In the first of our health check series, Margie T Logarta tries out the express programme offered by the internationally accredited St Luke's Medical Center in Metro Manila.
Finally after months – well, okay, a year and a half of procrastinating – I bit the bullet and set aside time to go for an executive check up. As one whose life is spent out of a suitcase and is dictated to by the ever-present deadline, the warning signs for a drastic change in health habits have been surfacing more often. It was time to face the effects of an inconsistent personal regimen.
Either that or receive a nasty shock concerning a condition that couldn’t be reversed. And I am one such individual who loathes surprises.
THE FACILITY: I chose St Luke’s Medical Center in Quezon City, Metro Manila, which I was somewhat familiar with, having visited patient-friends there on many different occasions (when it was known as St Luke’s Hospital) and being near my childhood home. What remains indelibly etched in my memory was the boxy, white structure adjacent to the hospital, which was in fact, an Episcopalian Cathedral. St Luke’s, after all, was founded by Charles Henry Brent, an Episcopalian pastor, whose mission was to establish a clinic committed to offering quality outpatient care.
After several ups and downs in its direction and fortunes, the institution has now evolved into one of the Philippines’ leading healthcare providers, capping its long career in 2003 with a Joint Commission International (JCI) accreditation. This places it on the same footing with the best US medical facilities as well as other leading hospitals elsewhere.
Currently, St Luke’s is entering an interesting phase in its growth with the construction of a PHP6 billion (US$140 million) complex in the fast-rising Bonifacio Global City. Expansion is necessary, if not imperative, as the present infrastructure seems to be nearing bursting-at-the-seams stage and the congestion in the approach towards the hospital can be quite horrendous at times.
WHERE IS IT? Quezon City is known mainly as a residential area and boasts no branded hotel chains, but rather three-star properties and small rental apartment blocks. With the city’s infamous gridlocks, it can be a two- to three-hour drive (especially during peak hours) from the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. Since I was to come from my own home, I did not require the pick-up service, which St Luke’s is happy to provide at no extra charge.
THE PRELIMINARIES: Two weeks before I had decided on the date I could make myself available (April 21), I emailed the St Luke’s Wellness Program ([email protected]) to request for their quickest executive check-up package – again I was pressed for time. Victor S Quinoñes Jr, the section manager, responded, suggesting the Programme E1-Out-Patient, which appeared to have the basic tests I felt would at least give me some significant guidance as to the internal state of my precious body.
He informed me the opening hours of the Wellness Center were 7am to 7pm, Monday to Friday, and 7am to 5pm on weekends. After telling him the day I wished to come in, he sent another email saying they could accommodate me, plus instructions concerning the location of the International Patient Care Center (first floor of the hospital, next to the outpatient pharmacy), the best times to show up (7am to 8am “to be able to finish your programme earlier,” he said), a reminder about the minimum 12-hour fasting period the night before the tests (no food, no liquids, no smoking, no medicines or any intake by mouth, including chewing gum) and the need to wear comfortable clothing (jogging suit is desirable) as a Treadmill Exercise Test was part of the check up.
To my surprise, Quinoñes even rang me up on the evening before the visit to reiterate the fasting rules. He said that he wouldn’t be around that day, but I was to look for a Ms Tek or Ms Tricia when I arrived.
That night was one of the rare times I fell asleep by 10pm. Perhaps turning the light off had a lot to do with it (I am prone to forgetting).
THE PROCEDURES: I arrived at 6.50am and asked at the reception for directions to the International Patient Care Center, my base for the day. As expected, I was the first client, but Tek was already there ahead of me at the counter and aware of my appointment. She said a cardiologist, Dr Erlyn Demerre, had been assigned to interpret the findings.
Since I was returning home to Hongkong the following evening, I asked if it was possible for the results to be expedited, and Tek said it wouldn’t be a problem. She then requested me to wait, and while I did, I checked emails at one of three workstations provided in a section of this well-lit parlour. (The place is also Wi-Fi enabled.) After completing that task, I took up a copy of the Philippine Daily Star for a dose of irrepressible Manila political palavering.
It wasn’t long before a young man named Jeffrey Quinto introduced himself as a Customer Care Officer, saying he was filling in for Tricia, who was still engaged somewhere else. Let the tests begin, I whispered, feeling a bit anxious as I usually do before any medical procedure, no matter how routine.
In a room off the main waiting area, the lab technician was waiting to get my blood sample. (Earlier, I had submitted specimens of my digestive results.) Expertly, she tapped both my forearms, determining the left to be the place to jab. I’ll never forget the nurse in Singapore who stuck me on both arms as she couldn’t find the vein, then asked the doctor to try his luck, and thank God, he succeeded. This slip of a girl also hit the jackpot and except when I felt that familiar heavy bee sting, I did not flinch.
Jeffrey escorted me to get my ultrasound, aimed at assessing the state of my gall bladder, liver and kidneys. While there was a clutch of patients waiting their turn, I was ushered immediately into one of several examination cubicles and given a cotton gown to put on. Tricia, a long-limbed, cheerful young lady, caught up with Jeffrey and me, becoming my companion for the rest of the morning. She brought me to the Women’s Health Care Unit where a lady physician came along in a few minutes to conduct the test.
I am always grateful for specialists such as Dr Pilar Lagman, who involve their patients in the exam, explaining to them the intricacies and condition of the various components of their bodies, in this case, my reproductive organs. And mine were normal, phew!
Tricia then led me back to the Wellness Center for breakfast, which was a good thing, since it was 8.30 am and I was ravenous. There were sandwiches and fruits available, and I went for the tuna, washing them down with cool mineral water.
Tricia appeared after half an hour to herd me to the X-ray department, after which we headed for the Pulmonary Department for the mysterious sounding Spirometry exam. But as Julius, the technician, explained, I would merely step into a booth and blow into a tube in two ways – one blowing hard and holding for several seconds, and the other, blowing several times vigorously. This was in order to spot any obstructions in the lungs. That was a fun exercise, and never have I been so glad that I kicked the smoking habit some five years ago.
Julius commended me on getting his instructions on the “first take”, as they would say in the film industry. Guess, I’m a natural at tooting my horn.
The last of the tests dealt with heart monitoring – the Resting Electrocardiogram where electrodes were attached to my chest for a few minutes, followed by the Treadmill Exercise, which had me first walking as I would on a flat road, before the therapist applied the incline function, urging me to reach my utmost endurance.
To take my mind off the exertion, I chatted with her about – pardon the subject – heart attacks and strokes. (Little did I know such knowledge would come in handy when my mother suffered a mild stroke a week after my visit, and was confined at St Luke’s Acute Stroke Unit.)
Repeating my request to Tricia for next-day results, she said she would press the Wellness Center staff to coordinate with the various units to get it done. I was asked to come back at 10.30am the following day.
I was done by 11.30am, which was timely because the room had become packed with customers, mostly Filipinos and a smattering of Koreans and Pacific Islanders.
THE ANALYSIS: Dr Demerre, who was to have handled my case, was not available. However, Dr Greg Dayrit, an internist, who could be mistaken for a university student, took over. We met in the same room where I had my blood sample taken.
Reading from the blue folder containing the results of the previous day’s procedures, Dr Dayrit went through each of the tests with me, highlighting areas of concern (not many, but they definitely have to be addressed, sooner than later) and suggested ways to improve them. He said the hospital nutritionist could be called in for further consultation.
On the whole, my current lifestyle had not yet wreaked irrevocable havoc on my system, but the warning signs of too much rich food and the couch potato culture – including eating those potato chips – are beginning to show.
There I did it. I went for a check up. That was the easy part. Now the real work begins.
PRICE: Outpatient Program E1 starts from PHP12,156 (US$285.73).
CONTACT: St Luke’s Medical Center, tel 63 2 722 0101, email [email protected]
