Friday, November 21, 2014

A Visit to Orthopaedic Surgery at Tan Tock Seng Hospital


TTSH.jpg

My appointment with Tan Tock Seng Hospital's(TTSH) Orthopaedic Surgery finally arrived. A doctor from Marine Parade Polyclinic saw me on 12 August and referred me to TTSH. I had gone to the same polyclinic in April 2013 to see my backache problems. The lady doctor said I was fine. Well, the pain got worse.

I used to go to Singapore General Hospital's(SGH) Orthopaedic Surgery. My medical reports were with them. When I requested for my appointment to be at SGH, it was turned down. Family members were surprised that I was going to TTSH, they have bad experiences there. They think SGH has better medical professionals.

I arrived at B1A half an hour early for my appointment. I was seen by the doctor at Room 22 an hour later. After an examination, he asked me to go for an x-ray. His nurse told me to follow the yellow foot sticker on the floor to go to the x-ray department. Cute. No maze to play, it leads straight to x-ray....., a short wait and x-ray was done. I like the efficient and courteous radiologist and her male assistant.

The waiting area of the x-ray department has a beverage corner where visitors can help themselves to cups of hot Milo. I had one.

Then it was back to Room 22. Two patients later, my name was called.

Doctor studied my x-rays before telling me both the good news and the bad news. No slipped disc. Yayyyy! Bad news is I have degenerative disc disease,,,,,, getting old.... *sob sob*. It is a term used to describe the normal changes in my spinal discs as I age. This is a disease no one can escape as one ages.

The doctor prescribed physiotherapy sessions and B12 vitamin supplements.

TTSH2.jpg

After making my payment for my consultation and x-rays, I was directed to a counter to pre-order my medicine as the pharmacy was one level down and also to avoid a long waiting time. I was given a note which has a map to the pharmacy.

Once I reached the pharmacy, a girl scanned my ID and I just wait for my name to be called. It was fast as everything was computerised and a robotic claw handed my order to a pharmacist.

I wanted the images of my x-rays so I followed the orange foot stickers to the main x-ray department and paid S$30 for a CD-rom copy.

Not a bad experience at Tan Tock Seng Hospital for this appointment.


21 comments:

  1. Oh so cute! Follow the foot stickers to the place you wanna go? :)

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    1. haha.... it's actually easy to find the places by following the stickers, especially for the elderly folks (some are illiterate, they depend on the bright colours).

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  2. Good to hear everything is well except for the degenerative disc disease. Take care! :)

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  3. Sounds like a systematic hospital should be.

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    Replies
    1. Glad that they have made improvements to cater to the patients and visitors.

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  4. Is the degenerative disc disease serious ECL?

    Is there anything to slow it down?

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    1. It can be painful and can greatly affect the quality of one's life. Disc degeneration is a disease of ageing, and though for most people is not a problem, it could cause severe chronic pain if left untreated. I am scheduled for physiotherapy sessions. Hope it will help to alleviate pain and slow it down. :)

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  5. Everything in place, least hassles for patients, sounds good.
    Take care dear!

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  6. I hope the pain will healed.
    please take care!!!I

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  7. Glad to hear that it's a nice experience. I hate those long waitings in the hospital, very waste of time!

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    1. My husband, sister-in-law and I used to wait for hours when we brought my elderly parents-in-law here for their appointments.
      Glad for the improvements made.

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  8. Hi ECL! Where got old? Always young at heart, yes? So cute sad it seems cause getting old LOL! ;)

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  9. Thank goodness it's nothing major and you are in the pink of health. Do stay well, happy Tuesday dear! :)

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  10. I had popped in to see your photohunt... I hope you will be feeling better and back with us soon.
    This is interesting to me in that I am also in healthcare. I love your system of "health". I feel that our system is focused on illness. Instead of B12 and therapy that would have been more likely treated with pain killers and drugs. It is a sad state of medicine that is practiced here.
    Hope to see you 'hunting' again soon!

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