Started off early in the morning to collect Andre's and my passport at the immigration office. With the appointment, we queued less than 1 minute and everything's smooth. Now we can bring Andre abroad. YAY!
Following the collection, we went to Raffles Hospital (RH) next for Andre's UTI checkup. Thanks to daddy's company insurance, we are able to claim $600 worth of pediatric consultations at RH a year, and selective scans can be done free with a minimum one-time charge. The reason why we came here was because Dr Ong warned that the ultrasound and MCU would come up to a couple of hundreds of dollars.
The hospital is nice, very high class i would say. The services provided by the counter staff is excellent. The Dr which Dr Ong recommend is less lacklustre than the facilities and the environment. Well, since i've not much good to say about this Dr, let's just call him Dr X.
The consultation was brief and what he says was pretty much what Dr Ong has explained. Except he says that the ultrasound is quite 'fei' and that we can do the MCU immediately. (Dr Ong's school of thought is that we should let the system settle down at least 6 weeks before doing the MCU). Dr X made no attempt to even look at Andre (even though i made the introduction), and was slouched in his chair during the 3 mins explanation. When done, he says "So anything else?" Gives me the impression that he couldn't be bothered and he's impatient. Oh well, maybe i'm just being too sensitive again. Asked if the MCU is very invasive and traumatising for the child, he says it is and so it is our decision, so how? (hey!! that is not what Dr Ong says ... she says it's more like the child scaring himself than the procedure itself).
I hate to make these kind of decisions. 1st, i'm not a Dr. I don't have the experience or medical expertise to help me decide the right choices. 2ndly, that's why i go to seek your professional advice right, if not i would have treated my child myself. Here you are, leaving me dangling in the air, its like asking a patient if he wants his antibiotics, if yes, which brand, how much does he wants to take. I can't help thinking that the modern Drs seems rather unwilling to take up any form of responsibility and let the medically untrained parents make the decisions. If anything happens, it will not be their fault but the parents! Oh well, since Dr Ong was very firmed that we should do the procedure in the 1st place, Kevin and I did not hesistate and asked the Dr to go ahead and schedule.
End up, RH does not do the MCU and we were referred to KKH. The staff at RH was very kind to help us secure an appt with KKH on the coming Monday, 22 Mar. We did a urine culture and test for Andre. (For half an hour, we whistle and shhhh .... but Andre simply did not have any reaction. Gave him milk, water, let him hear the sound of trinkling water, tease his fat thighs with our cold fingers, drip saline on his bird bird, but still no pee. Finally, in the most unexpected moment, he sprouted a little golden arch) Test results are out. Everything's clear. OK for the MCU on monday.
It's a long post, rather a rant. But Dr X's words and attitude did not make me any more comfortable about Andre's condition. Came back, read the internet. Made me a little more depressed.
But the silver lining is, i've came to realize, how lucky we and our little boy are. There is this child, who was born with spina bifida and had to be permanently catherised to drain his pee. He has to grow and accept it as his way of life. His parents are fighting on (and remaining all faithful to God). Our child is so much more blessed in comparison and so as parents, i guess we should appreciate our blessings more than harp like a spoilt child on mild unpleasantries.
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