I’m taking two medications to kill the fungus in my esophagus.  It’s often made it difficult to swallow.

One of the two is a liquid called Nilstat, or Nystatine, to be taken four times a day.  A few weeks ago, my pharmacist told me that Nilstat wasn’t available, so she gave me Nystatine – identical.

Yesterday I realized that my bottle of Nystatine would be empty at the end of today, so I headed to Apotheek Sluizeken.

Anne-Marie stared into her computer screen and said “They’ve stopped production of Nystatine, and Nilstat will be available next Tuesday, or maybe a bit later.”

Oops.

The notes accompanying the Nystatine bottle made it clear: “Make sure you have enough for the weekend, when pharmacies may be closed.  This medication needs to be taken every day to be effective.”

Anne-Marie suggested I go to Coop Pharmacy nearby to see if any of their many stores has my meds.  So I did.  Inge, another lovely pharmacist, spent half-an-hour looking for a solution.

There was no Nilstat or Nystatine in any of their pharmacies in Gent.  Finally Inge found a bottle in Oostkamp, near Bruges.  She phoned, and the pharmacy agreed to hold it for me.  Since the rest of yesterday was full, I knew this would be a Saturday train to Oostkamp.  The pharmacy closes at 1:00 pm and it was a thirty-minute walk from the train station.  Doable.  And so I planned my morning.

Catch the tram at 9:53 at Gent Sluizeken.  Train to Oostkamp at 10:43.  Piece of cake.

9:40.  I leave my home for the tram stop.  I decide to take a route that goes by the big windows of Apotheek Sluizeken.  Legs churning.  “I have enough time.”

I catch a glimpse of someone moving inside the pharmacy and decide when I get to an unobstructed window I’ll wave.  And there was Ann, another lovely pharmacist, waving her arms and jumping up and down.  Come in!

So I did, with the seconds to tram arrival counting down in my head.  “A box arrived this morning!” Ann said, as her hand ripped through the cardboard.

Et voilà … out jumped a bottle of Nystatine!

Yesterday Ann had found a pharmacy somewhere in Belgium that had my medication, and had it couriered here. 

“Thank you, thank you, thank you, Ann!”

Postscript: I went back to Coop and talked to Inge.  She’ll have the pharmacy in Oostkamp send their bottle to her.  So I’ll be all set for the next two weeks.

***

Anne-Marie

Inge

Ann

Lovely human beings

Life works