After using birth control pills for so many years, my wife and I decided to try a new method of family planning. We’ve tried that implant under the skin thing and that didn’t work out well for my wife. Her period became unstable, on and off intermittently which also suck for me. This time we decided to try IUCD and I paid just RM130 ringgit for the procedure at Klinik Jameaton.
The first 2 months, this contraception method worked great for us. Linda continued her menstrual cycle normally and there were no apparent side effects from the device. However from the 3rd months onwards, she started to experience prolonged menstrual bleeding. First it was over 2 weeks long. Then lately in the past 40 to 60 days it didn’t stop at all which is worrying for us to say the least. We returned to Klinik Jameaton to seek advice and the doctor prescribed some medication to stop the bleeding. It worked for a week or so and the bleeding continues. That’s when we made an appointment at PPUM (University Malaya Medical Centre) to see a specialist. Yes we tried to get a guarantee letter for one of Linda’s panel specialist hospital but they rejected it because of the word IUCD because that wasn’t covered under the list of illness. So PPUM it is, a semi-government hospital in Petaling Jaya. At least being a semi-private institution it would be more efficient and less expensive than specialist hospitals, or so we thought.
During Linda’s first appointment, the doctor tried to remove the IUCD device from her ovary but somehow she failed. Actually we went to see Dr Jameaton first and she tried and failed to remove the device as well. Hence why we went to PPUM. After that, the doctor set another appointment for hysteroscopy removal of IUCD in which they will insert a tiny camera into her ovary to look for the device better. Naturally this procedure won’t be cheap and Linda had to go for another appointment with the anesthesiologist. Plus the actual date for the procedure is more than a month away and I don’t know how Linda will cope with the incessant bleeding. When Linda could not stop bleeding for more than 24 hours, we decided to pay the emergency department of the PPUM one Friday evening.
Fortunately for us my mom was around to look after the kids. We arrived around 6:00 PM after work. The trauma & emergency unit is still bustling with people, a few patients but the bulk is made up of of family members or friends. Being a first timer there we went straight to the registration counter where the staff rolled her eyes and directed us to the triage counter. Okay she didn’t exactly rolled her eyes but we could sense the annoyance in her eyes. At the triage counter we explained our predicament and shortly after that we went to the secondary screening area. After that only we went to the registration counter.
From the registration counter we went to the waiting hall and waited for 3 hours or so for our number to be called. Yes it is that long. To be fair there were a lot of patients that day, around 30 numbers before us to like 3 attending doctors maybe? When our number finally came up the doctor interviewed us for like 10 minutes before sending us off to do a blood test. The blood test we were told is going to take at least another 2 hours to get the result. We took that opportunity to get supper in the form of nasi lemak at our favorite old haunt at Warung Rindu in Pantai Dalam. That was already midnight and when we come back 2 hours later our blood test was still not ready. I managed to doze off at the bench for a while until our numbers were called an hour later. The result says her hemoglobin count was low at 9 but not that alarmingly low as requiring admittance to the hospital or something. The doctor prescribed her some medications to stop the bleeding which was exactly the same pills that she had earlier. However this time the pills actually worked in lessening the bleeding and a week later her period almost totally stopped.
We got home around 3 o’clock that morning having spent over 7 hours at the hospital. Although I must admit the doctor’s service was top notch and on par with other specialist hospitals, it’s the waiting that I can’t stand. Would we get shorter waiting time at a fully private hospital? Probably. But the consultation and medication fees would be 4 to 5 times more than the RM68.90 that we paid at PPUM. I suppose the painfully long waiting time is the price we have to pay for the affordable fees at the hospital. Should have we avoided this situation had we invested in a medical card or something similar? Probably. But since we have our very own respective health benefits from our companies, paying for extra insurance seems like a waste of money. I’d like to put the blame squarely on PM Care who refused to release the guarantee letter for us causing us quandary in the first place.
