Monday I had my blood test done and for the first time, ever since I’ve moved here, I was confronted with the bureaucracy of the UK health system and I was not happy about it to be honest. What could have been done in about five minutes took fifty minutes instead and I was sent from one place to the other and back again; most annoying, especially if you don’t have much energy and want things to be done and over with asap. After fifty minutes I finally ended up waiting for my turn to have blood taken and was in and out in five minutes, no pain, no bruises this time.

Today I had to see the doctor to discuss the results of all the previous tests so I took the bus again to the hospital and waited for the doctor to come see me which took about twenty minutes. She took me to a room to discuss things. She told me, all the tests had come out negative for hepatitis, which was a major relief to me. So the only reason why I ended up in hospital with a liver malfunction could be the Chinese tea that I have been drinking for five weeks.

The doctor said I have been lucky, I went to hospital on time, I could’ve ended up having severe liver damage, she said people have died of the Chinese tea treatment. It’s like having allergies, it could harm some but others might never be affected at all. She said this must have come as a bit of a shock to me and if I’m honest it is in a way. I really put my faith and trust in this treatment only to find myself in hospital five weeks later… I will have to come back for more blood test in three/four weeks and take things slow in the meantime.

I have to say I’m happy about the test results but it all remains some kind of mystery to me still…

The hospital, beautiful building