Well, an update to my adventures navigating the system in HK is long overdue, since I have had two visits to the hospital since I last wrote.
the first visit was to the local maternity clinic. There, I spent the entire morning....over 3 hours.... mostly waiting while mothers and babies swarmed around me in a knowingly way, like ants in their anthill. I waited in a line to see the receptionist, whereby she gave me a cone shaped cup to pee in, as i had inconsiderately not bothered to collect my own pee to bring to the clinic. Imagine having to pull your pants up and get things zipped and buttoned while holding a cup of pee you can't put down because it has no flat bottom.
then i waited an hour to get my blood pressure checked, weighed, told i was fat (who knew?) and told my pee was fine.
then i waited another hour to meet the nurse who gave me a few sheets of paper, answered a question, and took 6 viles of blood.
then an hour later i got to see the doctor, who poked my tummy a bit, took a listen to the heartbeat, and told me I would have to go to the hospital, right away, as in right now. Because I was RH negative, and they couldn't handle special cases like me.
then i waited 20 minutes to get my discharge papers in order, and was given a brown packet of paperwork to give to the hospital, which the clerk stressed i must to that very day. so i went to the local hospital.
I waited 20 minutes at the elevator, just to get a ride to the Ambulatory care floor, as there were about 100 people in front of me waiting to use one of the four elevators in operation. Once i got there, i waited an hour in line to see the receptionist, one of four receptionists who all seemed to be working very hard to process everyone as quickly as possible. the receptionist processed my paperwork and told me when my appointment would be, two weeks later.
"Two weeks? but i was told i needed to get here today!"
" well, if you hadn't come here today, it would have been more than two weeks. it was good you came as soon as you did. you need more blood testing, an a glucose test to make sure you are not diabetic."
" I was told my pee was fine!"
"but you are obese, so you might be diabetic. You need a glucose test."
Geeze.
Instead of waiting in line to go down the elevator, i thought i would be smart and take the stairs. however, two flights down, i realized the stairs didn't go outside and i was in a restricted area. back up the stairs and back waiting for the elevator. I hope I'm never in a fire in that place.
A whole day lost. By the time I was done waiting in line, my work day was done and i just went straight home. I remember when i was pregnant with Kai, the doctor and nurse did everything these doctors and nurses did, in about 15 minutes. The one time i had to wait was when the doctor was late because he was delivering an early morning baby.
Two weeks later, I arrive at the hospital. I wait in line for the elevator, and register myself with the receptionist, and take a seat. This time, I bring my very own jar of pee.
the rules for pee are very strict. you must use the second pee of the day, not the first. you must not eat between the first and second pee of the day. You must wash yourself thoroughly before you pee and catch it mid stream, not at the beginning or the end. the container must be very clean and with a sealed top, obviously. it was very hard waiting to pee a second time and not being able to eat, as I tend to puke uncontrollably on an empty stomach. But I did all this because I wanted to give them the very best non diabetic sample i could.
At the hospital, the nurse takes it, dips it, and then throws the stick away. "Wait, I did all that and you don't even want the pee?"
"You're urine is fine. Go throw that away."
I throw away my hard earned effort and wait. I wait for three hours. When i see the doctor, he pokes my tummy, says the uterus is exactly the size it should be, the pee is exactly as it should be, the heart is beating exactly as it should be, and I need to schedule an appointment to take a glucose test.
"Wait, i came here to do the glucose test today."
"We don't have time to perform the test. we need to make preparations."
"All i do is drink sugar water, right? How much time does it take to prepare sugar water? i can get a coke downstairs."
"We need to consult the chemist and he is very busy today and can't possibly do the test. no i will schedule you a blood test For July 23rd and you can go to the maternity ward to schedule the glucose test for another day."
"Doctor, i work. i have a job. i can't be taking a hundred days off because you can't be bothered to do two simple tests on the same day. I came here today to do the glucose test and the blood test and I can't waste time running around like this for the next nine months."
"Well, we can try to schedule the next blood tests and glucose tests on the same day next time, if you like. "
"How many blood tests do you need to take? I've already done two!" (In America, I had my blood drawn once and several tests were done, and never had another test after that).
"we will be monitoring your blood every time you come here from now on."
Oh brother.
When leaving, i noticed the schedule for the two tests: 9:00 am for the glucose and 3:00 PM for the blood test. Shit. So I'm literally going to spend my entire day there next time. What fun. he couldn't possible have scheduled the two tests closer together? Am I supposed to be grateful because it's on the same day, at opposite ends of the day?
Total cost for both hospital visits: $0.00. Not one penny. Can't there be some happy medium where you get the service of doctors clinics in the US without the price tag?
Oh yeah, Japan. you have to pay 30-50 dollars, but you never wait long and things are efficient. I appreciated medical services in japan before, but I really appreciate them now. really, Hong Kong, universal health care does not have to be this crappy.
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