You Will Count Your Blessings When You See Other People's Sufferings

When hubby and I were waiting outside one of the X-ray rooms in the Radiology Department of Hospital UKM yesterday, there were many patients waiting for their turns too. I saw an Indian man lying in the hospital bed and under the covers, I could see that his left leg was amputated from the thigh down and his right leg amputated from the knee down. There was a deadpan expression hanging on his face and he was obviously devastated.

Next to me was a Malay man with his 4-month old baby son in the pram. As he sat there patiently waiting for his turn, he kept talking lovingly to his baby. He just sat there and talked lovingly non-stop for almost 2 hours to his baby son. This man seemed to be a very loving and patient father. His baby appears to have Down's Syndrome and appears really sick and frail, with black rings under his eyes. I struck a conversation with him to remove my own worries and anxiousness. He told me that his baby was born without an anus and has problems with his guts. There is a cathether (don't know what you call this equipment) attached outside his stomach to help him defecate. His baby has to do an x-ray before being operated on. As Baby C was crying incessantly, the radiologist asked this man if he could bring his baby up back to their room in the ward (his son was hospitalized) so that Baby C could go in first into the X-ray room. The man willingly obliged without any anger shown on his kind face and I felt really bad. I said 'good luck' to him and we parted ways.

Inside the X-ray room was another 3 month old baby boy. Apparently, there were some complications during the procedure and he spent more than an hour in the X-ray room. I think he has some problems with his kidneys too. His parents had a worried and anxious look hanging on their faces and there wasn't a smile. I understood fully how they felt for I felt the same too. When the procedure was over, his parents and grandparents went into the X-ray room to bring him out. He was put back in his cot and there was a huge oxygen tank attached to his bed. The baby's skin color was very yellow. When I saw all these unlucky people, I felt 'lucky' that Baby C's problem isn't as serious as theirs. Sometimes, we need to compare our situation with other people who aren't as fortunate as us and we will feel thankful to God for what has been given to us.