Reporting from ONE15 Marina, Singapore.   http://www.one15marina.com/

Sometimes a person has the good fortune to be in the right place when something goes wrong and you need help  >> this is one of those times >> Singapore is exactly the best place in the world for me to be right now.

I haven’t said much on the blog about a leg problem that has been with me for a while off and on….but over last couple of weeks it became a real problem…guess a fragment of cartilage drifted off the socket of the hip joint and floated somewhere that bothered the nerves to the leg…..and the referred pain caused real muscle incapacity in my upper leg/thigh, particularly…so not easy to walk etc.

Anyway, the long and short of it: you can move through the medical system very quickly here in Singapore….this is what happened over 48 hours beginning Tuesday afternoon when I first saw a GP at a clinic (who initially helped with a pain/anti-inflammatory drug (Arcoxia 250 mg – not approved in USA)>some immediate symptomatic relief……and since then X-rays>Radiologist review/report >Revisit with a different GP> referral to an Orthopaedic Surgeon >clinical examination> diagnosis confirmed both clinically and through the X-rays:   bad osteoarthritis in the left Hip  joint> requires a complete hip replacement- relatively soon.  A review of the situation with my UK Health Insurance Provider > surgery was approved> prep….ECG/blood work/etc at 2 pm on this coming Monday, Oct 29th….surgery at 6:30 pm (expected to be about 90 minutes)>4 days in hospital (including Mon)….and then carry on with my life….should be walking and doing stairs fine by the time I leave hospital on either Thurs or Friday….and carry on sailing to Malaysia.

There….that is the long and the short of the whole scene.

I am happy…totally confident in this Orthopod (Harvard Grad…all early years of training in Boston…does hip replacements almost as routine as reading the newspaper….terrific confidence builder….and I should be rid of this nagging problem…that has been more and more debilitating….no matter how much I tried to ignore it.

Only down side is not having much of a “tourist” experience in this great city.

….Later…the Seamisters