It's not very interesting reading, but just for the record, the bill was as follows - round figures RMB.
2 hour operation: 4,500
Daily hospital rate 70
X-Rays, medication etc. 2,500
And then there's another 1,000 or so for something I don't understand. Let's call it hygiene services ("these toilets are cleaned every year, regular as clockwork").
The total was about 10,000 for a three week stay, plus about the same again for upgrading to a private room at 600 a day for some of it.
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A point that has only been briefly touched on here is that nursing is limited to administering drips and injections - whether you need them or not. If the patient can't do much for themselves, somebody will need to be there round the clock. This is when you find out who your friends are. (Anna, Lorna, Xiao Ming, Amber, Jason, if you're reading this... well, you know what.)
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Can I really have seen what I think I saw? I hope I misunderstood.
A man walks into the hospital clutching a bloody rag to the stumps of two severed fingers. He goes up to the reception desk.
MAN: I've just lost two fingers in an accident. I need somebody to sew up the stumps. You know, to stop the bleeding.
RECEPTIONIST: Where's your money?
MAN: I don't have it right here, but that'll be taken care of, I promise. I just need these stumps sewn up. I'm losing quite a lot of blood here.
RECEPTIONIST: Come back when you've got some money.
The walks off, leaving a trail of blood drips.
I'll always regret that by the time I'd figured out what was happening and decided to intervene (the price of a round of JD & Cokes would probably have solved his problem) he'd left the building, and I couldn't find him. But it's OK, because that couldn't possibly have been what was actually happening, right?
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This is a rather depressing thread, isn't it? And it my fault - I started it. You let a newbie into the forum and within a few days he's taking about hospital bills and severed fingers. I'll shut up now.