Vietnamese hospital
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).
A&E
Almost immediately, I was given an X-ray. Which showed three kidney stones. One of which was about 12mm.
From there, it was another about 20 minutes and I got some injections, after that the pain stopped and I went to sleep. After an hour or so, I woke up, and was invited to the ultra-sound.
Here the boy said I had 3 kidney stones one about 5mm and I should drink more water. Very insightful, I thought, but a little after the fact.
Some time later, I was approached by another doctor, male doctor and the other female doctor who had checked me in.
They asked if I’d like to stay for 2 nights on the ward or go home. The bill for the diagnoses and treatment as it stood was 469,000, which at an exchange rate of 21,000 is about 22$.
I asked whether they would operate on the stones if I stayed on the ward, which was inconclusive.
I knew that it would cost extra to stay on the ward. But I’d have to wait for a diagnoses on Monday and not from the A&E department.
I’d have to come back and see the specialist. Which seemed like a couple of extra dollars in the hope of nothing, so I left it.
Prescription
They left me with a prescription. And a diagnoses of my condition.
It said this.
Left renal colic. Calculus. Urinary infection.
The prescription was.
Ciprofloxacin
Nospa
Mobic
Mobic, I had been prescribed before, along with Mofpa.
Also it said to re-visit after the course of my treatment, in 5 days time.
For this 5 days, I will bum around in Ho Chi Minh, and also find a job on the internet, as it is the end of spring break and I can get the recommendation letter and other documents I require to get a job.
Root cause
The root cause of this condition was a visit to this restaurant on Phu Quoc.
Bad fish
I had a catfish from this restaurant, the Palm Tree in Phu Quoc. Three days after I was suffering from Diarrhea.
That’s where the problems started…
2 thoughts on “Vietnamese hospital”
Look after yourself, drink lots of water, rest and most important of all…Get well soon…
Oh dear – what a to-do. Must have been awful to be in such pain – but it sounds as though you might have two conditions at work – a bit of food poisoning (leading to renal cholic ??) plus the stones ??
Hope things have been a bit better over the last few hours. Drink your water bottled (and sealed) !! And steer clear of bottles of other stuff.