About 8.30am, Friday morning, I was lying in a hospital bed when 2 nurses came and woke me up. They brought along a green robe, the kind they put on you before an operation. I was asked to slip into it. “This is it!” I thought to myself. A day earlier I was admitted for some tummy trouble. I didn’t know it would turn out to be this bad.
I had this gastric-like pain since Monday. My stomach bloated like a balloon. I had that uncomfortable feeling that something was not right somewhere. I went to see a doctor on Tuesday, he told me that it was just gastric problems and prescribed the necessary medicines. On Wednesday, the pain persisted but it was tolerable. It was the bloat that was really bothering me. How bad was the bloat? I couldn’t even wear my normal pant and button up. Still, I went out and played a round of golf.
On Thursday, I had lunch with a friend, Mervin. Looking at my problems, he told me to see a specialist immediately. He had almost the same symptoms and the doctor found out that he had ulcers. He put up a very convincing argument and in the evening after office, I headed straight to Ampang Puteri Specialist Hospital.
The doctor who carried out the initial examination immediately referred me to a specialist, Dr. Koh. After doing some checks, Dr. Koh told me that I had to be admitted to the hospital immediately for suspected appendicitis. Appendicitis? I didn’t know that the gastric pain was due to an appendix which was about to rupture.
The hospital staff told me to make arrangement to be warded. Since all the reasonably priced single rooms were taken up, I opted for a 4-person room. It was cheaper but lacked privacy. My room mates included a man from Holland who was having liver problems and a guy recovering from motorbike accident. Later, another man joined the club to complete the foursome.
That night I was asked to fast from midnight until the next day. I was given laxatives mixed with 100 Plus, an energy drink, to flush out stuffs from my tummy. I was told that I had to make sure that there was nothing left in my tummy to get a better picture during colonoscopy. I frequented the toilet every 10 minutes. I was sure by 6AM the next day, I had cleared every thing.
I didn’t have a good night sleep so I was naturally very sleepy came Friday morning. I was half asleep when the 2 nurses came to get me dressed up for colonoscopy. After putting on the green robe, I was asked to lie down on my bed. Then the 2 ladies pushed me out of my room. I reluctantly bade farewell to my room mates and they wished me well. I even tried to crack some dry jokes mostly to calm myself down. I had never been warded at a hospital before. I was being taken to an endoscopies room.
Inside the room, another nurse injected something into my hand. I was told to lay side ways with my knees pulled all the way up. Then, she put something in between my teeth to prevent me from completely closing my mouth. I believed by then I just dozed off. When I came to, the same 2 nurses were pushing me back to my room. I was still groggy. They told me that it was over.
About an hour later, the same 2 nurses reappeared. They told me that I was to be taken for appendectomy. This time I was taken to an operation theatre. I was still groggy from the effects of the anesthetics. I remembered a doctor injecting more anesthetics into me. I was staring at the many big light bulbs, the kind that I used to see in a movie scene of an operation room before I passed out.
When I woke up, I was already in my room. I knew I had an operation because I had pain in my abdomen and getting up was a big chore. By then my wife and son were already by my side. All my room mates had checked out. So we had the whole room to ourselves. Ton and Anas decided to stay the night with me. They were a big help as I could not pull myself up to go to the toilet. I could walk but it was too painful.
I stayed at the hospital for another night with Ton and Anas. Family members and friends dropped by to pay me a visit. On Sunday, I checked out from the hospital. It also happened to be Anas’ 10th. birthday.
I had this gastric-like pain since Monday. My stomach bloated like a balloon. I had that uncomfortable feeling that something was not right somewhere. I went to see a doctor on Tuesday, he told me that it was just gastric problems and prescribed the necessary medicines. On Wednesday, the pain persisted but it was tolerable. It was the bloat that was really bothering me. How bad was the bloat? I couldn’t even wear my normal pant and button up. Still, I went out and played a round of golf.
On Thursday, I had lunch with a friend, Mervin. Looking at my problems, he told me to see a specialist immediately. He had almost the same symptoms and the doctor found out that he had ulcers. He put up a very convincing argument and in the evening after office, I headed straight to Ampang Puteri Specialist Hospital.
The doctor who carried out the initial examination immediately referred me to a specialist, Dr. Koh. After doing some checks, Dr. Koh told me that I had to be admitted to the hospital immediately for suspected appendicitis. Appendicitis? I didn’t know that the gastric pain was due to an appendix which was about to rupture.
The hospital staff told me to make arrangement to be warded. Since all the reasonably priced single rooms were taken up, I opted for a 4-person room. It was cheaper but lacked privacy. My room mates included a man from Holland who was having liver problems and a guy recovering from motorbike accident. Later, another man joined the club to complete the foursome.
That night I was asked to fast from midnight until the next day. I was given laxatives mixed with 100 Plus, an energy drink, to flush out stuffs from my tummy. I was told that I had to make sure that there was nothing left in my tummy to get a better picture during colonoscopy. I frequented the toilet every 10 minutes. I was sure by 6AM the next day, I had cleared every thing.
I didn’t have a good night sleep so I was naturally very sleepy came Friday morning. I was half asleep when the 2 nurses came to get me dressed up for colonoscopy. After putting on the green robe, I was asked to lie down on my bed. Then the 2 ladies pushed me out of my room. I reluctantly bade farewell to my room mates and they wished me well. I even tried to crack some dry jokes mostly to calm myself down. I had never been warded at a hospital before. I was being taken to an endoscopies room.
Inside the room, another nurse injected something into my hand. I was told to lay side ways with my knees pulled all the way up. Then, she put something in between my teeth to prevent me from completely closing my mouth. I believed by then I just dozed off. When I came to, the same 2 nurses were pushing me back to my room. I was still groggy. They told me that it was over.
About an hour later, the same 2 nurses reappeared. They told me that I was to be taken for appendectomy. This time I was taken to an operation theatre. I was still groggy from the effects of the anesthetics. I remembered a doctor injecting more anesthetics into me. I was staring at the many big light bulbs, the kind that I used to see in a movie scene of an operation room before I passed out.
When I woke up, I was already in my room. I knew I had an operation because I had pain in my abdomen and getting up was a big chore. By then my wife and son were already by my side. All my room mates had checked out. So we had the whole room to ourselves. Ton and Anas decided to stay the night with me. They were a big help as I could not pull myself up to go to the toilet. I could walk but it was too painful.
I stayed at the hospital for another night with Ton and Anas. Family members and friends dropped by to pay me a visit. On Sunday, I checked out from the hospital. It also happened to be Anas’ 10th. birthday.
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