Night at the hospital
Remember the time I was hospitalised to check an abnormality on my heart? That was today.
It's a long story but long story short, during a routine medical checkup at the hospital, the result showed something abnormal about my heart. So they suggested I run further tests to investigate. So I got myself checked into a hospital in KL overnight for the purpose.
My wife dropped me off that evening and I checked into a ward. My insurance could only cover a shared room in the ward so I shared my room with an elderly fella with an even more serious heart condition. Believe it or not, this is the first time in my 44 years living staying overnight at a private hospital. The first time I did was after the bike accident when I was 20 but that only got me into a government ward in Kota Bharu. You can say I've been blessed with health so I didn't have to go to the hospital for any reasons all these time.
Now I've visited many private hospitals before, even accompanied my wife and kids all night on a few occasions. This hospital in KL is no different. It has good facilities and excellent staff. As a patient however, my arm was poked with a big-ass needle so they can line me with drips 24/7. The nurse made a mess of the job and I can see a pool of blood on the sheets. The doctor came to fix the mess later.
Sleeping with one arm tethered to the drip line is no fun I tell you. I had to bring the drip everywhere, including the toilet and stop myself from moving too much on the bed. I slept awkwardly all through the night.
The next day, they run the tests. I had to fast from the evening before and then in the morning, they made me undress and wear this flimsy gown and wheel me all around the hospital. I remember laying in this state of the art machine while they do the coronary angiogram on me. Did I tell you the gown was flimsy? I'm pretty sure the staff saw glimpses of my private parts that day. After the stress test, I was done for the day. I stayed a little bit for lunch and then my wife came to pick me up in the evening.
The good news was, they didn't find anything much wrong with my heart. A little bit of cholesterol here and there but nothing a healthy diet and good exercise couldn't fix in the long run.
Overall, my first stay at a private hospital went pretty well. Apart from the pesky drip line, I pretty much enjoyed the experience. Obviously, I don't look forward to any future visits to the hospital because that could only mean something is seriously wrong with me.