I had to go to the emergency dept of a hospital here in Hsinchu, ( I thought I was having a heart Attack) the staff there were excellent and kept me on an ECG from 16h00 until 02h00 and monitored me throughout my stay in the emergency ward. The English spoken was great. I was sent home with some Nitroglycerine and the instructions said, Take 1 tablet if pain in chest return, wait 5 minutes and take another tablet if the pain has not gone, then take another tablet 5 minutes later if pain persists and go to the hospital immediately . So, arround 11h00 in the morning I get this chest pain again, do the 1 tablet every 5 minutes and after the 3rd tablet, take myself to the hospital, Emergency checks me out and the decide to admit me for further observation, this is where I find the hospital care goes downhill.
The nurse assigned to me does not speak a word of English (I have only been in Taiwan a few months so my Chines is worthless) she wants me to complete all their questionnaires which I cant. I’m told to stay in bed by a bit of pantomime. I have no water, the loo has no toilet paper. I cant leave my bed to get anything. No one comes to check up on me until way later that evening when a doctor comes arround and says they keeping me for observation and have put me on a nitro drip for the pain. Anyway, luckily my daughter popped in and brought me the essentials. Next day, I’m released in the afternoon all the while I am trying to explain that the pain in my chest has not gone, to no available. I get sent out with the same Nitro tablets that after taking the 3rd one, says go to hospital. They give me an appointment form to see a cardio in 2 days time. All this time the pain in the chest is still there.
I see the cardio, I explain about the pain, he prescribes more meds and makes an appointment for 10 days time. All this time I kept trying to explain that the Nitro does not work and should I have followed the instructions on the package I would be going into the hospital 3 to 4 times a day. I saw the doctor 10 days later, they did a stress test and now want to do some invasive surgery when there are alternative non invasive procedure to find the cause of this chest pain. But, according to the doctor, the NHI wont pay for the non invasive methods as the protocol is first for the invasive method. How can I check up on the different protocols or does anyone know of a good, caring, listening doctor in the Hsinchu area who prefers the non invasive route first?
This thread might be somehow related.
Hi, I actually had a heart attack last year and just had my yearly check up today. All is good! A friend shared your request with me so thought I could share my experience with you. I have had experience with several hospitals before I found one that was able to correctly identify the problem and treat me properly. It took 4 days and 3 ER visits to one hospital, a gastroenterologist (they thought it was acid reflux – heart attacks present differently with women), and finally I got to National Taiwan University Hsin-Chu Hospital (just off JingGuo Rd.) They actually have one of the top cardiology departments in Taiwan. So, if you haven’t been there, I would go. The doctors both in the ER and in the Cardiac department were able to speak some English (as most doctors in Taiwan can) but the nurses and other support staff not so much. The way things weork here are very different than in the west. Most ften, patients have a family member or caregiver they hire themselves with them to help out. I was lucky and was able to get into their state-of-the-art catheterization lab right away. I had 2 stents put in my heart (throught the wrist!) and was in the cardiac ICU for 3 days and a regular room for another 2-3 days. The time in a regular room was indeed lonely, as like with you, no one really came to check on me very often. Just every once in a shile to either give me my meds and check my vitals, and since I didn’t have someone who was able to be with me I was able to have meals delivered to me. I was able to sleep a lot and got caught up on reading. I would recommend either first making an appointment with a specialist at a cardiac clinic (There is one on JungHua Rd < https://goo.gl/maps/LKDwsCnNQh8HgHGGA > ) and /or just go straight to the Cardiac Department at NTU. Please feel free to contact me via FB messenger (Jennifer Bryne) if you need any more information or have any questions)
Obviously don’t know the particulars of your issue, but my heart attack was technically and ischemic myocardial infarction. There were quite a few test that were run x-ray, CT Scan, MRI, and Ultrasound. They each offer different ways to image the heart so not sure what would be best for you. I do know with my actual stent procedure, there was a difference between what NHI would cover and what was considered the better option. Ended up going with the better option but was able to talk to them about financial issues (like paying on installments and if there was the possibility of financial aid available from the device manufacturer --sometimes they do this int he US, so worth a try). That is something that is best to have a native Mandarin speaker help you with, I was in no condition nor had the ability to have that conversation. Best of luck to you!