True Blue Posted May 29, 2011 Report Share Posted May 29, 2011 (edited) Recently spent a month traveling in China and got some lung problems probably from breathing all of the bad air. After trying to recover on my own finally went to hospital after travelling to Kunming. * Emergency room filled with smokers although i believe a recent law in China bans smoking in such areas. Like many Chinese laws no one enforces it.* Bugs all over the hospital - that newfangled invention the "screen" hasn't made it to many areas in China* Bedding was filthy and looked like it hadn't been washed for a month* Floors were filthy and trash all over the place* Toilets much much much dirty than any porta-potty at a Grateful Dead concert Bottom line - I went one day got some meds and they wanted me to return the next day (I refused).I survived and got better upon my return to the states. But if this is typical, it seriously puts a damper on any plans to live in China after retirement. Is this experience typical for a non HK, non Beijing, non Shanghai Chinese city? TB Edited May 29, 2011 by True Blue (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
True Blue Posted May 29, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 29, 2011 Did they try to give you an IV? Yep, I got one. You obviously speak with great knowing experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tsap seui Posted May 29, 2011 Report Share Posted May 29, 2011 (edited) Glad to hear you are okay now, and survived the trip. I think you were up in Liaoning Province for a bit and that is right where I will be for a couple of months starting June 17th. It will only be my 7th trip there and I've been lucky ot not have any health concerns while I've been there, but who knows? On this trip I am going to find out for sure if I am destined to live in China or not. If my wife is denied her visa, then I will just live and die in China, gotta die sometime, somewhere. I don't have anymore goodbyes in me to say to my wife, it is time to live together. Good to hear you are okay. tsap seui Edited May 29, 2011 by tsap seui (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewDay2006 Posted May 29, 2011 Report Share Posted May 29, 2011 This subject has been a concern for me in the past... my wife doesn't agree... China can do no wrong with her ... but it is home for her.... Once I was in Guilin, something happened with my eyes... the white parts swoll up. one of the doctors tried to roll my eye lids with a pencil... and I jumped back and wouldn't let them touch me.... told my then girlfriend(now wife) not to leave my side I eventually got an eye wash and 2 different meds and the next day I was fine. I often thought about if I was worse off. One other time when I was in Beihai, due to a problem with my feet(bone spurs)... I got an xray... and it was kinda of funny, everyone in the waiting room gathered around the xray and viewed the large feet of the american. They then prescribed some vinegar form em to massage my feet in hot water. didn't work much... still have the problem, but I'm not blaming them. I know my wife wants to move back since she will have properties to inherit. it's a while off for me, but I will have consider seriously in the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott@Hong Posted May 29, 2011 Report Share Posted May 29, 2011 Next time tell your girlfriend / wife to take you to the EXPENSIVE hospital. Hospitals are "you get what you pay for" in China. Most major cities have the discount ones which sounds like what you experienced, then if you find the one most Chinese think is very expensive (still far cheaper then America) you will have found a gleaming, sparkling clean place with modern new equipment wall to wall.These are also the hospitals government officials get to go for free, hence why they are very very nice. I have been to the discount type one time and will never go again. The expensive one I would rather go to then any hospital in America. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy W Posted May 30, 2011 Report Share Posted May 30, 2011 Yes - the choice is there. Which do you prefer? I've found the IV's to be usually very effective - faster than antibiotics, but occasionally requiring an antibiotic chaser. The antibiotics are available at most drug stores - just be sure to check how many you need for a full course. For me, I've found health care (doctor visits) here to be on par with what I expect in the US - except that nobody speaks English. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meelo Posted May 30, 2011 Report Share Posted May 30, 2011 Next time tell your girlfriend / wife to take you to the EXPENSIVE hospital. Hospitals are "you get what you pay for" in China. Most major cities have the discount ones which sounds like what you experienced, then if you find the one most Chinese think is very expensive (still far cheaper then America) you will have found a gleaming, sparkling clean place with modern new equipment wall to wall.These are also the hospitals government officials get to go for free, hence why they are very very nice. I have been to the discount type one time and will never go again. The expensive one I would rather go to then any hospital in America. +1 If you are going to go to the hospitals in China (even Shanghai) I recommend this. The class of Doctors and Patients are much better. You will not have as much of the other visitors pay attention to you. When my daughter was born in Shanghai, we went to a good Chinese hospital. But we would get random people who would walk into our room just to see the mixed baby. that gets old really quick when you have been up all night with the baby and the wife. In Hangzhou, the "expensive" hospital is only like 10% more than the cheap one, but the crowds are wayyyyyy less there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beachey Posted May 30, 2011 Report Share Posted May 30, 2011 I know the nicer, more expensive hospitals in Dalian have VIP sections. As a foreigner, you qualify with your cash . The only time I have been there is when I came on my preview trip in 2007. What was weird is there was a group of 10-12 of us and they took us for a quick tour in two groups. So even in the VIP section they still let a small group of random foreigners walk through which I thought was strange at the time though now that I have lived in China it doesn't seem so strange. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steveandrong Posted May 30, 2011 Report Share Posted May 30, 2011 For some, this is old news....Had a gall bladder problem in Jan '07 in Xi'an...was set to have it out(paid up in advance of course to the tune of $481 american dollars)...that would have included everything...7 nights in the hospital, surgeon fees, lab fees...."Everything"...the doctors played it to the cautious side though and backed out on operating because the enzyme levels were too high...told me they would be happy to perform this a month later after things had cooled down....so i went home and my doctor had it out on the next monday morning...i ended up paying out of pocket expenses (deductibles and co-pays) that were 4-5 times what it would have cost me to have it out in China....the procedure performed was exactly as they would have done it in China....can't remember what the total bill was here, but it seems it was in the 15-20,000 dollar range....quite a difference...granted, this hospital was a little like described by True Blue...maybe not to quite this extreme, but smoking was there, myself and fiance included and the beds were not so comfortable and the wc was even worse.....but as far as the doctors and nurses and operating facilities were concerned, i was completely at ease for having this procedure done there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b.c Posted May 30, 2011 Report Share Posted May 30, 2011 (edited) I too had to stay a night in a hospital in western china, in a very small poor town. Yeah, it was rather disgusting. But boy was it very effective and cheap. The 1 night and a weeks work of pills cost me $10! I will take that any day. And I took full advantage of the smoking policy as well: Me in hospital To each, their own. Edited May 30, 2011 by bcco (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chilton747 Posted May 30, 2011 Report Share Posted May 30, 2011 I too had to stay a night in a hospital in western china, in a very small poor town. Yeah, it was rather disgusting. But boy was it very effective and cheap. The 1 night and a weeks work of pills cost me $10! I will take that any day. And I took full advantage of the smoking policy as well: Me in hospital To each, their own. You look mighty comfortable there Brian. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xiaozhu Posted May 30, 2011 Report Share Posted May 30, 2011 (edited) China has three levels of hospitals according to medical facilities and resources. As you all know, China's hospitals are not like US's except ones which are operated as US way. China's hospital is more like a supermarket. If you want something, just walk in (it is very hard to do walking in at an advanced hospitals just like Xie He Hospital, Tongji Hospital, Renming Hospitals in Beijing). Compared with China’s population, China is short of doctors and medical resources. Luckily we have a very good Chinese-style hospital near where I live. It reminds me a post saying China will catch USA in 2015. China maybe does in term of GDP, but not in per capita GDP, not in medical resources/facilities, not in many ways. Edited May 30, 2011 by xiaozhu (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick Posted May 30, 2011 Report Share Posted May 30, 2011 (edited) I lived in China five years and could tell you hospital stories of such horror that they would cause Stephen King to piss his pants. Somewhere in the bowels of Candle is my post about having an ear unplugged. I am not technically skilled enough to find it and post a link, but trust me when I say it was not something you want to go through. On the other hand, I had first rate cardiological care the whole time I lived over there. For a guy with severe heart issues, it was a blessing. I have no complaints about that end of things, only praise. Oddly enough, both the ear and the heart were treated at the same hospital. So I guess each place may have both good and bad. Also, cleanliness is not a virtue in most hospitals. In most case, at least from what I observed, the family is expected to take care of patients when they are in the hosptial - bathe them, take care of bedding, etc. Not like in the West. In the hospitals where we lived (there were five of them I recall), families also provided food for the patients. Edited May 30, 2011 by Mick (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david_dawei Posted May 30, 2011 Report Share Posted May 30, 2011 These stories cause me to piss my pants in incredulity; you either have the mindset of 1.4 billion or you are pissing your own pants of fear. Will you truly die? Is that your fear? Grow a few like 1.4 billion or stop asking for the local hospital. Sorry to piss on this thread... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy W Posted May 30, 2011 Report Share Posted May 30, 2011 The prostate exam, at least at the hospital I went to, is done with ultra-sound these days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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