Eric's Beijing Diary

Angela took me to Tongren Hospital today. I was suprised last week by a sudden onset of double vision. Fits my personality, in a sense, because I have always believed there are two ways to look at everything. But I generally prefer not to see them both at the same time. When I mentioned my condition to Angela, a friend of mine who is a pediatrician, she recommended that we visit the eye clinic at Tongren Hospital. Tongren Hospital is an old 19th Century mission hospital. The Eye Center is regarded as the top eye treatment facility in China.

It's hard to describe how things are in China at a famous hospital like Tongren. Lots of people from all over the country, so treatment takes place in what looks like a reverse assembly line. The docotors are all sitting in an open area, and you line up and wait your turn to sit on the stool in front of the doctor. It all seems really rushed, but the doctor was actually quite helpful, and I peppered him with questions (with Angela's assistance). He prescribed some medicine (mostly B vitamins) and recommended that we go see a neurologist, so we decided to go to the foreigner clinic at PUMC. Very different place. The foreigner clinic at PUMC is more expensive than a regular Chinese hospital, but much, much cheaper than the International Hospital (Beijing United). And this clinic rotates the best physicians in China, so the level of competence is quite good. I am saying that as an outpatient. I have never been hospitalized there. The neurologist seemed to think I might be diabetic, so she prescribed a blood test and also an MRI, but she told me to hold off on the MRI until after the blood test.