seriously starting running across the stalls. My aunt searched for the HEPATITIS TEST but Daddy believed that it would not be available as it is an expensive test 😛 But luckily, they had .. Yippeee.. Ittaapi was really anxious for this and nervous even before we entered the hall because she feared because of our grandmother’s death due to the hideous disease. They had a huge crowd around their stall. Of course, who would want to miss this chance? They had this USB type device in which after being poked with the needle, a few drops of blood were added in a small slot on it. We entered the blood test lane at about 50^th number.

It took so long that I decided to get into the line eye-side test but it needed patience. Therefore I returned and when our turn was about to come, a board was placed on the table, stating “Tea break”!!! Urgh! 30 min? Okay then, while our family waited near that corner for the blood test, Thalassemia test was being taken nearby and was again crowded. This was the time in which my blood was officially taken in a good amount by a huge syringe that was inserted fully. I closed my eyes tight but felt a little hindrance between the needle and the skin. I don’t know why but throughout this, it itched so badly and when it was done it swelled a bit so I knew I disliked that girl…

Blood test corner was taking long to reset so our cousins-team moved around and what we found was amazing! Young’s was promoting their Olive Spread by distributing its sample! By that time it was getting dark outside and we were starving so you can imagine…

They say that the best things are always saved for last. You remember I desired to donate blood? I was kind of disappointed when we found no booth of that kind but when we were roaming around, we finally found it! It was such an amazing feeling I have ever experienced!!! Woooo hoooo… Imagine! Cousins-squad going to donate blood for the first time without any elder!

It was organized by DOW university and Patients’ Welfare Association (PWA). After checking our blood pressure and level of hemoglobin, they handed us empty blood bags. But the size of the syringe scared the hell out of me! It was literary hollow inside and I was super terrified from its diameter. To be honest I gave up at that moment for two reasons:

1. Because of the gigantic size of the needle.
2. The boy who was donating blood before me was screaming at the top of his lungs.

Scare can simply be seen from these pictures 😀

All thanks to my sister, who took the first turn, I felt encouraged. The inserted syringe made an engraved expression on my skin. I was motivated to have my first achievement towards helping human being.

“I loved that feel and could simply say that this simple act of kindness can actually save the life and definitely make it better.”

I also received a honey flavored drink, which tasted like yellow color mixed with toothpaste. 😀

There was also calcium test which I was not eligible for since I was under the age limit.

People are always scared of hospitals and those heavy bills never encourage us to take get us checked. This event gave an opportunity for the citizens of Karachi, especially the underprivileged people to get medical advice for free. After all, health is wealth.

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