It was my first surgery. I had a minor "operation" once on my hand, but I don't count that. Even this was pretty minor. But I did have to stay at the hospital over night.
I found out that I would stay at the hospital at about 10:30 am Wednesday. I had to check in to the hospital at 11 am Wednesday. Foreign service per diem rules for medical evacuations being what they are, I had to get to the hotel, pack up all my stuff, call the embassy to fax a letter of credit to the hospital, check out of the hotel, make new flight and hotel reservations for after the surgery, and get back to the hospital in 30 minutes. Amid all this I forgot to tell Katie the name of the hospital and subsequently, in post-surgery fog, did not contact her for some time thus causing unnecessary worry. Sorry.
The hospital staff was unbelievably friendly. I felt more like I was in a spa than a hospital. Every comfort was tended to, but hospital food, even in Singapore, still sucks.
The general anesthetic was administered. The doctor challenged me to count to ten before falling asleep. I thought that would be easy. I didn't even make it to four. I had no idea that stuff worked so fast. I woke up in some pain and everything was very cloudy for the next several hours.
My MBA classmate, Mathew Harrison, lives in Singapore now and came to visit me in the morning and helped check out of the hospital and back into my hotel, which was very helpful given the considerable pain I felt upon hoisting my back pack.
Now I am hanging out at a very nice hotel catching up on seasons 1 and 2 of Downton Abbey. I have wandered Singapore a bit. My impression is that Singapore is what happens when you turn the Duty Free area of an airport into a nation state.
I found out that I would stay at the hospital at about 10:30 am Wednesday. I had to check in to the hospital at 11 am Wednesday. Foreign service per diem rules for medical evacuations being what they are, I had to get to the hotel, pack up all my stuff, call the embassy to fax a letter of credit to the hospital, check out of the hotel, make new flight and hotel reservations for after the surgery, and get back to the hospital in 30 minutes. Amid all this I forgot to tell Katie the name of the hospital and subsequently, in post-surgery fog, did not contact her for some time thus causing unnecessary worry. Sorry.
The hospital staff was unbelievably friendly. I felt more like I was in a spa than a hospital. Every comfort was tended to, but hospital food, even in Singapore, still sucks.
The general anesthetic was administered. The doctor challenged me to count to ten before falling asleep. I thought that would be easy. I didn't even make it to four. I had no idea that stuff worked so fast. I woke up in some pain and everything was very cloudy for the next several hours.
My MBA classmate, Mathew Harrison, lives in Singapore now and came to visit me in the morning and helped check out of the hospital and back into my hotel, which was very helpful given the considerable pain I felt upon hoisting my back pack.
Now I am hanging out at a very nice hotel catching up on seasons 1 and 2 of Downton Abbey. I have wandered Singapore a bit. My impression is that Singapore is what happens when you turn the Duty Free area of an airport into a nation state.
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