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[tw]

[adamsmith]

back problem, compounded by a pinched nerve. Totally ruined my holiday plans of going back home for a visit. Just got out and am back in Wuhan resting up for the next wonderful semester and hoping I can make it home in the winter break.

[Cognition]

The 'doctors' (if indeed that is what they really are, and not just people who have paid to pass their medical exams) may also inform you that your blood group has changed, mysteriously, whilst on the flight to China.

[lostinasia]

I didn't guarantee anything - I'm telling you what I know, what I've experienced and the like. I've given special "guest" lectures at more than 40 medical schools in China and spent a day or two in the hospitals to give them "ideas" on how to best westernize at it were. I speak no viable Chinese and I had no problem communicating with anyone - on all levels, aspects of hospital operation and staff, and the like.

You will of course have such issues in China - - -

[Leon Purvis]

In my li'l outpost of progress, there were no CATs, ultrasonic devices, or even high intensity lights for examination.

The first step of the medical exam was the letting of blood. The woman who drew my blood sat at a counter behind a large Plexiglas window with a hole in it like a theater ticket-taker's booth. (At the time, I didn't appreciate the symbolism). I stuck my arm through the hole. (Apparently, the window was there to protect ME from my own blood).

My blood was siphoned with a hypodermic whose needle was roughly the diameter of a knitting needle. They gave me the broken end of a Q-tip to hold over the puncture to staunch the bleeding. Unfortunately, the hole in my arm was almost the same diameter of the cotton Q-tip head, so by the time I returned to my apartment, I looked like a gunshot victim.

When she was finished, I told the blood letter "Hey, that almost felt good."

--Yaba yaba.

"What'd she say?" I asked the FAO guy who accompanied me to the clinic.

"She said that she understands English and did not appreciate the remark."

Yeah, right.

"Oh, Okay. What I meant to say was that it felt really good. I hope to return soon to repeat the experience."

Medical machinery? Whoa. I expected the ceiling to open up and expose the examination room to a thunder-and-lightning storm and wire-tethered kites reaching up to the clouds. The tools of the trade looked like something out of "Frankenstein" complete with something with a huge cathode ray vacuum tube sticking out of it.

The "electrocardiogram" machine was the size of a rectangular kitchen table and looked like it was better suited for recording mining disasters or underground nuclear explosions. It had the dozen or so styluses which left squiggles on a twenty-four inch wide piece of moving paper. Two of the styluses just smeared ink across the paper. The cardio tech examined the smears with feigned interest as if they indicated something scary. I was attached to the cardio machine with suction cups (no adhesive). One of the electrodes was attached to my foot. (WTF?)

Eye exam: "How many fingers am I holding up?"

Hearing test: Claps hands "Did you hear that?"

Of course, this was all done in different rooms in increasing stages of undress and done in the presence of people who were not dressed in anything resembling hospital garb. One guy was wearing a beat up hat and carrying a gunny sack. There were even a few women in attendance who apparently just wandered in from the street. I guess it was all theater for these people.

Genital exam? Naw. I think they might have been scared to do something like that.

When I was finished and allowed to put my clothes on, one of the docs made a comment.

-- Yaba yaba.

"What was that?"

The FAO guy said, "The doctor says that you're fat. You need to lose weight." The FAO guy should have seen the irony of it. He was pretty chunky. I'm 6'1" and weigh 185. I'm FAT!?

The University clinic is even more Spartan. When the school dug a pit in front of my apartment door and failed to tell me about it, I fell down and hurt my back. I was brought to the infirmary where some guy who looked like he had spent several difficult years in a detention camp made me strip to my shorts and stand before him on a stool (no noose or electrical cords hanging from the ceiling, thank God), whereupon he began beating on my back with his fists. (I think he might have been experiencing some sort of flashback).

Then he had me recline face down on a really dirty bed. He tried to stick my toes in my ears, then he beat me on the feet. (Another flashback for this poor guy?).

When it was over, the doc gave his diagnosis.

-- Yaba yaba

"What was that?"

The FAO guy says, "The doctor says that you were born with a bad back. And one more thing. You're fat."

So, no, the available state-run medical facilities weren't so hot in my little cow town.

[lostinasia]

This is all typical - the blood draw was the usual, the EKG was the usual - including the electrode on the foot - it's a grounding electrode for the circuit, the lack of genital exam is absolutely the norm - Chinese are generally taught not to go down there, the definition of "fat" is quite different then back home and thus in Chinese eyes you are fat - weight isn't the only factor - the body mass index is the key, and beating on your foot for a back injury is essential to make a proper diagnosis.

No surprise here

Chinese medical professionals generally do not make an exerted effort to speak English even though they likely do ... I've said that before.

[Brian Caulfield]

Thanks lostinasia I think all of us appreciate your advice . I think the trickis not to get sick in China . You need to spend time looking after yourself here and don't get run down by overworking . I know people won't agree with me on this forum but I think the basic health of the Chinese is good . The elderly here seem to be very fit and active . I believe their diets are better and their family lives more fullfilling than geriatrics in the west . They live longer because they are valued .

[lostinasia]

Yea, stay healthy - tell that to my perforated (ruptured) appendix while in China hahaha. Or the freak viral infection (flu) that spread to my lower spinal cord that put me in the hospital for a month ...

Agreed - it's best not to have the need for a hospital - but when it does, hopefully nobody will have issues. My school where I teach medicine recently hired a woman to teach languages - she's a nurse ... we need to discuss making our own little clinic

[tw]

[Leon Purvis]

I made light of my experience of the medical exam, but in truth, the clinic was equipped about as well as rural doctors' offices of the '50's and early '60's. What is important is that the medical staff be diligent in their responsibilities and realize it when a case presents itself which they cannot handle.

I agree that one is much better off if he lives in a large city in China. Luckily, in my cowtown, private hospitals and private clinics have begun to spring up, and it is possible to get immediate, emergency help.

First it was KFC and McDonald's. Now it's Doc-in-a-Box.

[lostinasia]

Doc-in-a-box ... you bet ... why ?

I think it's simple - disposable income and simply Western ideals

[jeffinflorida]

If you are sick go to Hong Kong.

if you are dying go to Hong Kong much quicker...