Two weeks ago, my Mami fell really sick.
My mum is a very strong person. If there's anything i've inherited from her, it's her Willpower. Well, some call it stubbornness, but i call it persistence. She is unmovable once she sets her mind on a matter. It was always an admirable trait, but this time around, it almost cost her life in exchange of her will.
Last week, when i called home as i normally did, my parents missed 6 of my calls. When my dad finally picked up my call, he sounded like he has daggers in his throat. When i asked to speak to my mum, he said my mum couldn't come to the phone because she was too sick and needed to rest, That was peculiar to me. I know my mother. She would never miss a call of mine, even if she was in the midst of doing "number 2" in the lavatory.
I rushed back to jb on a Monday night, God bless Bernard's soul for being there for and with me! To my dismay things didn't look good at all. My mum was so weak. I saw her 2 weeks before that and yet she looked 2 yrs older than a fortnight ago. Worried sick, the next morning i took her to the hospital. As much as i wanted to take her to a Private hospital, my mum was adamant about going to the government hospital simply because it was cheaper. Like i said earlier on, my mum has a will of iron and i could not even crack into her resolution. My mum waited at the hosp for hours. I could only imagine the agony of having to sit up for 3-4 hours waiting for your turn to take blood samples, being poked by inexperienced and conscienceless trainee medical practitioners, and waiting for one single consultation while having a burning fever. Well, nothing much can be done. You get what you pay for. RM1 treatment for RM1 fee. My mum was put on bottles of drips as she had suspected dengue.
Refused with whatever will she had left to be hospitalized, i took her to our family doctor who insisted i took her back to the hosp as she was as sure as hell infected by dengue fever. He gave me a referral letter to the "Government Specialist Hospital" in JB and referred her case to the"Emergency and Accident" Unit.
One would think for a moment that the word emergency simply means, "EMERGENCY!!" not to government servants. As there was no blood spilling from my mum, non of her body parts were missing, and she was conscious, they decided we could wait a little for registration. ( funny emergency units have registration also). So we waited.. and waited, for 40 minutes before they called my mum's name and had me fill some forms. And then we waited.... and waited again... for another half an hour for my mum to be called in the room. To clarify matters, should there had been ten other patients waiting in turn before my mum, i wouldn't even squeak, there was one... And that poor woman on the wheelchair with what i can only hope was not a broken arm waited too... as almost as long as my mum waited... when my mum was called in, a nurse attended to her. She mercilessly poked and squiggled a needle into three locations on my mum's already frail hands trying to find a vein. I almost cried, because for once i wasn't repulsed by watching a needle poked into flesh, but the agony on my mum's face just made me tear. She kept my mum on drip, and explained that the doctor will come and check my mother's condition as soon as he/she was available. And so we waited again, one bottle of drip finished, they replaced another one, and still, no doctor. Finally, famished from running around the entire day, Bernard and i went to a drive through McD's ( cz it was the nearest thing), and we voraciously swallowed down our food while driving back to the hospital. As soon as we parked, i called my mum and she said she was waiting outside the emergency unit to be taken home.
Trying to contain my anger that they did NOT hospitalize her, or give her her blood test results, i marched in and looked for the doctor in charge. I asked the nurse for her blood results and i was told it was confidential.
"You've got to be fucking kidding me. I'm her daughter, you discharged my mum without her blood results, even when you knew she was in a delirious state, and you're fucking telling me you can't give me her blood results? DO YOU REALLY WANT TO FUCK AROUND WITH ME?" those were my exact words.
The nurse looked like i shot her. Slowly, she logged on to her computer and showed me my mum's computerized blood test results. She had to wait till my speech was laden with profanities and my actions were on the verge of being barbaric to just give me my mother's blood test results. PFFT! i don't regret acting the way i did. She deserved it.
Normal platlets count in a person is approximately 150k to 450k per litre of blood. My mum's morning blood test results showed 128k and the present one that i was looking at was 105k per litre. I insisted to see the doctor who attended to my mother. According to her it's hospital procedure that they only admit suspected Dengue patients when it has reached a critical point which is 100k per litre. Big fucking difference but okay, i respected their protocols. I insisted for my mum to come back for a followup check up the following morning since moronic doctors couldn't read her platlet count pattern and anticipate a further fall in the next few hours. They finally agreed cz i looked as if i was going to murder them should i accidentally bump into them in the parking lot.
I had to rush back to kl that very night due to work. Tenaganita was absolutely understanding over my mum's condition and my project manager gave me her full support and permission to return home to care for my mum. However, i knew i couldn't overdo it. I would go home over the weekend anyway.
The following morning, my cousin called to say my mum was finally admitted. Alot of "hu-hahs" went on and they made my mother wait (AGAIN) for her new blood test before hospitalizing her. My cousin had to threaten to write an article in the newspapers of their incompetence
( she's an NSTP reporter ). Like magic, my mum was straight away hospitalized without another word of argument.
When they finally got my mum's blood test results, her platlets had dropped to 56k compared to the previous night's 105k, ( not critical enough aye?). After a week, my mum finally had her full blown Hemorrhaging Dengue and is now on the road to recovery.
The point of my story is, i almost lost my mum. No doubt her hardheadedness played a role in her near-death experience, the incompetence of medical workers was what that irked me most. A patient will always be a patient. Nobody's ever enthusiatic about getting treatment even if they know they need it. It's not something pleasant. So besides providing expertise, medical workers should have negotiation and basic counseling skills to encourage patients who are difficult to seek treatment, and not happily turn them away, when they are too delirious to make decisions for their own well being.
Do you know why Malaysian health and medical workers are so incompetent. It is because, People don't use their legal rights enough in this country. People don't sue. People don't know and don't bother to fight for consumer rights. And for a few of us who actually do, people label us as "boisterous, arrogant, rude, cerewet, etc" Few are passionate about their job as medical workers, because we seek to fulfill racial quotas in government higher institutes instead of looking for truly deserving , passionate individuals to be trained for the job. Without passion, there cannot be commitment, without commitment, there cannot be competence....
For newbies out there, Don't just study a course because it looks glamorous, because it sounds complicated and must therefore be something great, of because your parents want you to. Half the students at HELP and SEGi were studying psychology without having a clue of what they career they wanted to take on after graduating. You know the term sampah masyarakat?
You could be one even with a degree. You don't have to commit obvious crimes to be one. Denying a person real information that could cost their lives is a crime. What good are you as a degree holder, if you cannot contribute back to your society with something substantial?
Food for thought.....
Special thanks to all who helped me and my family through my mum's entire hospitalization. Ratheega, thank you so much to you and your family for running my mum's and dad's errands while i couldn't be there. Ng, thank you for your support, and help even tho you were 8 months pregnant! Bee kim, thanks for scaring the shit out of the hospital staff and getting my mum admited, Danny, thanks for taking my mum home after she was discharged. Bernard my sweetest baby.. Thank you for being there with me, taking time off work, driving me back all the way to jb, helping me and my family through and putting up with me while i was irrational and difficult. I love you baby...
One would think for a moment that the word emergency simply means, "EMERGENCY!!" not to government servants. As there was no blood spilling from my mum, non of her body parts were missing, and she was conscious, they decided we could wait a little for registration. ( funny emergency units have registration also). So we waited.. and waited, for 40 minutes before they called my mum's name and had me fill some forms. And then we waited.... and waited again... for another half an hour for my mum to be called in the room. To clarify matters, should there had been ten other patients waiting in turn before my mum, i wouldn't even squeak, there was one... And that poor woman on the wheelchair with what i can only hope was not a broken arm waited too... as almost as long as my mum waited... when my mum was called in, a nurse attended to her. She mercilessly poked and squiggled a needle into three locations on my mum's already frail hands trying to find a vein. I almost cried, because for once i wasn't repulsed by watching a needle poked into flesh, but the agony on my mum's face just made me tear. She kept my mum on drip, and explained that the doctor will come and check my mother's condition as soon as he/she was available. And so we waited again, one bottle of drip finished, they replaced another one, and still, no doctor. Finally, famished from running around the entire day, Bernard and i went to a drive through McD's ( cz it was the nearest thing), and we voraciously swallowed down our food while driving back to the hospital. As soon as we parked, i called my mum and she said she was waiting outside the emergency unit to be taken home.
Trying to contain my anger that they did NOT hospitalize her, or give her her blood test results, i marched in and looked for the doctor in charge. I asked the nurse for her blood results and i was told it was confidential.
"You've got to be fucking kidding me. I'm her daughter, you discharged my mum without her blood results, even when you knew she was in a delirious state, and you're fucking telling me you can't give me her blood results? DO YOU REALLY WANT TO FUCK AROUND WITH ME?" those were my exact words.
The nurse looked like i shot her. Slowly, she logged on to her computer and showed me my mum's computerized blood test results. She had to wait till my speech was laden with profanities and my actions were on the verge of being barbaric to just give me my mother's blood test results. PFFT! i don't regret acting the way i did. She deserved it.
Normal platlets count in a person is approximately 150k to 450k per litre of blood. My mum's morning blood test results showed 128k and the present one that i was looking at was 105k per litre. I insisted to see the doctor who attended to my mother. According to her it's hospital procedure that they only admit suspected Dengue patients when it has reached a critical point which is 100k per litre. Big fucking difference but okay, i respected their protocols. I insisted for my mum to come back for a followup check up the following morning since moronic doctors couldn't read her platlet count pattern and anticipate a further fall in the next few hours. They finally agreed cz i looked as if i was going to murder them should i accidentally bump into them in the parking lot.
I had to rush back to kl that very night due to work. Tenaganita was absolutely understanding over my mum's condition and my project manager gave me her full support and permission to return home to care for my mum. However, i knew i couldn't overdo it. I would go home over the weekend anyway.
The following morning, my cousin called to say my mum was finally admitted. Alot of "hu-hahs" went on and they made my mother wait (AGAIN) for her new blood test before hospitalizing her. My cousin had to threaten to write an article in the newspapers of their incompetence
( she's an NSTP reporter ). Like magic, my mum was straight away hospitalized without another word of argument.
When they finally got my mum's blood test results, her platlets had dropped to 56k compared to the previous night's 105k, ( not critical enough aye?). After a week, my mum finally had her full blown Hemorrhaging Dengue and is now on the road to recovery.
The point of my story is, i almost lost my mum. No doubt her hardheadedness played a role in her near-death experience, the incompetence of medical workers was what that irked me most. A patient will always be a patient. Nobody's ever enthusiatic about getting treatment even if they know they need it. It's not something pleasant. So besides providing expertise, medical workers should have negotiation and basic counseling skills to encourage patients who are difficult to seek treatment, and not happily turn them away, when they are too delirious to make decisions for their own well being.
Do you know why Malaysian health and medical workers are so incompetent. It is because, People don't use their legal rights enough in this country. People don't sue. People don't know and don't bother to fight for consumer rights. And for a few of us who actually do, people label us as "boisterous, arrogant, rude, cerewet, etc" Few are passionate about their job as medical workers, because we seek to fulfill racial quotas in government higher institutes instead of looking for truly deserving , passionate individuals to be trained for the job. Without passion, there cannot be commitment, without commitment, there cannot be competence....
For newbies out there, Don't just study a course because it looks glamorous, because it sounds complicated and must therefore be something great, of because your parents want you to. Half the students at HELP and SEGi were studying psychology without having a clue of what they career they wanted to take on after graduating. You know the term sampah masyarakat?
You could be one even with a degree. You don't have to commit obvious crimes to be one. Denying a person real information that could cost their lives is a crime. What good are you as a degree holder, if you cannot contribute back to your society with something substantial?
Food for thought.....
Special thanks to all who helped me and my family through my mum's entire hospitalization. Ratheega, thank you so much to you and your family for running my mum's and dad's errands while i couldn't be there. Ng, thank you for your support, and help even tho you were 8 months pregnant! Bee kim, thanks for scaring the shit out of the hospital staff and getting my mum admited, Danny, thanks for taking my mum home after she was discharged. Bernard my sweetest baby.. Thank you for being there with me, taking time off work, driving me back all the way to jb, helping me and my family through and putting up with me while i was irrational and difficult. I love you baby...
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