Testimony by Rosie Pang, Living Truth Cell
Praise be to God that I am finally discharged from the hospital with no more follow-up medical appointments for the year! I only need to return for a review in 2025 and continue with my physiotherapy exercises at home.
It all started about three months before my right femur (thigh bone) fractured. My daughter observed that I was walking in a lopsided manner, as if one leg was shorter than the other. I was also experiencing slight pain in my right leg. So when the polyclinic took X-rays of my lungs in April to investigate a viral infection, I requested an X-ray for my legs as well. The X-rays showed nothing wrong with my legs, and the polyclinic doctor even suggested that I buy a stationary bicycle to exercise at home.
Months later, on 18 May, a Saturday morning, as I was on my way back from the market with my groceries, my right femur gave way just as I was about to put my foot on a flight of stairs somewhere near my block.
The fracture happened all of a sudden. I was in shock and in excruciating pain, unable to move at all. A kind uncle who was passing by called for an ambulance. Another thoughtful lady lent me her mobile phone to call my daughter and brought all my groceries to her flat to be collected later.
I thank God that the incident happened outside, where there were kind passersby who promptly offered their assistance. I shudder to think what could have happened if I had fallen at home on a weekday when I was alone and couldn’t reach my phone or even open the door to ask for help. I would then have had to lie there in pain until my daughter returned home from work in the evening.
As my youngest daughter was feeling unwell at the time of the incident, I told her to call my eldest daughter, who took over and got me admitted upon reaching the A&E at Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH). My youngest girl then went home, where she was later tested positive for COVID and had to stay home for the next 10 days. My second daughter was in China at the time and due to return in two days. She had resigned from her job to take a year’s break to restore her health and was clearing her leave.
While at the A&E, I was in so much pain that one of the orthopaedic doctors, who had pulled the fractured bones into alignment, said he would try to operate on me that evening. However, it wasn’t until the next day, 19 May, at 4 pm that the theatre was available.
Before the operation, a team of doctors led by a professor came by to see me in the morning. The professor questioned me about my medical history. He learned that I had been taking Fosamax (alendronate) weekly for my osteoporosis for five years, as prescribed by my doctor. I was on my second round of Fosamax when this fracture happened.
The professor said that while this medication might help most patients, it could, however, cause fractures for two or three in a thousand. He told me to stop taking Fosamax immediately.
During my four-week stay in the hospital, I had a fever almost every day, and countless blood tests were done to check my heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, and gall bladder. For the first week, I had to lie flat in bed, and every time the nurses changed me, I screamed in pain.
The physiotherapy team came after my first week in hospital and taught me just to stand up and sit. I was only able to take a few baby steps after my second week. After two weeks in a B1 ward, I was suddenly transferred one day to a single room in the A ward due to a bacterial infection I contracted in the hospital. So they had to isolate me. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise as the room was much more comfortable and quiet, and I got to have my own toilet.
In the third week, I was transferred again for step-down care at the Integrated Care Hub (ICH), where I stayed for another week before being discharged. While I was all ready this time to be downgraded to a B2 ward, I was surprisingly wheeled again into a spacious single room with its own bathroom and air-conditioning, owing to my lingering infection.
After I was finally discharged from the hospital, I started going for weekly rehab sessions at St Luke’s Eldercare. With time and much physiotherapy, about two and a half months later, I was well enough to make it to church for service on 1 September.
On 5 September, my doctor happily discharged me to see him again only next year and cleared me for travel. He knew that together with my three daughters, we had planned to have a three-week vacation in Switzerland and Italy, and we had booked our tickets late last year. Actually, I was not looking forward to this holiday as I was worried about my fitness. But my doctor assured me that I would be okay by October, and my girls adjusted their itinerary to suit me.
However, a few days later, on 11 September, we received news from the doctor that the radiologist saw recent X-rays of my left femur (in my supposedly good leg) and warned of an impending fracture. My doctor advised that I undergo surgery again to address the issue and offered to operate on me in three days’ time. He cautioned that, meanwhile, I should avoid going out and use the walking frame even at home.
My immediate reaction was: no, not another operation. I was very fearful and certainly not prepared for another ordeal after finally being out of the woods from my first operation. My girls desperately tried to get hold of the doctor to seek advice, perhaps do an MRI, to confirm my condition.
Soon, the news sank in, and while I was doing my morning physiotherapy exercises, I prayed to the Lord, seeking guidance on whether to go for the operation or to live a life of uncertainty, unsure of when my left leg would give way. I soon came to terms with what I needed to do and felt at peace that our good and faithful Lord, who had seen me through my first femur fracture, would surely see me through yet another operation.
The doctor saw me again on 18 September and arranged for an operation on 20 September. He assured me that while this operation would be similar to the first one, my recovery this round would be faster and less painful as the bone had not fractured and the procedure served more to introduce reinforcement.
Interestingly, though I requested a B1 ward, there was again no bed available, and I was upgraded again to a single room in an A ward. Thank God for these little privileges. On both occasions of my hospital stays, He has more than provided for my needs, blessing me with many creature comforts and top-notch care from many kind and competent doctors and nursing staff. For all these, I’m immensely grateful and humbled. This time, I was discharged after only six days and was able to move around with a walking frame within a week.
Thank God for my three girls who have been looking after me for more than five months since, especially my second daughter, who took care of most of my daily needs and accompanied me to almost all of my visits to the hospital, polyclinic, and physiotherapy centre.
In September, when the doctor alerted us to the impending fracture of my left femur, my daughters discussed the situation and eventually decided to cancel our overseas trip. They stayed behind instead to look after me and went on to seek refunds from many service providers for flights, hotels, train rides, admission tickets to attractions, etc., as required by our travel insurer. For this, they had to compile and submit many supporting documents, including medical reports, bank statements, and correspondences with providers. All praise and thanks to God that we were finally able to recover most of the costs incurred!
I want to take this opportunity to thank all of you who have been praying for me – the Pastors, staff team, prayer team, friends in WSCS, S4G, and my cell members. Your love and concern have been a great source of strength and encouragement to me. I also received much cheer from many of you who took the trouble to visit me at the hospital and in my home.
Above all, I thank God for being with me throughout this trying time, helping me to pull through two operations in four months and my journey to recover mobility with courage, joy, peace, and perseverance. Thank God for His healing power, His loving-kindness, and faithfulness. God is good all the time! All glory be to God.