Hi there blog
buddies,
As the title says, bunions. I am not the kind of girl who wears
heels all the time or at all. I kind of got it from my grandmother whom I have
never met (paternal side). Well, thank you grand mother. It's hereditary,
sigh!
Naturally, I knew I had broad feet. I didnt know much about
bunions till recently when the left feet got worst. When I go running, my toes
were either aching or in pain, as though I sprained it. My favourite rosheruns
has a hole thanks to the bunion :(
First and foremost, Singapore's govt hospitals are hell of a
inefficient. Of course, everyone wants cheap and quality healthcare. My first
attempt was getting a referral to changi general hospital and get my op done
there. Well let's see what happened? My appointment was 10.30am and I finally
got to see a doctor at around 2-3pm, what's worst?! My file was passed around
the doctors, making me have to wait yet again. The doctor I saw at the
hospital, didn't think that my case was that bad. After seeing the X-ray, this
is what he said, "wow, actually quite bad. About 40 degrees!" And
when my mother starting asking questions, he gave her a weird look. Totally not
professional and he didn't even want me to do the surgery. He scheduled me to
come back the month after for a follow up, and then talk about surgery at a
later timing.
Thankfully, I am having my holidays right now and school will be
starting on April the 20th. I want to make good use of this time to recover and
get my feet as good as new. That's when I was more driven to search for other
alternatives, private ones of course.
After numerous hours of research, gleneagles is what I arrived at.
My problems didn't stop there. Private clinics always have higher chargers, I
mean way higher. At cgh, I was looking at about 6000 sgd for surgery. at
gleneagles, almost 15,000 +++ (estimated cost) and you are only allowed to use
1,850 of your medisave to pay for this surgery. (Different surgeries have
different maximum cap set by cpf board)
I'll say at gleneagles, the waiting time is relatively shorter but
getting a x-Ray did longer than expected; about an hour or so. Consultation
fees were 120 and the X-ray itself was 180. Other than the price differences, I
get to keep my X-rays. My only beef with the clinic was that the receptionist
had very poor English and it was difficult to comprehend what she was saying. I
had to make two trips down because the first doctor I saw will not be the one
conducting the surgery.
The clinic isn't v accessible to begin with and car park charges
are so expensive. The great thing about private clinic or hospitals is that it
save a hell lot of time. I visited the doctor on Monday or Tuesday and I could
schedule for surgery on Friday.
My surgery was scheduled at 9am but I had to be there 2 hours in
advance for admission and some preparations etc. We were so early, so had to
kill some time watching television (lame channels).
45 mins before the scheduled time, I was wheeled into the
operating theatre waiting area. Mommy could accompany till I was ready to go in
to the operating theatre for surgery.
The anaesthetist told me I had small veins and it's gonna take
awhile. First they numbed my vein and insert the drip. The anaesthesia was done
through the drip. When it was time, she placed it in and told me to breathe
into the mask. Since I had small veins, she told me that I will feel a burning
sensation. I remember feeling it and after 3-4 breaths through the mask, I was
knocked out.
Before I knew it, I was awake. Trying my best to open my eyes and
focus. It took awhile but I was officially sober at 12.30pm. I was only
discharged at 4. In the meanwhile, there were constant checks and blood pressure
measurements.
After the drip finished, this is what happened. The nurses
reassured me that it was normal. It's kind of uncomfortable and annoying at the
same time but one thing's for sure, I ain't afraid of blood.
I was given crutches and a physiotherapist to teach me how to
get about using crutches. Its tough okay, I am suffering walking to and fro to
the washroom at home.
Not forgetting the souvenir they gave me, they have me my bone back? The one that was cutted off.
As of 8.10pm, I am still feeling numbness in my leg and stiffness
in my foot. No pain, slight throbbing. According to my research, after it wears
off, many people experienced excruciating pain. I hope and pray I wouldn't be
like that!
Signing off ~
