so much for western medicine.
Wednesday, April 08, 2009
in case you are wondering, i'm on attn C for my ankle AND for feeling unwell.
after the ankle injury that I incurred during BMT, I've lost faith in NS, in the doctors Singapore, and in western medicine.
It all started off with an ankle sprain. For those of you who had a sprain before, you will know that adequate rest is all it takes for the ankle to recover. But being in BMT and a 'garang' soldier, I went for the route marches and fast marches, which resulted in a partial ligament tear and a slight bone protrusion. Initially, it was just pain after walking or standing for about 10 minutes. Now, i feel pain even when lying on the bed...
I wanted to keep this to myself and a few close friends, but eventually decided to blog about it to vent out my frustration. I've been to a specialist in Jurong Medical Centre, and must say that I'm utterly disappointed.
The first specialist I'm sent to was fine, but not the second or third one. The second one had the mentality that I'm chao-keng, and only sent me on a MRI scan upon my request. When he saw the report, he went entirely silent. Subsequently, I ask if he could recommend down-pes for me, he said yes but he did not indicate it in his memo to the SAF MO. The third one was worse. Not only did he offer differing view from the second, he insisted that taking painkillers was the only way to stop the pain and recovery will come naturally.
after the ankle injury that I incurred during BMT, I've lost faith in NS, in the doctors Singapore, and in western medicine.
It all started off with an ankle sprain. For those of you who had a sprain before, you will know that adequate rest is all it takes for the ankle to recover. But being in BMT and a 'garang' soldier, I went for the route marches and fast marches, which resulted in a partial ligament tear and a slight bone protrusion. Initially, it was just pain after walking or standing for about 10 minutes. Now, i feel pain even when lying on the bed...
I wanted to keep this to myself and a few close friends, but eventually decided to blog about it to vent out my frustration. I've been to a specialist in Jurong Medical Centre, and must say that I'm utterly disappointed.
The first specialist I'm sent to was fine, but not the second or third one. The second one had the mentality that I'm chao-keng, and only sent me on a MRI scan upon my request. When he saw the report, he went entirely silent. Subsequently, I ask if he could recommend down-pes for me, he said yes but he did not indicate it in his memo to the SAF MO. The third one was worse. Not only did he offer differing view from the second, he insisted that taking painkillers was the only way to stop the pain and recovery will come naturally.
I shall not comment on the SAF part in case I get into trouble...and I will explain why I'm pissed.
Firstly, are doctors supposed to have such mentality that patients are there to chao-geng? While I don't deny that there are people who do that, why should doctors allow the minority to form their impression of the majority? To me, a doctor's job is to help their patients recover at the fastest rate possible using the best method available. The doctors that I've met thus far seem to only use the superficial methods and do not care sufficiently for their patients. We know how bloody difficult it is to get into NUS Medicine, and yet we have unprofessional doctors clogging up the system. They ought to be ashamed of themselves.
Secondly, in my case, what I need is rest and physiotherapy (I've got them, but sessions are so far apart). Yet, I'm stuck in my down-pes-ing process and I do all kinds of shit in army. Is that what western medicine can do for me? And if all else fails, surgery will be the answer. And we know that surgery, no matter how minor, has its after-effects. If rest can aid in recovery, why go for painkillers (which are drugs and lead to addiction) and surgery?
I will consider if I want to talk about the third point here.
So, the kind of frustration is overwhelming. I guess I'm just a victim of this system, and I have no choice but to live with it. Life is never fair, isn't it?
Firstly, are doctors supposed to have such mentality that patients are there to chao-geng? While I don't deny that there are people who do that, why should doctors allow the minority to form their impression of the majority? To me, a doctor's job is to help their patients recover at the fastest rate possible using the best method available. The doctors that I've met thus far seem to only use the superficial methods and do not care sufficiently for their patients. We know how bloody difficult it is to get into NUS Medicine, and yet we have unprofessional doctors clogging up the system. They ought to be ashamed of themselves.
Secondly, in my case, what I need is rest and physiotherapy (I've got them, but sessions are so far apart). Yet, I'm stuck in my down-pes-ing process and I do all kinds of shit in army. Is that what western medicine can do for me? And if all else fails, surgery will be the answer. And we know that surgery, no matter how minor, has its after-effects. If rest can aid in recovery, why go for painkillers (which are drugs and lead to addiction) and surgery?
I will consider if I want to talk about the third point here.
So, the kind of frustration is overwhelming. I guess I'm just a victim of this system, and I have no choice but to live with it. Life is never fair, isn't it?