One day experience at the hospital….

After coming back from Istanbul  end of November 2009 , I noticed a bulge at the groin region while taking a bath. The first thing that came to my mind was, could it be a tumour, or worsts a malignant one? Immediately I called my ‘consultant’ LWJ in Kuching to inform him of my fear. He asked me to lie down and see whether the bulge disappeared or not. Yes, it disappeared. He said most probably it’s inguinal hernia. What is inguinal hernia?? I surfed the net to find out more about this so called inguinal hernia, the causes and symptoms and of course the outlook about it. He also told me that the only treatment for inguinal hernia is surgery. OMG, I never had any surgery nor admitted to the hospital before since birth!

From the internet, I found out that some of the possible causes of inguinal hernia are long duration of lifting heavy objects, chronic sneezing or coughing …. Well I have been carrying my heavy  ‘school’ bag for more than 20 years  around the school. The bag easily weighs more than 3 kg! The bag is just like my office, with all sorts of stationery ranging from pen to stapler, stamping chop and pad, books etc. So this could be one of the reasons. Yes I also have been suffering from chronic allergy. Whenever I have an attack, I will keep on sneezing unless I take antihistamine to control it. So these two causes should easily explain my inguinal hernia.

Subsequently, I went to the polyclinic in Hospital Sultanah Aminah, Johor Bahru for a check up. It was about 11 am. A lady doctor attended to me. Oops, she was on the phone talking to her friend about what’s for lunch. I was waiting patiently.  So it was KFC for lunch from the conversation. (I didn’t purposely listen to their conversation)   From the look and feature, I guessed she must be either a Burmese , Sarawakian or Sabahan. Then she asked me what my problem was. I told her about the bulge and without hesitation and any examination, she told me it was inguinal hernia and she straight away referred me to the Surgery department to make an appointment.  From the name stamped on the letter, she must be a Sarawakian or Sabahan. Sorry I am not familiar with names from the various ethnics in Sabah or Sarawak. I noticed that the consultation was shorter than her conversation over the phone!

So with the letter I went to the surgery department a few days later. A young demure Malay lady MO attended to me. She examined me and told me it was indeed inguinal hernia. She asked me whether I wanted to do the operation at the hospital. I asked her whether the operation would be carried out under local or general anaesthetic and who would carry out the operation, I meant MO or surgeon. She could not answer me, but she consulted her boss, a surgeon. The surgeon came and talked to me. He told me it would be carried out by the MO and under local anaesthetic . I had to get admitted for a day. The operation would take around 45 minutes.  Anyway, I had to wait for at least 3 weeks for my turn as the queue was quite long. So I decided to go to private hospital as I had bought a medical insurance. He looked rather happy. Later over the phone  Jung Ing jokingly asked LWJ whether I would allow him to operate on me if he is a qualified MO. I said no as I don’t want to be his guinea pig!! LOL..

I consulted my colleague whose husband is an orthopaedic surgeon. He recommended Dr Cheah from Medical Specialist Hospital. So I went to consult Dr Cheah who is a surgeon graduated from Edinburgh.  He was in his fifties, soft spoken and always smiled. He explained to me the procedure in which he would put a plastic mesh to reinforce the repair. Later I got the appointment and would be operated in a weeks’ time. The whole process would cost RM 3,600.00

At 9.00 am sharp on the date of appointment, I was there at the hospital. The hospital looks rather rundown. First I had to register and get admitted. My next bed was another guy also doing the same operation.  A male medical attendant then came to shave my pubic hair. He was teasing me with some jokes but I was too tense to listen to him. This was the first time I had a shave on it! At around 12.00 noon I was wheeled into the operating theatre. While waiting in the operating theatre, I noticed Dr Cheah was sitting at a corner yawning away after the operation on my ‘ward mate’. I was praying to myself hoping  he would not fall asleep during my operation! My turn came. I was put on the operating table. The anaesthetist put a gas mask on my nostril and talked to me….

‘Uncle, wake up! It was over!’ I heard someone talking to me. Slowly I opened my eyes, I found myself on the wheel stretcher outside the operating theatre.  I felt like vomiting as the anaesthetic effect was not over yet. Soon I was back on my ward again. I could not take any food, only sips of water. Of course could not move. At night Xin came to visit me. Mummy and Vvy did not come as so unfortunate that Vvy also had an operation in Johore Specialist Hospital for pneumothorax! That night I had a long and sleepless night as my ward mate was snoring away like a helicopter!

The next day Dr Cheah came and examined me and I was discharged. I was given medical leave for two weeks. For the next two weeks I was CRIB. The incision was about 3 cm long and the suture was neat and did not leave a centipede mark. But after two weeks, I noticed the area was hard. I called up the surgeon. He told me it was normal and would disappear later. True, it was gone after sometime.

Hey, folks especially men, a piece of advice, do not lift heavy objects wherever possible else you will risk suffering inguinal hernia!