Houston Health Care Mecca part II - Experiencing the hospital in the American way

Now that I am on sick leave and in strict bed rest, I will have time to finish all the blog drafts I have have stored for the day when I have time :)
But first, let me share with you how I got to this point. I will spare you from details but my very first hospital experience ever is definitely worth sharing. As it was great!

I am having the private project called pregnancy in progress. The ride has been bit bumpy but more of that, and pregnancy, in my other blog I will start writing (LINK).

So few weeks back my project manager's mind & body was in the mode of trying to accelerate things. In project environment any kind of acceleration is good and I am professionally known to turn the toughest projects around and bring them to goal in schedule. Which often means motivating the team to push hard and find the means to accelerate where ever possible. But as everyone with common sense knows, acceleration does not work well for pregnancies. Which meant that my doctor, Dr Michael Piegari, wanted to check me in to the hospital for expert team check and second opinion on what the options are to secure the rest of the pregnancy.

I thought I was going just for a quick check to the Memorial Hermann Children's Hospital but little did I know. I was informed while waiting for my doctors orders to have reached the hospital that at minimum I would stay over the night.

I was brought to my room....Yes, I got my very own room!
I have not been myself in hospital ever before but have visited plenty of friends and family in Finnish hospitals. Unless you are in the intense care unit, you normally do not get your own room. In the best case you are sharing it with 8 - 10 people. Which can be good from social perspective but in such cases you also share the tv and do not really have much control of the noise level. So, getting my own room was surprising me totally.

I got settled to my hospital gown and to my bed, which felt comfy enough. My doctor came to check that everything is okay with me and guided me little bit about the expert team and their way of working. Again, having a doctor that actually shows that he cares for his patients...priceless! After the talks with him I was pretty much in the relax mode, ready to experience my very first time in the hospital.

Next scene could have been directly from the Dr House tv series. I got the expert team and all the residents (medical students) taking over my room and surrounding my bed. There were 7 of them in total, which made me smile. As I was just thinking:"If there are those seven plus my doctor taking care of getting my body out of the acceleration mode....yeah, it will well taken care of." Just like in Dr House they asked all kinds of questions and I explained what I think had happened and what I had sensed.

What I liked about this whole thing was that everyone was very clear in communication. Things were explained thoroughly, I was given the understanding of the options and why something was considered a better option than another. I was asked 100 times if I had any questions, nobody was in a rush to get out of my room. All that left me pretty much with no other choice than relax and take it easy.

I got really funny reaction from the expert team 2 days later, when they asked if all is okay and I have been taken care by the nurses and gotten food. I shared that on top of everything else, I was excited that one can order the meals from a room service and the food was actually good. The look on their face was worth seeing. I could see that one of them was checking if I was still having any of the Magnesium Sulfate drops coming through the IV (makes you super relaxed) or I really coherently meant what I said. I mean...room service in a hospital! It is a small thing but makes the experience again so much more personalized.

Some of my friends in Europe commented, when I shared with them about where I had been past few days:"Oh, you must have been so stressed and in panic about having to go to hospital!"
Yes, had I been anywhere else than in Houston, where I was in one of the leading hospitals for risk pregnancies...I sure would have. But like said, this experience was very positive. The staff around me (my doctor, the hospital's expert team, the nurses) were all very professional and treated me like a human. The night nurse, while starting the medication during the first night and needing to monitor for the rest of the shift gave great advice on how to prepare to tolerate the pain during labor without extra medication. She was definitely making me feel like I was in good hands and I did not mind getting injection at 1 am or staying awake for monitoring.

Two weeks later...I am spending my days on the couch or in bed but so far with success. The body has gotten off from the acceleration mode. I take each day with gratitude, as that is one day more for the baby to "bake in the oven" and increasing the chance for a good start.

Since this pregnancy was determined to be a bumpy ride in a very literal meaning, I sure am happy to go through it in Houston. Surrounded by the top hospital and medical experts. As my doctor put it well: "Taking care of the mother is still easier, even in risk situations. As adult body gives more time to react. Taking care of premature infant or infant at risk....then it is down to handful of minutes to react and take the right actions."

Houston the magical mecca of health care

There is nothing better than to go to a doctor's visit, which you might NOT have been looking forward so much and come out of it totally amazed. Wondering at the same WHY and HOW can you be feeling happy walking out from e.g. dentist. After a full check and tooth fix.

This seem to happen each time when I go to see a doctor in Houston.

My first dentist visit was really a surprise. I was not looking forward to it. I had done several dentist visits in Finland, at a private medical hub, prior to moving to Houston. None of them were pleasant. Also, it was not possible to get everything done in one go. You had to go 2-3 times. First to get initial check done and then separately to get the night guard preparation done (yes, I have inherited my mother's habit to grind teeth while sleeping) and yet another visit to fix one tooth. Though the doctor was generally neutral and in Finnish terms one could call her pleasant, since she was not trying to scold me on what I should or should not do. But each visit there got blood pressure rising and me thinking how amazing place the world would be, if one would never need to visit a dentist...ever.

Yes, it is my hands...I know and I am generally keen to look after the well being of my teeth. But even if one would not need to do anything, one still needs to go once / twice a year for the check-up. Alone the thought of going to a dentist...no matter how routine the visit would be, was unpleasant.

With that background I went for my first dentist visit in Houston. From start to finish I was confused. "Am I really at the dentist or this is a dental day spa?"
Customer service was clearly visible from the moment I stepped through the door. They showed me around the facility and explained the process. Then I was seated in my chair, where there was no bright light shining to my eyes but a TV greeted me. I could watch what ever channel I wanted.

The doctor came to greet me and explained what will happen next. X-rays will be taken to get a thorough view of the teeth and their condition. Then, the hygienist will go through and clean the teeth, checking if any daily mitigation actions can be recommended. After which the doctor has a view of what needs to be done. Only for the X-ray I had to move away from my chair, the rest was me enjoying the comfy chair and the specialists moving from one customer "loft" to another. Before anything was done, it was discussed with me and confirmed that I am okay with it.
One hour and they had done everything within one visit and in a way, making me walk out of the place with this idiotic smile on my face. If I had any stickers to put on my forehead, I would have put one saying:"I do not know how it happened, but I love my dentist!"

The best part was that I paid less for the dentist visit here, than I did initially in Finland. The company health package in Finland covered only part of the dentist visit. Here with the company health care insurance, the coverage is major. From the total bill my share was 1/10 if even that.

I thought that okay...that might have been just beginner's luck. My overly optimist attitude kicking in.
Nope, by now, having visited different doctors, all I can say is that I like going to a doctor nowadays!

Not that each time it would be just good news but how the doctors treat one here is very different than in Finland. I had one excellent doctor in Finland, who I trusted and he always showed that what ever the cause may be, he will do all he can to get to the root of it. In so many other cases, at a private medical hub, I got the response:"Well I do not know what is causing the symptoms, so go home. You can book a new appointment if the pain is still there in a few weeks time".

Doctors here do not solely focus on throwing the medical facts to your face and wishing you a good day. Even when there is tougher news to share with the patient, the doctor understands to take into consideration how the message will be received. They seem to be still human and know how to communicate in such a way that you are not racing out of the clinic in sheer panic.

One is also more cautious here on not starting to speculate anything until they have medical facts to support the thoughts. I prefer that approach. I know from own experience and some friends, who went to doctor in Finland due to some complex symptoms. Walking out of the first visit with the assumption that it may be cancer before any tests were performed! In all the cases cancer was not even close to the rather harmless final result. What that statement caused though was a world collapsing for the patient and huge emotional stress. Normally, what ever you may have right then, major emotional stress is most likely not going to improve the situation.

I had to receive once one of those not-so-pleasant news to share here. This was after the doctor had all the medical facts analyzed and solid proof of the outcome. The doctor sat next to me, we talked. He took a tissue box and put his arm around me, at the same time saying that I would come out of the challenge as a winner and bounce back. He allowed me to cry and showed empathy.

The fact that I got to cry there and then, allowed me to deal with the first shock with a professional right next to me. Once I got home, things did not seem so bad anymore and I had taken already my Finnish SISU out to the full extent and decided that it will all turn out to positive.

What was even more amazing...two weeks later the doctor called and checked how I was doing.
With all that he showed me that he is not just an excellent professional but he truly cares for his patients, not only during the sunny but also during rainy days.

Research makes the difference though. The best approach is to check the pages, which rank the doctors based on customer feedback. Then check if they accept your insurance. If one picks a random doctor from the list without checking the customer feedback, you may get a rather "Finnish experience".

When the power of choosing a doctor is given to the patients, it seems to make the difference.
I can only say: if you need a great doctor or refreshingly pleasant doctor's visit, welcome to Houston! :)