My Little Surgery

I am not sure how many people knew this (Mom and girlfriend, but that might be it) but I have had a cyst on my head for the last few years. Nothing serious but just a bit unsightly when my hair was short. With a little time off I opted to finally get it removed. Being that the only time I could get off was this Thursday and Friday, I cancelled my trip to Seoul and got it done Thursday at Fatima Hospital (see last entry).

It was very smooth and almost no pain in the cyst removal. I was joking with the nurse while it was being done. I did lose a fair bit of blood (a combination of veins in the head, higher than normal blood pressure and the position of the cyst) but nowhere near danger levels. I was then given a prescription and Chung man (a hero from our head office who will have a classy bottle of Korean alcohol sent to him this week) drove me home. The cyst (which looks like a little white and red Hershey's kiss) will be sent out for a biopsy. 99.9% chance it'll come back negative but being as it is included in the cost of the surgery (130,000 won, or about $125 USD by the way), it seems stupid not to send it out.

I have to go back everyday to have the bandage changed (or every other day after Saturday) and if it is good the stitches come out on Wednesday (next Monday if I need extra time or fresh stitches) which is a pain more for the commute than the changing. Otherwise I am in no pain. After I got the bandage changed today I went shopping and met Will for lunch. No problems.

The only downsides are that I will have a little bald spot for a few months, so I'll have to have really short hair until it grows in again. I also have a large bandage on my head which requires covering with a hat that sits way too high on my head whenever I go out (the Fresh Prince look). The antibiotics also make me incredible hungry (aren't stoners always hungry?) so I am eating a lot, and not always the most healthy food (damn those $5 bags of Kettle chips).

As a final note, I have taken care of my knee and cyst, this included three consultations, two prescriptions, an xray, a minor surgery and a follow up. So far I am at 175,000 won total (around 165USD/180CAN) and all done in two weeks. Even with no Korean insurance it would have been around $1000USD total. Hospital was amazing, clean and efficient. I can see why medical tourism is on the rise the way it is in Korea (their fastest growing tourist sector I believe). I mean that would bankrupt me in the US and wait times in Canada or some European countries would have had this all taking six months with many, many unnecessary referrals (why do I need a referral from my GP to go to a neurologist when I can just go to the neurologist?). Korea has never impressed me as much as it has this month. Simply amazing.

Fatima Hospital

Well I have managed a fairly incredible run of health these past few years in Daegu, but inevitably, one needs to see a doctor. Now for most people this is easy but time consuming and expensive, in Korea it is the other way round. Finding a doctor that communicates in a language other than Korean is very hard. Most can write and read English very well (how could you read medical journals if you couldn't?), but speaking and reading are two VERY different skills (I can read Korean quite well with comprehension, can still barely speak in it). So when my knee was hurt running and a minor cyst needs removing it can be a bit stressful.

Will recommended Fatima hospital, just a short walk from Dongdaegu Station, which has an international centre and all the facilities you'd need. I went and was very impressed. My knee issue was solved in an hour and my cyst will be removed within a week (they had wanted to do it within 48 hours but I couldn't get the time off of work). The nurses all spoke English very well and could not have been more kind and helpful.

I am continually impressed with Korea's health system, which puts most western ones to shame. With my insurance (of $50/month) I paid a grand total of 29000 won (about $28) for three visits to two doctors, an xray and prescription medication. The operation will be under $100 if I don't need to be admitted, and my understanding in that most people get this kind of procedure done on a lunch break or afternoon off. Luckily I didn't need an MRI for my knee, as apparently they can be $300-400 (but can be done in 24 hours).

Medical tourism is one area where Korea will excel. Very efficient and not expensive at all. Without insurance the whole thing would still have run me under $250 plus $150 for the cyst removal. On the day I was there there were several Russians and a few Europeans (not sure what language they were speaking, but not English or French) all in Korea for surgeries and procedures. I don't really have anything else wrong with me but with the fee's and efficiency at Fatima I may have a more general checkup later in the year. If you don't want to pay extortionate US prices or wander through 15 referrals and three month wait lists in Canada or Europe, Korea becomes a real option for you. I was thoroughly impressed with Fatima.

Eddie is Bye

After a year working together Eddie teacher is finished with Moonkkang and is off for an extended travelling holiday before returning to Asia in Shanghai.

I am moderately jealous, and hope he loads his facebook with pictures.

Eddie was a good guy to work with, nice and had lots of good ideas. We often bounced work ideas around and also chatted movies and sports (though I was lost during the NFL season, a sport I am happy to file away as a uniquely American cultural phenomenon). He will be missed in the office by myself, the other teachers, and the students.

In his place we will have a teacher who is transferring from Beomeo 5, for what I understand to be a relatively short period (3-4 months), though apparently she is experienced at Moonkkang and a very nice girl, so I do look forward to meeting her for however long she is here.

In any case, work on Monday will be very strange.

My New Camera

Well my old Sony, which I have been using since 2007 finally kicked the bucket (actually I have owned two different camera's of the same model). It was a great camera, but to be honest it was way more than I needed. I bought it in 2007 thinking I would use it all over the world, taking all sorts of amazing pictures. While I have taken it to many places the fact is that most of its features are still alien to me. I have come to realise that I am a point-and-click guy, and I will almost never wait for the perfect shot or the right lighting or fidget with 1000 features for 10 minutes. It takes too long dammit. It was also big, like small bag big, and it was a pain to carry around all the time. So by the end I was often leaving it at home on weekend trips and just using my phone camera. In fact my phone camera is so good that I debated buying a new camera at all, but there were a few features of a real camera that I missed having in Kyoto (where my camera died) and more so in Macau, where lighting was not on my side and thus I have fewer great pics than I would have wanted. With that in mind I went out to find a cheaper camera with a few features of my old camera but much more basic and wound up with this:

The best part was that it was only 109,000 won (about $100USD) and in Korea, where electronics are horrible overpriced (thanks Samsung) this little Sony was a bargain (the same Samsung camera was almost twice as much, the subject of a blog I am working on). Small enough to fit in my pocket but still able to take good pics. Seems a good fit for me (pun intended)