Note to Naval Architects.  It is not a good idea to put the sick bay in the bow of the ship.  It’s the place that pitches the most.  I am a notoriously hard “stick” when drawing blood. Moderately heavy seas don’t help.  And during my EKG the doctor kept telling me to hold still.  I was, it’s the bed that was moving.

I mentioned in the last post that I stopped taking the Acetaminophen with Codeine that I had been prescribed.  I didn’t like what it did to me.  One of the things it did to me was give me heartburn, which the ship’s doctor was concerned about because it could also be a symptom of a heart attack.  The EKG showed some irregularities, but was it me or the ship?  So today I was packed off in a cab to the Fiona Stanley hospital in Perth for another EKG and to check my leg.

I always find it interesting to see how different medical systems work.  Our destination was the Fiona Stanley Hospital.  But the first hospital we approached was the St. John of God hospital.   St John of God is the patron saint of Hospitallers and his order runs more than 300 hospitals worldwide.  Fiona Stanley is next door.

Fiona Stanley Hospital is the public hospital for Perth.  It is massive.   Fiona was a $72 cab ride from the ship.  At the ER I was greeted by a sign telling me the wait to see a doctor was 5 hours, 30 minutes.  In Australia, the ER is how people get urgent care.  They can go to see a General Practitioner but only about 20% of the clinics in Western Australia provide 100% coverage while others have either co pays or you pay upfront and get reimbursed.  So Public Hospital ERs are popular. 

Within 10 minutes I was seeing the triage nurse.  Then came the billing people.  They took my insurance information and didn’t require a credit card downpayment, which different from my experience in Mauritius.  This hospital gave an estimated bill, right off the top. They have a fixed menu of costs that is easy to read. They will bill my travel insurance and then bill me if there’s an issue.   After billing I was prepared for a long wait but soon I heard my name and a nurse took my vitals.  Then another call and they gave me an EKG.  They want to make sure when the doctor sees me things were ready. 

Our friend Christine Burslem lives in Perth.  She and her husband Ken were our friends and colleagues in Kosovo and Belgrade.  She came to the hospital at around noon.  I told the nurse that we would be upstairs in one of the coffee shops, but before we left the waiting room I was called.  The doctor was ready for me after a little over two hours.

Australia is an informal country.  Dr. Forbes insisted on first names.  “My name’s Holly.”  I like that about Australia.  In the ER there were bays separated by curtains.  There was not a bed but a large blue vinyl clad “Lazy boy” type of chair that could fully recline but was infinitely adjustable and could raise or lower to fit the Doctor’s height. Each bay was attended by a “Junior Doctor,” an intern.

Holly had me walk forward, backward, sideways, on my toes, turn left, turn right, and observed my gait.  Then she asked permission to touch me and yanked one leg one way and then the other and asked me if it hurt.  I told her when it did.  She had me push my leg against her hand and do leg lifts against pressure.  She consulted with the supervising ER doc and said, “pulled muscle, does the ship have a hot tub and a masseuse?  Good to go!” 

I’ve noticed that other countries are not as keen to do lots of tests as Americans are.  This may have something to do with our litigious nature.  As far as the EKG, in a hospital the bed was not in motion.  I was fine.  On our way out I noticed how big a complex the hospital was.  In the main entry (as opposed to the ER) it was like a shopping mall, coffee shop, restaurant, gift shops, news stand, and if you feel lucky you can buy a lotto ticket.

Suzi and I had lunch with Christine at “the dome” a restaurant along the Swan River.  We had a lot of memories to share of our time in the Balkans and people to talk about.  My office in Belgrade had a staff of 13, 5 who have passed away.

After lunch Christine went to pick up a grandkid and Suzi and I walked through Fremantle. Freo, the port for Perth where we are berthed.  It was probably too ambitious of me to get in almost 9000 steps on a still gimpy leg but I enjoyed the walk and other than being exhausted I’m doing fine.