My Experience with Korean Doctors Part II

So on Saturday I went to Joyfull Hospital in Seoul to have my hernia looked at to determine whether the surgery could be scheduled for Tuesday. Since my parents were in town, they came along for the ride (and Michael too).  We got there a little before my scheduled 11 am appointment and I was seen right away. The doctor spoke very little English. It was a little frightening.

He examined me and said that he was pretty sure it was not an inguinal hernia, but a femoral. He drew me a diagram and it kinda made sense. So then he told me we would confirm the hernia with an ultrasound and then he would come back and talk to me about scheduling the surgery.

So I was guided upstairs by a nurse that spoke better English than my doctor. She asked me if I was ready to have surgery today. I was taken aback by that question, seeing as I was told this was only a meet and greet with the doctor. I told her no, I was going to try to have the surgery on Tuesday. She smiled at me and led me to the 6th floor, where my rounds of testing would begin.

First, I was taken to the x-ray room, where I had my chest x-rayed. This should have been my first clue that something was wrong. My problem area is not in my chest! Why are they x-raying me? Then  was taken to have the ultrasound. I had to stand up on the examining table and they had me cover my "area" with a towel. There was no point to the towel, but I held it where they told me. The technician spent a long time examining the area. Then she told me she was going to find a doctor.

The doctor came in and he seemed concerned too. He started scanning up my stomach and right up to my bra area. At this point I was getting irritated. First at the fact that I had no idea what was going on. Second at the fact that I was standing there with my pants dropped and my shirt pulled up and I was very cold! Then the doctor scanned my right side. I think they were having trouble finding the hernia, but I couldn't be sure because there was a trail of blobs they were following up my stomach.

After what seemed like forever, they let me wipe off all of the petroleum jelly and I proceeded to another room where I was given an EKG. Weird, I thought, but I went along with it. Finally I gave a urine sample and three vials of blood, which had the word "ADMISSION" on them. Uh, what's that?

They took me back to the waiting room and I explained to the family how weird I thought that they would ask me if I had eaten today. My mom said that maybe they were going to do the surgery today. I was starting to get nervous. I was ready to ask the doctor how many surgeries he had performed and if they really thought it was necessary to start surgery on someone who hadn't fasted beforehand. A few minutes passed and I was brought back to the doctor's office.

He told me that the ultrasound showed signs of vascular dilatation, but there was no hernia. Most likely it was due to my previous DVT and was just some swelling or dilating in my veins. He explained that he knew nothing about these kinds of things so he would refer me to a vascular specialist if I wanted. I told him that was okay, he could just write a note and give me a copy of my $80 ultrasound so that I could show a new doctor in Chuncheon. He then went on to say that it was their "mis." They were prepping me for surgery and I didn't need it so they were going to take the blood work off the bill. You better!

So yeah, my mistrust of doctors remains. I remember asking the first doctor if she wanted to do an ultrasound and she said she knew a hernia when she saw one. Darn doctors (no offense to you, Cata, you will be the only doctor I trust :)! I'll let you all know what happens when a see yet another doctor in a few weeks.