Casted: Day 5

Headed down to the Orthopedic Clinic at TTSH for the followup consultation on the fractured bone. Dr Henry recommended that I should undergo surgery to place metal implants to align and aid with the bone healing. The cool thing about the metal implant is that I no longer got to keep the heavy plaster cast on after the surgery. This mean no more plastic bags around my leg during shower and thus I'll be able to move my ankle which is important for driving. However, the metal are there to support, not to bear weight thus crutches are still needed for the rest of the healing weeks or months.

Hmm. I find it surprising that the doctor immediately jumps to the surgical solution instead of keeping everything in plaster. I got this weird feeling at the back of my mind that maybe the hospital needs to earn more money. Excuse me, but I just recently watched "Sicko" and the thought of Medical Care trying to be profitable business lingers on my mind. On the other side of thoughts, they are the doctor, they are the professional... who else should we get an opinion or recommendation other than professional? Didn't take long for me to say yes to Surgery because I know that I had all the insurance and medisave to cover for all the expenses and I don't want my right leg to suffer the same fate as my left leg in the future. Finally, all this years of paying this health insurance is yielding its fruits.

Talking about Health Insurance. ITS VERY IMPORTANT. Why? After meeting a man from Sarawak who suffered the same fate as me, I can better appreciate the importance of all the years of premium payment. By the way, I am not endorsing any Insurance company. This man was on cast for almost 2 months and those bone did not heal properly. He was recommended to go for sugery earlier in the treatment but declined due to financial issues and his company don't subsidise for in-patient surgery. Can really see the stress and slight depression in his face. Not only is $$$$ involved but his job will be at stake as well if he don't recover soon. Where to get the income for himself and the family? If I was in his position, I'll understand how he would had felt when the pocket tightens up upon hearing the cost of surgery. Lets not forget that as a foreigner, he does not enjoy the same subsidised medical care as we Singaporean had (well, you can say its because we pay tax). I wish his all the best and speedy recovery.

My plaster cast was removed after consultation with Dr Henry and after observing that the swelling did not subsides, I had my surgery postponed to next Friday. The nurse at Plaster department applied a different cast on my leg. Its synthetic and lighter than the old cast. All this while, 2 student doctors were observing the entire process. Learn that it takes them 5 years to graduate from University. Their thick glasses is a testament to the wealth of knowledge absorbed from lecture, books and nowadays Internet and Youtube.

Think I did not kept my leg properly elevated for the past few days causing the right leg to continue swelling. Will be on cast all the way till surgery day on Friday. In the mean time, with this new cast on which is thinner, I found a new way to keep my legs properly elevated everywhere I go with crutches.