Hospitals in Hangzhou

To fall ill without health insurance, is fatal to your life. It's exactly my case.

On Jan. 21, I was mountaining as usual. I felt a little tired when climbing the other side of the Dragon Cave (Yellow Dragon) mountain after passing the Xianxia Temple. I sat down on a stone bench of a little alcove in the middle of the downslope. 2 to 3 minutes later, a cold stream penetrated throughout my body and I felt vomiting from within my stomach and I turned back to walked slowly to stabilize my situation. My face turned first white and then purple. I felt a little ill and I had a cold, a fever, and decided to fetch some tablets from a drugstore alongside the Wener Road. I learned a lesson before one month ago. At that time I didn't try any medicine, even I was very ill with cold, coughing and high temperature.

I wanted to buy some pills and took myself in and then all will be OK.

I ran to a drugstore, bought a pack of pills, which shall cool down my body and recover my force. I left the store, and tried to pick my bike, and I felt suddenly extremely weak and unable to support myself. I ran back to the store, asked for a seat and waited for a complete recovery. That didn't happen.

I can't stand up any more. The store owner, a 40 year old woman, gave a cup of water to drink. I can't move still. Waited another 5 minutes or so. My face turned even whiter, like a dead man.

I asked the to call my brother-in-law, the only relative in the city. He called his phone first, he was not in his store. Called his mobile, rang back, told him my story, and 15 minutes later, he came to pick me up to the hospital after paying the telephone bills the drug store owner asked for. I was quite bothered by this kind of greed for money, even to a man seriously ill and for only less than one yuan.

I was sent to the emergency observation room. Doctors checked my temperature, my blood pressure and my heart beat. It seemed I was suffering from a severe inflammation. But they can't find where did the inflammation come from. Me either.

The doctors and nurses put me under monitoring and gave me three bottles of brine. They dropped into my body and made me even more vomiting. After the next half of the 2nd bottle, I felt unconscious again. I cried for help. Nurses came, and I was put into custody, breathing oxygen instead of air. A hour or so later, my brother-in-law came back and he accompanied me until 9:30 in the evening when I felt a bit stabilized and I decided to go home. This time, not my own home, but my brother's.

The next morning, I felt more feverous. Temperature rose to 38.5 C. I have to go to the hospital again. Blood checked. Something wrong. I felt pain in my leg and joint. Checked my surgery. Found the lymph was enlarging. Prescribed some tablets and left. Again brines, this time two bottles.

Next morning, 39.5 C. Terrified. Brines of best brand.

On 23rd, 24th and 25th, two bottles of brines each. And additional medicines. Payment bills skyrocketing.

Meantime, it seemed no body cared for your situation, except occasionally a nurse would pass by you. No doctor was consulting on your status of recovery. The only thing they found was my lymph swelling, which the doctor in the surgery declared was caused by my dermatophytosis. I have that derma since my childhood but I never have lymph swelling even when the dermato was much worse in some instances - for example wearing a fake Nike under hot and humid weather for a whole day.

They also didn't try to find out what lead to my unconsciousness and high fever.

What they did find was the additional 1300+ yuan income charged from my little illness.

A corrupted medical system !