Trip report Singapore... long
Dec 13th, 2005, 09:46 AM
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Trip report Singapore... long
Final Report - Singapore (Long)
We flew from Bangkok to Singapore for a 4 nights. Had a lovely room at the Marriott on Orchard Road (Price line $74). Orchard Road was all decked out for Christmas compliments of Hitachi. Singapore was bubbling with excitement, so many young people, attractive people living in this little paradise in Asia. Wherever we went we saw beautiful young people dining, shopping, drinking, we even had to ask where they were hiding the older people - didn’t see any! Had a fun time, took the boat ride to see the sights on the river, wnet to Raffles hotel, Hawkers Circus, Little India and Chinatown and then found a Marche and discovered they had wonderful raclette in Singapore. Very funny to be eating this winter cheese dish in such hot and humid climate. It was so delicious that we had to go back on our last day and have another plate of raclette.
One the way out of the restaurant I tripped on a small step and fell and was not able to walk or step on my foot. My last evening was spent in Singapore General Hospital where they did an awful job in both diagnosis and treatment. The nurses treated me very kindly and the hospital was clean so I hoped I was in good hands. They had to take xrays of my foot and then shoot me with pain killers and told me they would “observe” me for a couple of hours. After 2 different sets of x-rays an hour apart, they told me that I had to wait to see the “bone specialist” who would be in shortly. After an hour or so a very young girl appeared and introduced herself as the doctor. I swear, she didn’t look a day over 14 years old but her name tag stated she was an Orthopedic Surgeon. I am thanking God that I will not need surgery! I couldn’t believe it. She told me she was having a difficult time reading my xrays and would like me to have yet another set done. It was my left foot - she wrote right foot on the order and I had to assure the technican that it was the black and blue and swollen left foot that needed to be x-rayed . Geez. At this point (about 6 hours into the ordeal) I am starting to lose all hope. Finally my “surgeon” suggests that her associate could come in and look at my foot because he couldn’t read the x-ray either. The fact that I couldn’t stand without screaming in pain convinced them to treat it as a broken bone even though they could not see it. I told them exactly which bone I believed to be broken. To humor me they elected to put it in a cast. My “orthopedic surgeon” took me into her room and put on a plaster half cast (top of the foot exposed) and wrapped it in tape. When she finished I almost started laughing except it was so painful but my foot was in worse shape then when I arrived. She realized that the cast was not on properly and had to take it off and start over. The second one did not seem much better but it was now 2am and it seemed hopeless. I told her it seemed very loose but she said that was the best she could do. I now had to wait another hour to be fitted for crutches and taught how to walk. I was boarding Cathay Pacific in a few hours to spend my last 3 days in Pattaya and couldn’t wait to get out of the hospital. The cast fell off two days later in Pattaya!
Upon return to Switzerland I went to the Emergency Room with the Singapore exrays. Instandly they could see a fracture of the 5th Metatarsal and couldn’t believe that they couldn’t read it in Singapore. They told me it clearly shows on all 6 exrays that I purchased at the hospital. I am now typing this in an air cast and will be sitting here reading for the next six weeks. Word of advice - stay out of the Singapore Hospital
End of report - sorry it was so long but it was an interesting three weeks - certainly not my best vacation due to our various mishaps but we still managed to have a great time. Thanks for reading
Mystic
We flew from Bangkok to Singapore for a 4 nights. Had a lovely room at the Marriott on Orchard Road (Price line $74). Orchard Road was all decked out for Christmas compliments of Hitachi. Singapore was bubbling with excitement, so many young people, attractive people living in this little paradise in Asia. Wherever we went we saw beautiful young people dining, shopping, drinking, we even had to ask where they were hiding the older people - didn’t see any! Had a fun time, took the boat ride to see the sights on the river, wnet to Raffles hotel, Hawkers Circus, Little India and Chinatown and then found a Marche and discovered they had wonderful raclette in Singapore. Very funny to be eating this winter cheese dish in such hot and humid climate. It was so delicious that we had to go back on our last day and have another plate of raclette.
One the way out of the restaurant I tripped on a small step and fell and was not able to walk or step on my foot. My last evening was spent in Singapore General Hospital where they did an awful job in both diagnosis and treatment. The nurses treated me very kindly and the hospital was clean so I hoped I was in good hands. They had to take xrays of my foot and then shoot me with pain killers and told me they would “observe” me for a couple of hours. After 2 different sets of x-rays an hour apart, they told me that I had to wait to see the “bone specialist” who would be in shortly. After an hour or so a very young girl appeared and introduced herself as the doctor. I swear, she didn’t look a day over 14 years old but her name tag stated she was an Orthopedic Surgeon. I am thanking God that I will not need surgery! I couldn’t believe it. She told me she was having a difficult time reading my xrays and would like me to have yet another set done. It was my left foot - she wrote right foot on the order and I had to assure the technican that it was the black and blue and swollen left foot that needed to be x-rayed . Geez. At this point (about 6 hours into the ordeal) I am starting to lose all hope. Finally my “surgeon” suggests that her associate could come in and look at my foot because he couldn’t read the x-ray either. The fact that I couldn’t stand without screaming in pain convinced them to treat it as a broken bone even though they could not see it. I told them exactly which bone I believed to be broken. To humor me they elected to put it in a cast. My “orthopedic surgeon” took me into her room and put on a plaster half cast (top of the foot exposed) and wrapped it in tape. When she finished I almost started laughing except it was so painful but my foot was in worse shape then when I arrived. She realized that the cast was not on properly and had to take it off and start over. The second one did not seem much better but it was now 2am and it seemed hopeless. I told her it seemed very loose but she said that was the best she could do. I now had to wait another hour to be fitted for crutches and taught how to walk. I was boarding Cathay Pacific in a few hours to spend my last 3 days in Pattaya and couldn’t wait to get out of the hospital. The cast fell off two days later in Pattaya!
Upon return to Switzerland I went to the Emergency Room with the Singapore exrays. Instandly they could see a fracture of the 5th Metatarsal and couldn’t believe that they couldn’t read it in Singapore. They told me it clearly shows on all 6 exrays that I purchased at the hospital. I am now typing this in an air cast and will be sitting here reading for the next six weeks. Word of advice - stay out of the Singapore Hospital
End of report - sorry it was so long but it was an interesting three weeks - certainly not my best vacation due to our various mishaps but we still managed to have a great time. Thanks for reading
Mystic
Dec 14th, 2005, 12:45 AM
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Sorry to hear about your miserable experience with emergency health care here in Singapore. I do believe that this was a fairly unusual thing to happen here. Our healthcare is generally regarded as some of the best in Asia. Expats posted in Jakarta, BKK, even Tokyo, routinely come to see doctors here. For future reference, the two hospitals most recommended and and used by expats are Gleneagles (across the road from the American Embassy) and Mt. Elizabeth (just off the main part of Orchard Rd, taxi drivers know it as Mt. E).
Hope none of you ever have to use that information, but never hurts to have it in the travel files, just in case.
Mystic, I hope this won't keep you from visiting SG again in the future.
Hope none of you ever have to use that information, but never hurts to have it in the travel files, just in case.
Mystic, I hope this won't keep you from visiting SG again in the future.
Dec 14th, 2005, 01:37 AM
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why did you go to a doctor?? you should ve gone to a chinese sinseh who would ve poked needles into your leg to numb the pain and then crack it back into position.the whole thing wont be more painful than childbirth but it's an instant cure. i swear you'd be walking in 2 days. 
Dec 14th, 2005, 10:15 AM
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Lindsey,
It would not keep me from visiting Singapore - loved it there. I did ask to be taken to Mount Elizabeth since it was right around the corner but I was told they don't have an ambulance and whoever called for one I guess called Singapore General. I was told I could go where I wanted and requested Mount E but didn't quite make it
Wein - had I know about your solution I am sure it would have been the easy way out
Mystic
It would not keep me from visiting Singapore - loved it there. I did ask to be taken to Mount Elizabeth since it was right around the corner but I was told they don't have an ambulance and whoever called for one I guess called Singapore General. I was told I could go where I wanted and requested Mount E but didn't quite make it
Wein - had I know about your solution I am sure it would have been the easy way out
Mystic
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