The Doc
Sorry for the lack of posting lately. I’ve been dealing with this goddamned foot thing. I went to the doctor on Tuesday for a follow-up, and he said that it was swollen and looked like it was getting infected. It hurt like a bastard, too. He gave me an injection of antibiotics and some more of that super swell Oxycontin that they gave me when I had my kidney stone. Today I went back in for a follow-up, and he said everything looked great. He even took out two of the four sutures, and said I should come back next Friday to have the other two removed. He also gave me some more painkillers, so I’ve got no complaints.
Honestly, medical care was a real concern before I came here. (Chinese hospitals? Ugh. “Drink this monkey penis tea, it will cure your cancer.") But the quality of care I have received here has been absolutely top notch, as professional as anything I’ve come across in the US. The medical facility I go to, Bayley and Jackson, is first rate. The doctor treating me, Dr. Zhang, got his postdoctorate at the Mayo Clinic. The doctors at this place are no slouches.
It is, of course, a private, for-profit enterprise, and good care isn’t cheap. The day they did the procedure on my foot, for example, cost about a thousand bucks. I have insurance, and it paid for everything—there was no copay or deductible or anything, I just signed my name—but it goes to show that when it comes to healthcare, you get what you pay for. There are two or three other hospitals in Beijing that are just as good and just as expensive, and I feel confident that I could get damn near any medical issue treated locally, and in case of something extraordinary I could always go to Hong Kong as a contingency.
