24 February 2012

After spending 10 days in the hospital the doctor finally let my baby Hana Alisha go home. For 10 days I've been commuting to and fro the KPJ Kajang specialist hospital dragging my 2 elder kids along with me. Every day without fail. My wife and her mom had been taking turns to look after Hana at the hospital throughout her stay. First she gets 3 days compassionate leave then after working for 2 days, she took another 3 days of leave so that she can be at the hospital again. In between that, my mother in law who came all the way from Tanah Merah volunteered to baby sit Hana there. I can't thank my wife and her mother enough. I would be nearly useless at the hospital. For one thing I can't breastfeed the kid and secondly a few hours is the most I can spend alone with infants. I don't fully understand them. What are they crying for, what do they really want etcetera etcetera. I'm just not very good with kids below 1 year old.

Dr Mahani the paediatrician who looked after Mia before when she had chicken pox did an excellent job again at nursing Hana to recovery. The great thing about private hospitals are that they run a very thorough check on their patients, leaving no stones unturned and make sure they are really-really healthy and well before discharging them. Plus their service are generally faster and better than say government run public hospitals. I'm not saying that government hospitals sucks, it's just that they are quite below par if you compare them to their private counterpart. That said, here it's all about the money too. Naturally these private hospitals would like to keep the patient in for as long as possible. The longer you stay, the more money they make. This is especially true for patients who are covered by medical plans or benefits.

Talking about hospital charges, Hana Alisha's 10 days stay at the KPJ Kajang costs a cool RM10,800.00 which is fortunately will all be borne by my wife's employer. Had she not worked there we'd probably be sending Hana to a public hospital instead. That's one of the main benefit of working at a large or multinational company. Bonuses and health benefits. Me, I am not covered by any insurance or medical plans right now so I shudder to think if I suddenly get sick. My present company doesn't have any group insurance policy yet and there's a limit how much I can claim from hospital bills every year. Perhaps I should seriously consider taking up insurance.

The important thing is Hana is all well and healed now. She is back to her happy and jovial self once again, no more high fever and coughing at nights. Apparently Hana Alisha was also the nurses' favorite while at the hospital. They said she was among the least difficult infant baby patient that they have ever dealt with not to mention her cuteness and charm. As much as I find that flattering, I'd rather not see any of my kids or family members at the hospital again in the future. So long KPJ Kajang. Thanks for the service and care. I'd definitely recommend this hospital to anyone living nearby.

14 February 2012

My 9 years old daughter has been having this on and off fever for almost 2 weeks now. We went to the clinic several times but the doctor just kept giving us fever, flu, cough medication and antibiotics for her. It was not until today that the doctor recommended that we refer her to the hospital. About time. If we had it our way we would have brought Hana to the hospital long time ago. But it doesn't work that way. For us to be able to bring her or any of our kids to the hospital, we must have a referral letter from the GP. We simply cannot crash to hospital and demand that our kid be treated. Unless of course we were planning to pay for it ourselves.

Like always, admitting anybody to the hospital took hours. In fact we spent almost the whole day today from morning to late in the afternoon before being given a bed. Starting from the clinic, to the admission and the screening and then wait for the GL and for a free bed. Not to mention we had to go home and pack our bags and then return to the hospital to be admitted finally. And that for a private hospital. A public hospital should take twice as long if there's any bed for you left that is.

From the doctor's diagnosis, Hana got some kind of infection in her lung. I remember Adam having the same illness many years ago. She did cough a lot this past week and no amount of cough meds seems to make her better. I knew this is something more serious than the common cough.

Lucky for us my wife's employee gives 3 days of compassionate leaves whenever any of our immediate family member got warded. So naturally my wife would be staying with Hana the next 3 days or so. Hopefully she would be okay by the weekend.

28 June 2011

Today was supposed to be just another regular day at work where I started the day by sending my son to his school at Taman Desaminium. However Adam Farihin, 7 years old decided that today he would like to jam his thumb at the car's door. After that we spend half the day visiting clinics & the hospital to fix his finger.

At first I thought it was just a little thump at the car door but when Adam couldn't stop wailing, I quickly brought him to see a doctor at my panel clinic nearby. The doctor (who was fashionably late by the way) suggested that Adam probably broke his thumb and advised that we go to a hospital. However since I dont have any insurance coverage anymore, I had to rush home to pick up my wife and kids and go to her panel clinic in Serdang to get her doctor's letter of recommendation before finally going to a hospital in Kajang. Adam was still crying on top of his lung for most of that time.

To cut the story short, Adam had his finger scanned and the x-ray showed no bones were broken from the accident this morning. Lucky for us my wife's company had it all covered. I shudder to think should anything bad happens to me. Maybe I should consider buying my own personal insurance. Right.

30 April 2011

The thing about c-sections is, they took longer to recover especially from the operation wound. On the first day Linda couldn't even leave her bed due to the pain from the stitches. Lucky for us her employer covered for everything including the procedure so at least we have one less thing to worry about. Pantai Hospitals have one of the best medical facilities around and apart from here in Cheras, I have also been to their branch in Bangsar which is top class in their services and treatment. That said, if you have to accompany the patient overnight, hospitals are not exactly the place you'd rather be. If you're lucky, they'll provide you with a reclining chair to sleep on at night. Most of us won't be so lucky so we have no other choice but to sleep on the cold hard hospital floor.

The first night, I was ill-prepared for my stay at this hospital. I thought they reclining chair looked comfy enough so I didn't bring any comforters or blanket which was a huge mistake. They chair is so hard and stiff I end up sleeping on the floor. I also forgot how cold it is in hospitals at night so I didn't get much sleep due to the freezing cold, not to mention my poor back.

Tonight though I'm better prepared for my overnight stay here. Brought my thick and warm comforter along, a blanket and also a couple of pillows. So why are we still here 3 days after labour? Our little princess unfortunately had jaundice so we had to stay a little bit longer here at the hospital. Let us pray for her speedy recovery.

28 February 2011

Today we had an appointment at Pantai Cheras Hospital near Kuala Lumpur for Linda's maternity check. After having both our previous children born at Putrajaya Hospital, we decided to try someplace new. Don't get me wrong, Putrajaya was excellent for a government hospital. It's just Pantai Hospital is better. Last time Adam was admitted at Pantai Hospital Bangsar, we received preferential treatment from the doctors, nurses and staff there. The place was great and the food was outstanding. We thought we wanted to have that same hospitality nearer to home in Cheras.

After waiting for over an hour for the Guarantee Letter to be ready, we finally get to see the obstetrician for Linda. He did a very thorough check on my wife and set the dates for our fortnightly appointment. If everything goes well, we shall welcome our second daughter on the 17th of May this year. What's more, she will be born in the same city as I am. Can't hardly wait.

5 September 2010

My brother Faiz has had fever since last Wednesday. So he went to the Serdang Hospital to get himself checked. He waited for 2 hours for his turn to come but they never did. So angered and exasperated, Faiz drove all the way to the Putrajaya Hospital next. It took him less than 30 minutes to see the doctor who also took his blood sample for further tests.

Today Faiz got admitted into the Putrajaya Hospital because they suspect he's been infected with dengue. My family members from near and far came to visit him today who looked really weak and can barely talk. To say that Hospital Serdang suck would be an understatement. I have heard numerous complaints from many people who had some kind bad experience or another there. Top of the list would be the ridiculously long waiting time. I took my 2 year old son there once because he sprained his shoulder and we waited for nearly 2 hours to see the intern. First class infrastructure but third world mentality would best describe Serdang Hospital.

15 April 2010

Last week my friend Bujal was admitted to the hospital for a little appendix operation. I didn't get to visit him until his last day there. Said he lost 3 kilos because the food there was horrible.

Of all places, Bujal chose the new and expensive Columbia Asia Hospital in Puchong. The final bill was about 10K RM for less than a week stay and still he has to pay 500 RM with his own money for the services fees before he left. Of course he can claim that back from MAA but that kinda sucks nevertheless. I hope I don't have to go into any hospitals while covered with MAA.

Get well soon Bobot.

25 September 2009

These past few days I've been commuting to Kota Bharu from Pasir Mas and Tanah Merah to see Adam and her mom. That's between 40 t0 100 kilometers return trip each. This obviously costs money and energy but you'd be surprised the things you'd be willing to do for your family. The traffic in Kota Bharu and surrounding towns is sometimes almost as bad as downtown KL on weekdays. Long queues and bumper to bumper traffic is the order of the day. This Hari Raya season the number of vehicles in places like Kota Bharu, Pasir Mas and Tanah Merah increased 5 times than usual.

Today Adam had improved much better than yesterday. His temperature is back to normal again and the worst of his chicken pox is gone. In fact the doctor said he should be ready to be discharged tomorrow. Last night I spent the night at the hospital. Like all hospitals, this one is just as cold especially in the evening. Maybe it's the cold hard floor, I was literally freezing last night even with two layers of clothing and a blanket.

Adam is provided with food 4-5 times a day but the rest of us had to get our own food. There's a couple of restaurant and stalls around the hospital but most of them are closed especially in the morning so I had little choice to choose from. The nearest open food stall is some 500 meters away near the Sultan Mohamad IV stadium. The hospital food according to Adam and his mom is somewhere between indifferent and downright horrible. This afternoon we just had to order some food from McDonald's before all our taste buds die.

While Adam and her mom conditions improved tremendously, mine is not faring that well. Yes I didn't feel so itchy right now and the spots is starting to heal but the virus is having one last go at my head and face. The pox marks around my head is particularly painful and my face looks like the surface of the moon. Yup, no need to spend millions sending people to space. Just plant a flag on my face and you're done ha ha!

12 September 2009

They put her in an isolation room on the 5th floor of the KPJ Kajang Specialist hospital. This room costs a cool 200 ringgit per day and Linda's health benefits will only cover up to RM160 so we had to top up the remaining cost. Now would be a really good time to get a bonus from my employer.

My Mom came to visit Mia later this afternoon. Adam and I spent the night at her place last night because there was a water cut at my area yesterday.

Mia is still her unusual self. She's so quiet and passive and she always make her mother carry her around and refuses to lay on the bed. They put her on IV drip because she's so weak from not eating much these past few days.

I have an assignment to finish and 4 papers to sit for my mid term exam tomorrow. I barely read anything because Mia kept us awake all last week And I've got like this evening to finish them all. Sigh.

11 September 2009

My 1 and a half year old daughter got chicken pox earlier this week. My wife had no choice but to take a leave from work to look after her at home since we can't send her to the nursery. Since she got the disease, Mia drastically lost her appetite, is very moody and sensitive and she's got a constantly high temperature.

We took her to the clinic twice this week and on the second visit the doctor advised that we take her to he hospital for further check up. So we brought her to the KPJ Kajang Specialist Hospital tonight and the doctor there said Mia had to be warded because of her high temperature and dehydration.

Poor Mia. She didnn't eat anything much, including her formula and she hardly moves at all. She just lay there staring blankly at us or the ceiling.

So for tonight and the next few days, Linda will be staying at the hospital with Mia. Let us pray the she'll recover soon.