Wednesday, April 22, 2009

How can you trust a doctor called Ho Ho Henry?

Both Tony and I have decided that traveling business class is the way to go. We had a great flight into Hong Kong, put in the Honk Kong simcard and turned on the phone, switched on the laptop and checked for any messages where we were supposed to go. The Medivac people hadn't sent an email and didn't call. The school email appeared not to be working, so we were unable to find out which hotel we were supposed to be staying at. But did we panic? No, not us, we just settled ourselves down in the arrivals hall and waited for an hour and a half for someone to contact us and give us the next set of instructions. It made me feel James Bondish, waiting for my orders from M somewhere in the control office.
Anyway, we contacted about 3 students and a teacher who were all chatting on Facebook or MSN when they were supposed to be focusing during lesson time back in Nanjing, and had them run down to the operations manager to find out what hotel we were supposed to be going to. While waiting for the hotel info, Medivac called and told us which hospital we had to go to.
But, the fun and games didn't end there. The hotel said it wasn't their booking number and couldn't check us in. Looking at the time, I saw that it was getting closer to the doctor's appointment time, so we left our bags at the hotel reception, promised to get it sorted when we got back, and caught a taxi to the hospital. The Matilda Hospital was on the top of the Peak and cost almost HK$100 to get there. Winding roads, some spectacular views, definitely the hang-out for the rich. I guessed correctly, that this was not going to be a chea hospital.
Anyway, Doctor introduced himself and gave his card. Dr Ho Ho Henry. I bit my lips to stifle a giggle. Ho Ho Henry, sounds like something out of a Santa Claus movie. I kid you not, I have this man's business card. Ho Ho Henry.
Ho Ho Henry was not too bad but a little indecisive. He took one look at the x-rays and said AC Joint separation, which of course we knew already. Then Tony had to go for more x-rays with him holding a weight in each hand. Old Ho Ho measured the gaps and proclaimed that this is a fifty fifty call - can be treated conservatively with a special sling for 6 weeks and then physio, or have a plate put in. He then put the onus on me to make the call. Ho Ho, you gotta be kidding, right? I'm just a mother, why must I make the call? When we tried to pin him down and tell us what he would do in a similar situation if it was his kid, he managed to slip out like a wisely old eel without committng himself to going either way.
In the end, it was the time involved and money that made me make my decision. for the plate, we'd have to wait 2 days for it to be flown in from the States, a day for the op and 3 days recovery before he'd be allowed to fly back. He finished school on Friday, has a week of study leave and then starts his majrly important final high school exams. Time was not good. Also, Hong Kong is not cheap and an extra 6 days would have killed me financially as I hadn't budgeted for any of this. Boys and their contact sports.
We couldn't get a flight back yesterday, and if I was better prepared, would have taken a ferry across to Macau for the day. Sadly, Tony vomited all night and all day, obviously battling a bit with the morphine tablets old Ho Ho Henry gave him. So, I have taken another executive decision and banned the painkillers. You play contact sport, now you tough it out.
But regardless, Hong Kong is still a great city. I love it's vibrancy and business and smells and shopfronts and great restaurants. We did manage a few sorties out to explore the streets at night and visited Times Square Mall yesterday. Some of the names of restaurants are quite random, like Wing Kee Noodle. Love that one.
Now, we sit having cappucino and sandwiches in the Dragonair Business Lounge. Did I mention I like business class travel?

No comments: