I woke up early in the morning and still wondering…. am I having Tinnitus ?  Together with my wife, we went for my favorite Pan-Mee breakfast before heading to the hospital. We arrived around 8.30am and went to the admission counter to do the necessary documentations, including the RM1,000 as deposit.

I waited in an admission waiting room and then later guided by a nurse to first floor. There, another nurse took over and I was informed to change my cloths and wear those that they prepared for surgery uses. She also informed my wife to come back after 2 hours. The nurse was very polite and shared with me some information regarding the ear illnesses. I had to sleep on a movable bed while waiting for the surgery. I had no watch but it was quite a long waiting time before the “surgeon” arrived. He greeted me from far and said the surgery would start in a short while. He also asked me how many days medical leave I wanted, I told him one day, guess what ? He was so kind to ask me, “Are you sure one day is enough ? You don’t want 2 days ?” My answer to him was “No”.

A nurse pushed me into the surgical room and transferred me onto a surgical bed. The “surgeon” came and explained to me that he would put some liquid into my left ear so that I would not feel pain but it was not guaranteed that my ear would be 100% felt numb. He then left and said the liquid has to be inside for about 10 minutes to take effect. Time passed, he came back and they used a cloth to cover my head, with an opened-hole so that my ear could be seen. Then, he started to insert a tube into my ear and suck out the water, I could hear the sucking sound and felt a bit of stinging pain. The process was pretty fast, then almost come to the end, he told me he would insert a small tube into my ear so that the water could flow out easily. I felt extremely pain when he pushed it deep inside my ear and I almost moved my whole body up, he knew I was in pain and apologized to me and said “ok, it’s done” ! While I am writing this, I still can imagine the pain that I was suffering. The “surgeon” told me he would not give me any antibiotic medicine, I listened without saying or asking since he is a doctor cum ENT surgeon, he should know what was good for me.

I was then transferred back to a the previous movable bed and push into another room for observation. They put one small clip onto one of my fingers. There was one monitor showing my heart beat, blood pressure reading and etc. I laid there for about 35 minutes before a nurse moved me to another room for me to change back my cloths. She then told me to wait outside and a nurse would bring me to the discharge counter and gave me a queue number. I waited about 20 minutes and when it was my turn, I went to the counter. Guess how much was the bill ?

It was RM1,498.75 !!!

Only the consultant fee alone, I was charged RM750 for surgery and RM100 for ward review !!!

I paid the amount, the staff told me to take the medicine at the pharmacy. I thought the “surgeon” said there was no medicine for me ? Or was I misunderstood his sentence…. no antibiotic but would prescribed other “take home drug” for me ? I took the medicine and went home with my wife.  That night, after dinner, I took the medicine according to the instruction printed on the pack.  The irritating sound still there during bed time but I was able to sleep.

To continue…..