I'd like to be typing now about the magnificence of The Petronas Towers, bedlam of Chinatown, or the Batu Caves, however our travels have taken a turn for the worse.
On the morning of June 13th Sarah's left eye was really painful, I think it was irritating her a bit before that but that morning and our last day in Hong Kong it became inflamed. We wondered what it could be and tried to google a few things. Sarah thought it could be conjunctivitus, only I've had that before and its more gooey than painful. At this stage it looked like a sty, which we all know can be painful, still it seemed more painful than that. During the day Sarah was feeling very down and had a moment where she thought she wasn't up to travel as it has been illness after illness, but she recovered her spirits. Either her pain reduced slightly or she got used to it, we took the 9:05pm flight from Hong Kong to Kuala Lumpur. We arrived at 1am the next morning. The taxi driver was useless and had no idea where he was going, driving us into KL then out again. I became irate and said "can you tell us, do you know where Pesar Seni is, or Chinatown or Jalan Petaling". Having visited this part of KL before I think I gave him more than many tourists would give him. He kept repeating "chinatown, no problem". Then missed several turns which said Kuala Lumpur. Irate that a 1hour taxi ride had now taken 2 hours I shouted "look its in central KL look for Petronas Towers, or give me the fucking taxi and I'll drive". He replied "chinatown no problem". We arrived at 4am, very tired and slept straight through to 11am.
At breakfast Sarah's eye was more painful, and she was breaking into tears. At some point at breakfast she said "I can't see". I looked at her eyeball and a white goo was there, or at least that's what it looked like. Still blinking wouldn't shift it. We needed medical help but the chap at reception was little use, directing us to a road where there are many clinics, but we saw one. Once inside it seemed to have restaurants and an ear clinic. The lady gave us directions of where to walk, but Sarahs eye was in terrible pain. With that I approached a taxi who gave us our first diagnosis. "what hospital do you want?" "its her eye", "I'll take you to the eye hospital, only 10 Ringgit (less than £2) on the meter". We got the one nice taxi driver in KL. Pointing as he approached the eye hospital he even showed us our proximity to the LTR to catch a direct train back to Pesar Seni.
Entering the hospital, Sarah was diagnosed at reception as having a corneal ulcer caused by contact lenses. She was off to see the doctor in minutes and left me to do the paperwork. Now when you think of hospitals abroad you think of scenes from foreign civil wars with mattresses on the floor and blood being swept everywhere, and helpless old men missing limbs and swatting flies. Tun Hussein National Eye Hospital would put the NHS to shame and I'll wager a few American hospitals too. Efficient and fast to see the doctor and not incredibly expensive. Sarah left with eye drops and medication and an appointment for Saturday 16th at 10am. However, Friday morning, while the pain subsided quite a bit her sight was almost totally gone. We returned. This time the doctor called me in and advised that she should be admitted for possibly two nights if the ulcer is bacterial or 2 weeks if it's fungal. Malaysia is an Islamic country and I'm almost guessing he was asking my permission to hold her. Anyway we agreed, Sarah came back on the train to the hostel with me, we grabbed her bag and returned to the hospital.
They checked her in and took a deposit off us for MYR 1500 or £305 or $458. Then took her to her room. The room is 80s in style but clean and adequate, and had a TV which is amazing to anyone who has experienced NHS hospitals. The estimated cost of this will be $610 or £407. The idea of putting a price for medical help is something a little abhorent to this Brit who has grown up alongside an NHS, but I believe its something I will have to get used to in America. I wasn't requested to join Sarah on the next bit which was to get and injection into her eyeball. I'm not sure I could have looked and been any support there at all. A husband must be strong not vomiting and fainting on the floor. I stayed with Sarah until 8pm I think and returned alone to the hostel. Having a dinner on my own in chinatown, and wandering back alone made me a little tearful, well almost. Then back at the hostel I logged on and phoned to sort out the medical insurance. Its all quite worrying but doing something practical to help keeps me occupied and makes me feel less helpless. I feel tremendous guilt that we didn't get help in Hong Kong, but we were flying that day so what would we have done? I feel guilt about not taking Sarah's pain so seriously straight away, but we both thought it was a sty. There are a lot of 'coulda, shoulda, woulda's' and they are useless thoughts. The actual outcome is she is getting better according to the doctor. We have to stay here in KL for a couple of weeks, either Sarah as an outpatient or continuing as admitted. Also it looks like returning home won't be necessary and if Sarah wants to keep travelling I'll support that as eagerly as if she wants to return home, However, returning to the USA with a pre-existing condition and no insurance would be a bankruptcy waiting to happen, so money is a consideration.
I've had to return to the hostel to extend my stay, but I'm going back to see Sarah in a minute. After tonight I'm moving to a 6 bed dorm to save money. I will miss my own room like I have now to lock myself away and brood when I'm not visiting the hospital, but I know this isn't healthy. Sarah wants me to sight see and take photos, but it doesn't feel right when she is in nice but sterile hospital.
On the morning of June 13th Sarah's left eye was really painful, I think it was irritating her a bit before that but that morning and our last day in Hong Kong it became inflamed. We wondered what it could be and tried to google a few things. Sarah thought it could be conjunctivitus, only I've had that before and its more gooey than painful. At this stage it looked like a sty, which we all know can be painful, still it seemed more painful than that. During the day Sarah was feeling very down and had a moment where she thought she wasn't up to travel as it has been illness after illness, but she recovered her spirits. Either her pain reduced slightly or she got used to it, we took the 9:05pm flight from Hong Kong to Kuala Lumpur. We arrived at 1am the next morning. The taxi driver was useless and had no idea where he was going, driving us into KL then out again. I became irate and said "can you tell us, do you know where Pesar Seni is, or Chinatown or Jalan Petaling". Having visited this part of KL before I think I gave him more than many tourists would give him. He kept repeating "chinatown, no problem". Then missed several turns which said Kuala Lumpur. Irate that a 1hour taxi ride had now taken 2 hours I shouted "look its in central KL look for Petronas Towers, or give me the fucking taxi and I'll drive". He replied "chinatown no problem". We arrived at 4am, very tired and slept straight through to 11am.
At breakfast Sarah's eye was more painful, and she was breaking into tears. At some point at breakfast she said "I can't see". I looked at her eyeball and a white goo was there, or at least that's what it looked like. Still blinking wouldn't shift it. We needed medical help but the chap at reception was little use, directing us to a road where there are many clinics, but we saw one. Once inside it seemed to have restaurants and an ear clinic. The lady gave us directions of where to walk, but Sarahs eye was in terrible pain. With that I approached a taxi who gave us our first diagnosis. "what hospital do you want?" "its her eye", "I'll take you to the eye hospital, only 10 Ringgit (less than £2) on the meter". We got the one nice taxi driver in KL. Pointing as he approached the eye hospital he even showed us our proximity to the LTR to catch a direct train back to Pesar Seni.
Entering the hospital, Sarah was diagnosed at reception as having a corneal ulcer caused by contact lenses. She was off to see the doctor in minutes and left me to do the paperwork. Now when you think of hospitals abroad you think of scenes from foreign civil wars with mattresses on the floor and blood being swept everywhere, and helpless old men missing limbs and swatting flies. Tun Hussein National Eye Hospital would put the NHS to shame and I'll wager a few American hospitals too. Efficient and fast to see the doctor and not incredibly expensive. Sarah left with eye drops and medication and an appointment for Saturday 16th at 10am. However, Friday morning, while the pain subsided quite a bit her sight was almost totally gone. We returned. This time the doctor called me in and advised that she should be admitted for possibly two nights if the ulcer is bacterial or 2 weeks if it's fungal. Malaysia is an Islamic country and I'm almost guessing he was asking my permission to hold her. Anyway we agreed, Sarah came back on the train to the hostel with me, we grabbed her bag and returned to the hospital.
They checked her in and took a deposit off us for MYR 1500 or £305 or $458. Then took her to her room. The room is 80s in style but clean and adequate, and had a TV which is amazing to anyone who has experienced NHS hospitals. The estimated cost of this will be $610 or £407. The idea of putting a price for medical help is something a little abhorent to this Brit who has grown up alongside an NHS, but I believe its something I will have to get used to in America. I wasn't requested to join Sarah on the next bit which was to get and injection into her eyeball. I'm not sure I could have looked and been any support there at all. A husband must be strong not vomiting and fainting on the floor. I stayed with Sarah until 8pm I think and returned alone to the hostel. Having a dinner on my own in chinatown, and wandering back alone made me a little tearful, well almost. Then back at the hostel I logged on and phoned to sort out the medical insurance. Its all quite worrying but doing something practical to help keeps me occupied and makes me feel less helpless. I feel tremendous guilt that we didn't get help in Hong Kong, but we were flying that day so what would we have done? I feel guilt about not taking Sarah's pain so seriously straight away, but we both thought it was a sty. There are a lot of 'coulda, shoulda, woulda's' and they are useless thoughts. The actual outcome is she is getting better according to the doctor. We have to stay here in KL for a couple of weeks, either Sarah as an outpatient or continuing as admitted. Also it looks like returning home won't be necessary and if Sarah wants to keep travelling I'll support that as eagerly as if she wants to return home, However, returning to the USA with a pre-existing condition and no insurance would be a bankruptcy waiting to happen, so money is a consideration.
I've had to return to the hostel to extend my stay, but I'm going back to see Sarah in a minute. After tonight I'm moving to a 6 bed dorm to save money. I will miss my own room like I have now to lock myself away and brood when I'm not visiting the hospital, but I know this isn't healthy. Sarah wants me to sight see and take photos, but it doesn't feel right when she is in nice but sterile hospital.
We are thinking of you both and hoping everything turns out all right.
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