1st Visit to the Indian Hospital

I was really hoping to avoid this situation, but we had our first visit to an Indian hospital. Keely is so accident prone and all three previous ER visits in the U.S. were because of her.  This time she was racing friends along the street on her scooter and flipped over the handlebars, landing hard on her shoulder and head.  I was more concerned about her head and didn't think much of the small scrape on her shoulder. But a few days later a big bruise began to show up on her shoulder and then I noticed unusual swelling along her collar bone. Keely didn't complain about much pain and had good movement of her arm but I've never had a broken bone before and I got suspicious.  I asked around for a good hospital and a few of our local Indian friends recommended TeleRad RxDx which was not far from here.

Our friend, Roopa, loaned us her car and came with us to show her support. Steve got behind the wheel and drove us that night.  I was a nervous wreck in the backseat, closing my eyes half the time.  I'm a terrible backseat driver.  I must say, he actually did a great job considering everything is reverse, the steering wheel is on the right side, the stick is on the left, the cars drive on the left side of the road, also it was dark, and pedestrians, bicycles, and the occasional dog will dart out in front of a car at any moment.  There are unmarked speed bumps all over Bangalore which is supposed to keep traffic at a reasonable speed, but they become a road hazard to unsuspecting drivers.  BUT, Steve got us there in one piece.

Poor Keely, she was so afraid to go to an Indian hospital. However, I think her twin, Addien, was even more afraid for her sister.  She was very quiet, holding my hand in the backseat and whispered that her heart was "beeping" ("beating") so hard for Keely.  Roopa reassured us we'd be well taken care of. 

My first impression put me at ease right away.  When we arrived at 9 p.m. the place seemed relatively quite and quite modern.  I found my way to reception easily and was given a form to complete asking for the patient's name and age.  That's it for paperwork, no legal disclaimers, no HIPPA forms, nothing.

The cost was unbelievable.  We paid less than $10 to see a dr.  After talking with us he ordered the x-ray, and get this, we paid an additional $2 for the x-ray.  TWO DOLLARS! I was almost giddy.  We took the x-ray film back to the dr. who then confirmed my suspicion, Keely broke her collar bone.  Next stop was two doors down with the orthopedic specialist.  That was an additional $10.  He also looked at the film and confirmed it was broken, wrote a prescription for the swelling and an arm sling.  He said it should remold itself perfectly without a problem since she's so young.  We went to the hospital pharmacy and paid maybe $.25 for the medicine and less than $2 for the sling.  So all in all, we paid the same as about one co-pay for Keely's broken arm. 

It wasn't a bad experience at all and Keely so innocently announced to everyone, "I'm not afraid of Indian Doctors anymore".   Which is a relief since I'm nearly sure it won't be our last visit.