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erinhermes · 07-11-2009, 02:56 PM

Hey sweetheart! So in China, MG is considered "curable"? How wild is that? Havr you heard anything from your docs? Any good news?

Isn't it sick that people that can't afford health care don't recieve it? I just do not understand. When I was in the hosp last week, this sweet little 90+ yr old woman was too weak to push her help button, but kept calling for help - luckily I heard and had my mom get the nurse...the sick thing is that the VERY NEXT DAY they were sending her back to the nursing home.......It was heartbreaking............

Please let me know how you are when you have the time/energy!

love,
Erin

Quote:

Originally Posted by ConnieS

Haha.. Yes, it was sort of scary. WAs thinking how they were gonna ship me back if I was in that state.. I was in China for my treatment, as MG was considered something that was definitely curable there. However turned out that mine wasn't MG so things got a bit messy. I did get the doctors email addresses, if any of you would like to go there and give it a shot, let me know!

The medical system in China is quite different from Singapore, where I am currently. In China, I guess you could say as long as you had money, you could be treated, and would be able to get top consultants from other hospitals coming to see you. The key word's money. They do have a public healthcare system, but there's a limit as to how much you can use, and once that limit is reached, most hospitals chase their patients away. However, if you're the one paying, then some hospitals allow you to stay until you are better. Someone I met there changed as much as 7 hospitals as he had reached his allowed limit in each hospital. This is largely due to their huge population, which amazingly also has its benefits. Lots of diseases which are deemed as rare in other countries are seen as normal diseases, as the incidence rate is much higher. Lol. That also explains why they're able to treat MG and also many other rare diseases using a combination of Traditional therapies and Western Medicine. There's a lot of hospitals there, rarely do I see GPs or clinics, as they have consultant visits at the hospital readily available. One visit costs about 0.58 USD for doctor's fees, and well known consultants or the more experienced ones charge between 1.50 USD. Usually you're able to see 2-3 hospitals on one street in the cities. My hospital was facing two other hospitals. Lol. There are several reputable hospitals, well known for different kinds of illnesses. The one I went to was good at treating autoimmune and nervous system diseases, hence their reputation in treating such diseases. A point to note though, healthcare there is quite affordable to locals who live in the cities, but are deemed as luxurious for those who live in the rural areas. Its probably true to say that many people (especially from the rural areas) go untreated or delay treatment as they cannot afford the treatment fees.

In Singapore, we have to see a GP to get a referral to a consultant at a hospital. If it was under the public healthcare system, it would take quite a while, sometimes a 3-6mths wait. And often we'd have to queue for quite a while. Healthcare is expensive here, though there are various schemes available to help people offset treatment costs. However, no one gets turned away at public hospitals simply because they do not have cash on hand, especially for residents. Usually hospital bills and treatment costs are partly borne by the Government for locals and patients from lower income groups can apply for assistance to pay their bills.

Hope this provides some useful info for all of you!