The diarrhea started Sunday night. By Wednesday morning I was in a Chinese hospital begging for an IV drip for fluids. The intake nurse, said with my symptoms: fever of 40.1 degrees C (104.3 F), non stop diarrhea, extreme dehydration and zero energy, I would need to give a blood sample and a stool sample.
So over to the sample stations I went. I sat on the stainless steel stool and stuck my arm across the stainless steel table. Then I closed my eyes and held onto Neum while the sample taker did his job. Next: to the stool sample station, I collected my cup and vile and headed to the restroom. Thankfully they had one western toilet in the hospital. Caught my stool sample, not without some dry heaves and turned it into the technician at the stool sample station.
Then Neum and I waited. The verdict was either, cholera or salmonella, viewed on the translating apps of the intake nurse and doctor. They said I had a very bad infection with lots of inflammation. Neum just insisted that I could get an IV saying that I really needed fluids & antibiotics. The doctors looks seemed to say "Oh absolutely, theres no need to ask. She's about to get that and a lot more." So into the Emergency Department I went to lay on a gurney and have the IV drip inserted. Then they put in the IV port. Aaand...no need to go into detail about my phobias but I like my blood to stay in my body and needles to stay far away from my skin. There was definitely hyperventilation involved. They also monitored my vitals.
I was so relieved to get some hydration and medicine I didn't mind the fact that I was in a Chinese hospital.
Differences I noticed in the Chinese hospital. Although I try to stay out of hospitals in any country I live, I did notice some interesting differences between the USA versus China. I cannot stress enough how grateful I am for the care I received and the blessing that modern medicine is! The nurses were so caring and kind to me too.
Payment--Before any procedure was done, blood test, IV, etc. we had to pay in full. In fact just to be seen in the hospital costs 12 Yuan, for admittance. The cost of everything is very transparent and itemized exactly how much each item costs. This was brilliant, because Neum had read before using the Chinese medical system that they would see foreigners and that we'd have to use an international hospital which supposedly is very expensive.
Clothes-- The clothes you come into the hospital in are the clothes you stay in. What a treat not to have to put on the drafty hospital gown and be able to stay in my comfy sweats and Washington sweatshirt the whole day. Yeah! Choose wisely the clothes you wear to the hospital.
Privacy-- The health records are private of course but when you are in the hospital exam room or laying on a gurney in the Emergency Department, not much else is. Everyone in the exam room knew before I did that I needed to give a stool and blood sample because I had to read it on the translating app, after the doctor proclaimed it to the whispering crowd waiting their turn to be examined. Also as you walk through the ER you can see everyone laying on their gurneys with bloody fingers, broken leg, scraped up face, nearly dead... yep we saw some crazy things! (well I didn't see, I tried to look the other way).
Cleanliness-- I felt anything the nurse staff or doctors used to pierce my skin was completely sterile and came from a sealed paper pouch. The walls, floors, ceilings were another matter regarding cleanliness. I figure when you are taking care of millions and millions of people you don't have time to worry about cleaning these surfaces. They don't change the sheets, pillow cases or blankets between patients. They just shake them out and fold them up for the next patient. Also gloves...the nurses and doctors don't wear gloves. They do use hand sanitizer between patients though. And when the nurse asked for a second stool sample she did put on a glove to take the vial from me. Good thinking. But when the nurse was holding my arm after they removed the IV tube, he had bare hands.
Restrooms-- Along with cleanliness is the bathrooms. They smell like urine all the time. The walls, floors, squatty toilet holes, etc. are not cleaned daily. There is only one western toilet in the whole hospital (which I found out the next day.) There are mops hanging on a sort of clothes rack turned mop rack, I am sure they are full of urine and fecal matter. It was such an ordeal getting my rear to the restroom in the ER. The nurse had to unhook my oxygen, my blood pressure cuff, my vital monitors and unhook my IV bag. Then I got to traipse through the whole Emergency Department, through the waiting room, past the blood sample station and stool sample station, to the one and only western toilet.
At the end of the first day, the nurse said I had a very bad infection in my stomach with a lot of inflammation. And I would need to come back everyday for IV antibiotics for the next five days! Ugh. I thought I just had to survive 10 hour day. But I was wrong. The next day Neum and I went back for more medicine and more hydration and the next day too. Then I finished up the antibiotics with oral tablets, since my stomach was able to take in food, finally!
Medicine in China is good and not something to fear. I am grateful we learned this early on in our lives in China. For the 3 days in the Chinese hospital plus the antibiotics to take home the total price was 1746 Yuan ($250). We've been consulting with Neum's sister Sarah (and ER doc in the States) through out the whole ordeal, and she says easily in the USA this would be $5000/day of treatment.
Through this experience not only have I come to terms with my phobia of IV and needles; now I don't need to have a panic attack every time I think about the aforementioned things happening to me. But I feel like I am now a part of China now and China is a part of me. I feel even more this is our family's home for a while and it is a very, very good home. But we're still going to do our best to stay the heck out of any more hospitals.
