An Unforgettable Friday...

Little did I know that last Friday, 3 Sep 2010, would be an unforgettable day for all of us. My youngest brother told me that he had a pain in his lower right abdomen the night before although he had visited a GP at our housing block and took some medication. He was running a slight fever and he told me that the pain has been there since Wednesday night. So I decided that we must go to see a doc again soon, but which doc? Should we visit a government or private hospital? After some discussion, we decided to visit a private hospital E's A&E department for its GP first, then proceed from there. I quickly applied for leave and meet him at the hospital.

A GP attended to us pretty fast and suggested a urine and blood test straight away. However, the result will be out only in 2 hours, so we walked around the Orchard area. My brother even went to have his lunch (a bowl of yong tau foo soup) at Lucky Plaza and little did I know that if he were to have op, he wasn't allowed to eat and drink anymore. After lunch, we went back to get the blood test, which was not good news. His leukocytes level was much higher than the normal range which shows that his body was under attacked. The doctor first suspicion was appendicitis. But we still have to wait for the urine test to confirm. We waited another hour for the urine test and it was normal. So the doc concluded that it must be appendicitis by judging from his age, 22 years, was too young for other diseases. He even called upon his colleague, a specialist, to check on bro and he even confirmed that it's appendicitis which he suggested a surgery right away.

And our main concern then was the OPERATION FEE. The GP has hinted to us that an appendicitis op at his hospital is sky high, only the operation table costs S$6000 plus, not include the doctor's fees and ward charges. So we told the specialist that we won't be doing the op at his hospital due to the cost and he wrote us a letter saying that he has checked my brother and diagnosed him as appendicitis, hoping that we can get an op asap once we checked into other hospital.

By that time, it's already 5 pm plus, and we didn't have a clue which hospital to go. My bro suggested Penang, my hubby suggested Ipoh (his hometown), and we even thought of Johor??? We checked the op fee in one of the general hospital in Singapore and it is S$7000 plus for foreigner (my bro has just graduated and not a Singapore PR yet nor even have any insurance) while a citizen only pays about S$2000 plus. After some discussion with my mom and aunt, we decided to visit S general hospital.

When we are about to leave, it's already peak hours, no taxi around, we decided to take the train to S hospital, and my bro despite his pain walked his way up to the A&E dept. We waited pretty long here, being ushered here and there for checking and only after 3 hours later, we managed to see a doc (previously were all nurses). By this time, the nurses have put on a drip for him (just in case he needs op soon). After a check by a doc, he suspected that the pain location was actually higher than the normal appendix position, and suggested getting a CT scan. Another decision making time for us. He said that 90% of the condition looks like appendicitis, but 10% might be something else.

It's because the doc said, if they performed the op on my brother and if it wasn't appendicitis, they will still cut out the 'good appendicitis' and look around the area to see what causes the infection. Then they will take out the 'infected parts' for studies??? What the #$#@? So what if after studies, the result wasn't good, another op to clean up? Since my bro was still able to lift up his right leg (appendicitis patient would not be able to lift up his right leg anymore) and the pain still bearable, we decided to go for CT scan after discussing with our parents too.

Before the CT scan, we have to go through another long procedure for admission. By the time he was admitted it was already 10 pm. Everybody was getting so tired after the wait, so we decided only his gf and my elder bro stayed with him for the scan. There was no point for everyone to wait at the hospital while we can't do anything. And worse is, it was weekend, and those on night shifts are mostly registrars who can't give advices nor making decisions. The CT scan was only performed after midnight and the result took about 2 hours again. By that time, my elder bro also decided to go back and rest. Once he reached home, my youngest bro sms and said that his scan results was out and it was NOT appendicitis. But he needed to stay in hospital for observation.

Only the next morning, we were told that he has diverticulitis, and infection has occured so he has to be put on antibiotics to see whether his condition can be controlled. Otherwise, an op will need to be performed. No food and drink is allowed but since he is on his drip, he feels energised and can still walk around. Luckily, his condition is improving and leukocytes level has gone down after 2 nights, he was allowed to drink some milo. And today the 4th day, we asked for him to be discharged since he is allowed to take some soft food already.

My youngest bro is a meat eater and his diet always consist of lots of meat and low in fiber. He doesn't like to take fruits and veges since young. I have been worrying about his diet intake for quite some time and try to make fruit juices for him whenever I can. I always believe, health is in our own hands, and only when we have sickness we need to visit doctor. But even then, we won't know whether the doctor's diagnosis is accurate consider even a 'specialist' in a reputable private hospital also gave wrong diagnosis :( What if the condition is more complicated than this or a life is at stake?

Really hope for his speedy recover and change in diet and lifestyles after this experience. May all of us always blessed with good health!

To my friends and readers too: Wish you and family always in good health!

Thanks a lot pal for your praying and concerns :) Means a lot to me *wink


Quote of the day:
The greatest wealth is health