AmericanLola

Well, here is a short review of our experiences here. After choosing our doctors, we had to run the gaunlet of medical tests in different locations to get our ‘clearance’ to be admitted. This was reviewed by yet another doctor, who, in spite of the fact the AmericanLolo exercises regularly, decided he needed an echo-stress test. This we had done on Saturday out in Binundo, quite a drive from Makati. On Monday we ate dinner at home and then went to the hospital to be admitted at about 8 PM. The hospital, Cardinal Santos, in Greenhills, was very nice! It has been newly renovated and updated, the goal being to be the third hospital in the Philippines to pass the American hospital accreditation process. The other two hospitals with this accreditations are the Philippine Medical Center and St. Luke’s. Everything was very clean and cleanable. They even have some restrictions on visiting hours and discourage visitors under the age of eight!The only quirky things were that the shower water never got very hot, and that venting for the air conditioning was arranged is such a way that the smells of coffee, popcorn or whatever the nurses were eating on break came wafting into our room. No one was cooking dried fish, so we were okay. The rooms were pretty cold, but they gave me a nice blanket to use on the watcher’s ‘bed.’ No IVs or disturbance ’til morning, so that was nice.They wheeled my husband  away at about 8:30 the next morning. I talked to the doctor after the surgery, about 11. Husband was still in recovery. The doctor said it had gone very well and showed me the three pieces they had gotten out, two pieces of tooth, one clearly part of a root canal, and one piece of dead bone. He got back to the room about an hour and a half later, looking surprisingly good, but feeling really awful because he had not had any tea for about 20 hours and had a splitting headache. I asked if he could please have tea, or caffeine in his IV, but they said he had to wait until 5 PM. They relented later and he had some at 4, and felt better right away… Nasty stuff, caffeine. :-)Staying in hospitals is never fun. My husband is a Type 1 diabetic. The blood sugar control was difficult and he finally asked to be freed of the IV and given the freedom to manage his own blood sugar, and after that, by going up and down seven flights of stairs was able to get a handle on it. The doctor for his diabetes was pretty stuffy and not a lot of help. I think she should have been interested, since I am sure she had never seen any one who had been a diabetic for 45 years, let alone one so healthy, but she wasn’t.I ate the meals brought to the room, and we rested as much as we could. Friends came and picked us up and took us ‘home,’ with a stop on the way to buy some liquid drink powder, meal replacement for diabetics. Poor man, he’s not supposed to eat solid food for five more days. This afternoon he goes to have the sinus packing removed. The doctor said that is the worst part, but only hurts for 3 seconds. We need to see both doctors again before we can leave Manila, in about 5-6 days. And I have this frozen meat I guess I have eat all by myself before then!I would say that the care we have received has been very good! The doctors and all the nurses were very nice and professional (other than that one lady doctor). It would have been nice to have all the tests and doctor’s appointments in one place, but that is minor. The food was okay and usually arrived in the room warm. I think most Filipinos order their food brought in by friends or from take out places, so food will probably never be high on the ‘fix it’ list for local hospitals. I would definately recommend Cardinal Santos as a good place to go if you need to be hospitalized in Manila. I think that until they pass the accreditation (in June) the prices will be lower than the other accredited hospitals.So, that’s my report! Thanks for your prayers and kind thoughts! We are still praying for a speedy recovery and no further infection.

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