Month: March 2015

This time it was outside ‘Tet’ festival. This meant that the wonders of the ‘Foreign Patient’ wing were in operation.

The hospital was a lot more busy, and when I visited the counter for service, I was ushered to this ‘Foreign Patient’ wing, instead of being put in with the Vietnamese.

Foreign patients

In the Foreign Patient wing, I was feeling pretty crook. I gave the lady my diagnoses from 3 days ago, documenting my problem and the prescription the doctor had given me.

I was given a little form to fill in, with some basic details, including name address phone number and passport number.

I was then taken to ‘room 1’, which had a sign saying ‘foreign patients’ above the door.

I waited for around 1/2 an hour. At which point I was ushered in and had my blood pressure taken. I was then shown the doctor.

After asking me how I was feeling, she said I should go upstairs to the Urology dept. and they would sort me out from there.

I went upstairs, after paying 250,000 VND about $12, for the priviledge of being shown where the Urology department was.

Urology department

Once in the department, the doctor checked my papers, and said I needed another X-ray and CT scan. I said I already had an X-ray from 2 days ago and a CT scan in the accident and emergency department.

After this I spent another 1 1/2 hours hanging around the A&E, trying to get them to release my records from the previous day.

After some discussion and to-ing and fro-ing, they decided that they had the X-rays but not the CT scan and that the CT scan was going to cost me 1,000,000 VND, which is about $50.

I said this was a joke, and that they were simply fleecing foreigners.

The doctor sent me back upstairs to the Urology department. After some telephone calls and discussion, the Urology doctor wrote another prescription from the chemist.

All pretty crazy. All pretty time consuming.

I just wish it could have all happened during tet, then I wouldn’t have had to pay the crazy ‘foreigner’ charges.

:(

Still, never mind.

At least I have some prescribed drugs which will either heal me, or not, until I reach Hanoi.

My arms and legs are aching.

I feel drowsy and run down.

Currently, I’ve only felt like eating chocolate wagon-wheel type things, although I may have a proper meal later.

Tomorrow, I will go back to the hospital. I have a feeling that the drugs are very strong, but will not be effective to deal with the root cause.

Cho Ray Hospital, Saigon – to be exact.

Contacted them from my homestay, which was in Vinh Long, the woman let me borrow the phone. The woman spoke English and was very helpful in recommending some drugs that could give immediate relief.

I took her suggestions to the pharmacy and they prescribed the drugs for 21,000 or $1.

Took them back to my homestay, Ngoc Phoung.

Sick

I was in quite a lot of pain by this time and had been sick on the ferry.

Took the drugs, got in bed, went to sleep. Woke up caught a taxi. Got a bus.

Spent 3 hours on the bus from Vĩnh Long to Saigon.

Got off the bus, caught a motorbike taxi.

Went directly to the hospital.

Cho Ray Hospital – Vietnam

Once inside the hospital, I initially approached the remittance desk, where there was only one boy working. I showed him my phone, which has Google translate for Vietnamese installed on it, with the words ‘I am ill’.

We had a little wander round together, in that typical East Asian style, eventually he decided to send me into the A&E ward – with the red sign over the door. ‘Blue’ he said, which obviously means red. Luckily, there were some nurses hanging around, and I also showed them my phone. They ushered me into, the A&E ward, where I was given a bed and a girl took my blood pressure.

After a while, a doctor approached and asked what the problem was.

I said that I had been suffering from high blood pressure and vomiting, I showed them the drugs that I had been given for my kidneys Mofpa and Mobic. And that I was in pain and my arms and legs were tingling.

The doctor asked for my passport.

They checked me in, and gave me a bed on the A&E ward for real (pictured). Continue reading “Vietnamese hospital”