4133. HEALTHCARE. Wet macular degeneration treatment

21 Oct 2022.
I had lunch with a 74-year-old woman and her daughter at Novena Square 1's new stall which served Chinese food. One dish was similar to Putien's fried bee hoon. I had the mee sua without the prawns (worried about high cholesterol).

The frail-looking woman's left eye had been treated for the past 3 months with injection or laser. Since she felt her eye was swelling, her specialist examined her and prescribed the 4  monthly injections. His consultation fee was $100 and his procedure to inject the drug into her eye was $380. What she earned as a cashier cum desert drink server at the K K Hospital canteen would not have been sufficient for her Mt Elizabeth specialist treatment. Her daughter got her to this specialist and the inexpensive public doctors require a long waiting time via a polyclinic appointment.   

She still continued working despite the setback as she did not want to develop dementia staying at home. Her daughter could not stop her from working at 74 years of age. "It is very difficult to get employment when prospective employers hear that you are 74 years old," she told me. So she woke up at 5 AM and took the subway to her workplace 5 days a week. 

The eye specialist waived the cost of the drug which would be around $2000 per vial as she agreed to be on a drug trial. Four monthly injections are needed.

"I am aged," she told me over coffee. "Old people suffer from illnesses."  What can you say to her? She had not taken good care of her health earlier and was said to develop diabetes which leads to this diabetic macular degeneration of the retina of the left eye. That was what the drug was for. To reduce swelling via monthly injections for 4 months. Total costs will be more than $8,000 for the drug.

She was now very careful about unhealthy diets such that she was thin and looked frail. But she had no dementia and could walk on her own, except for today as the injection into the eye caused some vision loss. Her daughter supported her by holding her hand. "Get a cab to take her home," I advised. "No cab," she insisted. "Wow, you understand English?" I was surprised as she usually spoke to me in Cantonese and was an orphan. She was a servant girl in her rich uncle's family, just like the Nonya movie. So she did not have education. That was her hard life. She is however blessed with a filial daughter who brings her for treatment and pays for the costs.