Hi..
This is a personal stuff but I wanna share to you because I hope this post will encourage and help the people who need it. I won’t post many photos here because this post is more to informative purpose and ehm… I don’t like taking pics of the hospital and such >_<.
So.. Last week I went to Malacca, Malaysia to do laparascopic surgery to remove myoma and cyst. I’ve known this since last year but I’m still thinking on what to do because my doctor wanted to do caesar surgery to remove them because it’s been causing irregular periods and unhealthy for me. But wait.. What…! It’s too big for me, I haven’t got any child but I have to do C-section first???
I also took consultation with doctor in Surabaya and they say the same thing. Most of Indonesian doctors wanna do caesar surgery. Urgh… I’m tired of that. It’s also not cheap, especially when I’m asking the new hospital in Surabaya, National Hospital, they said it will be around IDR 70 million. Ehmm.. No way.. Other hospitals just cost IDR 20 million or something. I don’t want to go to Jakarta again for asking around, I know that it’d be expensive and I’m not really sure with the treatment.
But few months ago, my husband’s relative said there’s a good hospital in Malaysia which many Indonesians go there as medical purpose. There are so many Indonesian people go to Malaysia like Penang and Malacca to get treatment or just for medical check up. Unfortunately Penang isn’t my option as I can’t go there directly by plane because there’s no direct route (have to transit in KL and take another plane to Penang), so people from Bali usually choose Malacca. The famous one is Mahkota Medical Centre (MMC). They gave alternative for laparascopic surgery (key hole operation) so there will be no mark and heals faster. I heard that the referred doctor did the first 3D laparascopic surgery in Asia, and of course with reasonable price.
MMC is behind Hatten Hotel (view from 17th floor)
They have many representative offices in all over Indonesia. You can go to their website to check it out. It’s very detail along with the address and phone number. I’m not sure yet but there’s nothing wrong with discuss it to them, so I called them and sent an email explaining my condition along with some usual questions like how much and how long.
They replied my email with very very detail explanation. They can give information right away (1 day from my email) about which doctor do I need to go, giving schedule on when I have to go there, when to do operation, when I’ll get out from hospital, how many days I have to rest before going back to Indonesia along with the hotels near hospital and how much it costs, and transportation from KL to Malacca and return. It’s very detail and I’m very pleased with their fast service. The most important thing is they can give you estimation on how much the total for the operation + hospitalization right away even before we met the doctor first which is kinda an impossible thing in Indonesia where it can be unexpected.
They told me that it will cost around MYR 10.000 (MYR 1 = IDR 3.600), but when I went there, there’s an unexpected thing happened, my Hb is lower than it’s supposed to be and I need 1 unit of blood transfusion right away the day before the surgery. Because of that, my cost goes higher with total cost MYR 11.700. If you don’t have health insurance, I’ll tell you to have one right away. You don’t know when you’ll need it but it’ll help a lot. If you do medical treatment abroad, they can reimburse the payment later. You can also do double reimburse if you have 2 health insurances (maximum).
I’ll tell you what are the basic things you need to know:
Bali/Indonesia-KL
Inside Malindo Air (DPS-KL)
You can use plane to KL (Malindo, Air Asia, etc). I recommend Malindo Airlines. It’s cheap, cost me IDR 800.000 from Bali with free 15kg baggage and I get water (Nestle-small bottle, even better than Garuda) and a small pack of cookies. Not bad right.
The best part is it has a huge space for foot (larger than Air Asia), there’s also free in flight entertainment to watch movies and listen to music (better than Garuda) but you have to use your own hands-free or you can buy on plane. The downside is they only have 1 route a day while Air Asia gives you more flexible hours.
KL-Malacca
You can use bus like Transnational bus that will be arriving just right in front of the hospital. It’s cheapest way, costs RM 26/person. You have to check the schedule first (you can ask the representative office).
Second option is by a driver, costs RM 150 for sedan and RM 180 for APV. I need to use driver because I arrive in the afternoon and the next bus will be at night. MMC can also arrange that for you. The owner is really kind and helpful. He called me 1 day before I went there (international call from KL-Indonesia) to make sure my schedule and everything.
Fenix Inn **
There are many hotels around hospital, usually 2 stars hotel and 4 stars hotel. If you ask the MMC representative office, they will suggest you Fennix Inn (2 stars) or Hatten Hotel (4 stars). They give special rate if you have MMC card. They can help you book for special rate at the first time.
Beside those hotels, you can also find many hotels around from Agoda. For 2 stars hotels like Fenix Inn, it looks like 3 stories building in shop complex. It’s quiet nice, clean, you’ll get water, water heater, TV, towels, coffe and tea, AC. All basic needs are provided but there’s no window for the cheapest room and no elevator. If you bring elders or just after surgery, make sure you ask for first floor or book other hotel with elevator.
For Hatten Hotel, I can’t say more, I love the hotel. I picked this hotel after I got out from hospital because the other cheap hotels don’t have elevator and I need a good rest. The hotel’s location is the best. Near the lobby, there’s a H&M store on the ground floor, and it’s connected to the Dataran Pahlawan Mall by bridge on 3rd floor. It’s a pleasant stay and I love the breakfast. There are so many many variants from Western to Chinese and a bit of Indian. A very large window with Malacca town’s view (the highest level is 22). Soft and big bed with sofa and 2 LCD TVs. Too bad I couldn’t experience the gym and pool. For the last day I went back to Fenix Inn to save money.
Johnny’s Thai Restaurant (Dataran Pahlawan Mall)
There are 2 big malls near the hospital (Dataran Pahlawan and Mahkota Parade) but the more popular one is the food court at Mahkota Parade (nearer to the hospital). My mom eat there when I was hospitalized and sometimes at the hospital’s food court too. One meal costs around MYR 6-9. Cheaper than food court in Bali where everything cost like $$$.
The food was okay but still… Indonesian food is much better! I just hope it’s not because we have too much MSG around -__-. We also have too much sugar, everything is too sweet in Indonesia, hope that the government and people will realize that it won’t do any good and just make your body worse.
It depends on the surgery you take but for my case, it normally takes 3 days in hospital. The MMC representative will let you know how long you need for your case.
I will share you my schedule shortly if you wonder, it’s easier to imagine on how long and how much money you need to prepare.
Day 1 (Sunday) GO TO Malacca
NEW Bali’s International Airport (all price is in USD!!!)
I flew to KL by Malindo Air, arrived at 4pm, passed immigration, bought sim card and meal to eat in the car then went to Malacca at 5pm.
My Spicy Italian SUBWAY Sandwich (MYR 11) Super yummy!
I arrived at Malacca around 7pm. It’s still bright there ‘O’. I think they have sunset around 7pm. Stayed at Fenix Inn (just give the booking no provided after booked by MMC rep.office). They will ask you to put deposit MYR 50, you can get it back after checking out.
Day 2 (Monday) CHECKED IN
Went to the hospital at 8.30am anddddd there’s already a long queue for registration. Make sure you’re there at 8am to save time. Then waiting for the doctor (I’m going to Dr Selva, you can check his profile at the hospital’s web), doing consultation and USG until 10am. After that, I went to the lab for surgery preparation blood test at 10.30am and I have to go back 2 hours later to discuss the result with the doctor.
Light meal (Free Breakfast from Fenix Inn ft Starbucks). Only got it once even though I stayed 3 nights, they said it was ‘masa percobaan’
I had light a meal near my hotel and got back to hospital at 12.30pm. That’s when the doctor delivered the news that I needed a blood transfusion right away >O<. I rushed to my hotel and got back soon, I even didn’t have a proper meal, just an orange juice and 2 breads on my way to hotel. My sad.. It’s my last meal that I can enjoy for 3 days. Checked in to the hospital and you know the rest.
Day 3 (Tuesday) SURGERY
I got morning schedule, so I had to washed up and prepared, they brought me to the operation room at 8am and couldn’t do anything for the whole day of course. They said it took around 1,5-2 hours. If your condition is normal, you can check in the day you do surgery (not the day before). It’s a laparascopic surgery so it will heal faster.
Day 4 (Wednesday) REST
Resting, tried to walk
Day 5 (Thursday) CHECKED OUT
Checked out from hospital then the doctor showed my surgery video in 3D, gave me the whole paper works, etc. I didn’t need to go back to hospital again after that. For some cases, if your paper work and video hasn’t ready yet, they will tell you to go back the next day or 2 days after.
Day 6-8 (Friday-Sunday) REST & GO HOME
Resting, shopping, eating. It’s still hurt a bit and I got tired easily so I just walked around the area. Even though I could go back on Saturday but I was relieved that I chose Sunday because KLIA2 is so huge and I had to walk far far awaaayyyy….. to gate 17. The airport has buggy though but the gate is downstairs and they can only take you to the end near the escalator. Long journey but my condition was much better and I could walk that far. Anyway since the plane’s departure was at 3.45pm, I went to KL at 11am. No traffic jam at all but better saves time because it’s gonna be a long way.
Ehm.. It’s not supposed to be in this topic but I’m really happy to see SASA, Guardian and Watson around. They have so many products rather than in Indonesia. Why.. why.. I was bored when I went to Indonesian Guardian. Going to these stores is something that motivate me and keeping me healthy (sounds more like an excuse), I bought a lot of masks and it’s really helpful because my skin got dried and patchy after going out from hospital. *will let you know my haul later*
TIPS:
Hope this post can help you for those who need and confused like I was. I’m pretty pleased with the service from the hospital. They did a quick and professional job. Being healthy is priceless so don’t forget to stay healthy.
Source: www.Jessicaliani.com
