Experience of being hospitalized

最近因為智齒後面的骨頭還沒長回來，後面容易卡東西，發炎了口

來把之前的日記改成英文回憶一下。

拔智齒住院日記

This should be an experience that I will never forget in my life! I went to get three wisdom teeth extracted this time and it cost a total of 21,926. Below is my experience of being hospitalized this time, and I think I wrote down everything. Maybe I will be very nostalgic when I come back to read this article ten years later.

My teeth behind were uncomfortable, and I wanted to extract three wisdom teeth, but after visiting three clinics, they all said they couldn't handle it and I needed to go to a large hospital. So, I went to the nearest large hospital to my home (15-minute walk) for a checkup. I thought it could be done in one day, but I was too naive. The doctor said I needed to be hospitalized for three days. The first day was for examination, the second day for tooth extraction, and the third day I could be discharged if everything was okay.

"I think it's too troublesome!"

Well then, let's make an appointment for next Thursday, Friday, and Saturday with my attending physician. Then, the hospital doctor took a questionnaire and asked me, "Do you want to stay in a national health insurance ward, a two-person room, or a single room?" I said I hoped to stay in a national health insurance ward.

"There is a high probability that there won't be a national health insurance ward, so we can only try our best to arrange it for you," he said.

Then, he helped me write a priority list. I hope to prioritize a national health insurance ward → a two-person room → a single room.

On the next Wednesday, I was on the subway when I received a confirmation call from the hospital. At that time, I learned that the surgical location was not near my home, but in a faraway hospital area. I was really shocked and disappointed! (I was planning to sleep in late.)

On Thursday morning, I got up at 8:40, had breakfast, and checked which buses would take me to the hospital again. Then I walked for 10 minutes to the bus stop, but to my surprise, the bus had just left, and the next one would not arrive for another 55 minutes! I had to go back home and ride a motorcycle to another location to take the bus.

Finally, at 9:19, I successfully took the direct bus. I breathed a sigh of relief.

At 10:20 in the morning, I arrived at the hospital successfully. I started my journey of getting lost in the hospital.

I opened the hospital's app and was surprised to find that I had already made an appointment with the anesthesiology department. So, I went to the anesthesiology department first to ask.

The nurse in the anesthesiology department said, "We need a surgical consent form and an anesthesia consent form."

I was confused, but finally found the location of the oral and maxillofacial surgery department. It was around 11 o'clock. Then a young-looking dentist explained to me how the surgery would be done and what self-paid items would be used.

After that, I went to the anesthesiology department, inserted my national health insurance card and waited for my turn, and so on, and the anesthesiologist explained the risks.

Next, I went to the first floor to check into the hospital. While I was doing so, I felt a bit nervous and didn't know what kind of ward I would be in. I hoped it wouldn't be a single room since those are too expensive. "Luckily it's a double room," I thought to myself.

After that, I went to the ward to store my luggage and report to the nursing station. A nurse drew my blood, and it was already noon by then. I had a dental appointment at 12 pm, so after the blood draw, I headed to the dental clinic.

I arrived at the dental clinic a little after 12 pm and finally met my attending doctor. He explained to me what the surgery would entail, what materials might be used, and the potential risks involved. The nerve of my lower tooth was close to the surgical area, so my chin might be numb after the operation, and it would take about 1-2 months to recover. There was also a risk of the upper tooth becoming connected to my sinus cavity, so after the surgery, I couldn't sneeze or use a straw. He also asked if I wanted to pay for extra items such as collagen and bone powder, painkillers, etc.

"How much is the collagen and bone powder?" I asked.

"It's about NT$40,000 out-of-pocket," he replied.

"That's too expensive. I'll just go with the collagen," I said.

Later, the doctor estimated that the collagen would cost around NT$13,000 (and at the checkout, it ended up being around NT$11,000), and the disposable drill bits cost NT$3,000 each (I needed two). The painkillers were NT$650 per dose, and I could use my health insurance for those. At the time, I thought to myself, "Wow, there are so many extra expenses for just getting a wisdom tooth removed!"

Next, I went back to the ward's nursing station around 12:40 pm to wait for my exams. I needed to do a CT scan, X-ray, and ECG, and the nurse reminded me that I couldn't eat before the tests. I waited and waited until around 2 pm, and I couldn't take the hunger anymore.

I went to the nursing station and asked, "When will my tests be ready? Can I go eat first?"

"I'll check for you and let you know. Don't eat anything yet," the nurse said.

So I waited and waited some more, and by around 3 pm, a female nurse came to do my ECG. I was relieved because the last time I had a check-up at a hospital in Kaohsiung, a male nurse did it (which shocked me). I remember him wiping something blue on my chest, and at the time, I was too shocked to refuse him. I wondered if I could report him for sexual harassment, but then I decided against it. Later, I realized that if a male nurse ever wanted to do something on my chest, I would definitely refuse and request a female nurse or doctor. I was still angry about it.

After finishing all the exams, it was already 4 pm. I decided to treat myself and went to the food court on the first basement floor to order a NT$169 steak. Phew!

"What an exciting and fulfilling first day," I thought. At that time, I was still naive and didn't know that the next day would be even more exciting. The food court on the basement floor stopped taking orders around 7:30 pm. Although I wasn't hungry, I still went downstairs and ordered a bowl of dandan noodles for 70 yuan. The nurse told me that I couldn't eat or drink anything after 12:00 am until six hours after the surgery the next day.

At night, around 9:00 pm, I wanted to take a shower. I couldn't use my left hand because the nurse had attached a device (for the IV drip) to it. So I had to use my right hand to apply shampoo and body wash, which was really inconvenient. If only someone could help me take a shower, that would have been great.

The next morning, at around 5:00 am, the nurse woke me up to change into hospital clothes. Oh, I couldn't go downstairs to eat anymore after changing (because hospital clothes were not allowed in the food court). Sad face.

On the second day, I was supposed to have surgery from 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm, spend an hour in the anesthesia recovery room, and then return to my ward at 4:00 pm. I was told that I could eat at around 10:00 pm that night. However, the resident doctor suddenly had to perform another surgery, which they did not anticipate, so they didn't operate until almost 4:00 pm. So I didn't expect to eat until around midnight.

On the way to the operating room, I was a little scared. I had some random thoughts and worries. Although the anesthesiologist said that the chance of something going wrong was very small, I was still afraid that I wouldn't wake up after being put under.

When I was transferred from the bed to the operating table, I thought the operating bed was too small. I couldn't even turn over. I felt cold, but the assistant put a warm cloth on me, which made me feel less cold.

The anesthesiologist introduced himself and spoke slowly, probably to make me less nervous. He asked me about my weight, which was 45 kilograms. I overheard the anesthesiologist and someone else saying that 45 was a bit low, so they should use a smaller dose of anesthesia.

After that, I fell asleep. When I woke up, I was already in the anesthesia recovery room, but I was still very tired. I slept again, and then someone pushed me back to my ward on the second floor. I slept all the way until 10:00 pm. I felt cold, probably because I had a lung tube inserted for the anesthesia. My chest felt chilly (it took about two days for my chest to return to normal temperature).

At 10:00 pm, I started reading a novel. I was reading "I'm a Tomato in the Universe Professional Player." It was really good. I read it all the way until the nurse came and said, "If you're hungry, you can pause the IV drip and go down to eat something." At that time, I didn't realize that I could already go to the convenience store to buy food. I thought it was not time yet, so I just said, "Oh," and continued reading my novel.

When it was almost 2:00 am, I realized that I was really hungry. So I ran out to the nursing station and asked the nurse if I could go downstairs to buy something to eat. The nurse...

From the first day, I finished my dandan noodles at 7:30pm and didn't eat anything until after 2am the next day. I had a yogurt, tofu pudding, and ai-yu jelly (the nurse said I could only eat cold and soft foods). "Oh my god! I'm getting so thin from hunger." This is the first time I've gone over 30 hours without eating anything. Being hospitalized is really troublesome and miserable. I hope I never have to come back again.

On the third day, the attending doctor came in at 6:30am and made an appointment for me to go to the dental department at 7:30am. The attending doctor is really hardworking, I was still sleeping at 6:30am. At 7:30am, the attending doctor led me to the dental department and then the chief physician came to see me. After checking me over and giving me some instructions, it was around 8:30am. I made an appointment for next Friday to have my stitches removed, and then I'll ask the doctor to give me a diagnosis certificate to apply for medical insurance.

At 9:00am, I was given another dose of pain medication through an IV drip. Finally, the IV drip that needed to be given was finished, around 11:00am, and I could check out of the hospital (cheering). I took a number and waited in a long line. I heard the person next to me say that there were no more hospital beds available, and I should come back and ask in two hours. The first floor was crowded with people. There were people everywhere in this big hospital.

When I got back home, it was already around 2:00pm. I went to buy some food to eat, but it was difficult to find anything at 2:00pm. The bento shops were all closed. I bought a hamburger. This journey finally came to an end. We really need to take care of ourselves. Once we go to the hospital, we really feel so restricted. Even eating something requires waiting and waiting and waiting, and it's really uncomfortable.

And there are also many unexpected situations, such as suddenly being informed that the surgery location is not near my expected location, being told that I can't eat anything before and after anesthesia, and not knowing how many people are in the hospital room until the day of admission. There are also many unexpected expenses, and I don't know how much they will cost until I am already admitted. Even the attending physician may not know the price of certain items until the day of surgery. It's really full of surprises.