Sagarwhat?

The Decision

I mentioned in my last post that I had an unfortunate call from my doctor’s office telling me that I needed a CT scan because they had seen something a little off in my X-ray. Well, a week had past and my “cold” was still lingering, so I had a decision to make.

I want to stop here and let you know that this is not a medical blog. I promise I will stop with doctor talk soon, it just happens to be high on the priority list right now.

So, I told my Doc back home that I was not feeling 100% and he said, “If it’s available, you should go get the CT scan.” It turns out, it is available in India and at a fraction of the cost that you would pay in the US: http://www.incredibleindia.org/microsite/medical/indicative_costs.htm I must admit, I was a bit hesitant, but what the hell. Let’s got our Indian-hospital-visit on!

The Hospital

I didn’t really know what to expect when I got to the hospital.

(http://www.sagarhospitals.in/ )

If there is one thing I have learned about India, it’s that you never know what you’re going to get until you are there and see it for yourself. Even then you don’t know what you’re looking at half the time…

Doctoring

The first doctor was a jumpy, eccentric South Indian man. When I entered the room he initially ignored me while taking a couple of cell phone calls and finishing up some notes. Then, he turned to me suddenly, “so what’s the problem, why are you here?” I would begin to tell him, but he would interrupt me every time and begin to extrapolate from my symptoms that I had about every random pulmonary ailment known to man. Then, when he finished speaking, he would close his mouth quickly. When he did this he would click his teeth together, it was actually very unnerving. His sermonizing finally ended and he decided it was time for the examination, although he didn’t see fit to tell me he was going to start. He just popped his stethoscope on and started right in checking my breathing – about half way through he said, “sorry I am just examining you” – Thanks for the update doc, I thought you might’ve just needed a hug.

Scanning

Have you ever been in a CT machine? It’s pretty crazy actually. There was an automated woman with a British accent telling me when to breath and when not to breath. It reminded me of those GPS machines that default to the British women’s voice. Stop telling me what to do you crazy old bird!

Laughing

There was a moment in hospital when I literally burst out laughing. I was laying on an examination table staring up at the cracked brown paint of a hospital in Bangalore, India with my hospital gown pulled up to my chest, petroleum jelly lathered on my belly, and waiting for an ultrasound. I can honestly say I would have never imagined myself in that particular situation until I was in it. Sometimes life is fun (or at least funny), even when it’s not very pleasant. By the way, I am not pregnant. Woohoo! – That was a close one.

Paying

There was a booth in the hospital that I had to visit about 6 times during the course of my 8 hour stay. The booth was a payment station with an ATM right next to it so that you could pay for each bill before you moved on to the next treatment. It was like paying for tickets to amusement park rides except, instead of gravity defying cable cars, I was getting needles in my arms and doses of radiation.

Diagnosing

I ‘m fine. All the tests came back and it looks like I just have some harmless calcifications on my lungs.

Wrapping (it up)

Over all a pretty good experience with the Indian medical system:

A visit to a pulmonary specialist
An X-Ray with diagnosis
A CT Scan with diagnosis
An ultrasound with diagnosis
Blood tests
Medication

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$125USD (that’s total, not the deductible)