Cass and I were put into a first class room with 4 beds at the Institute of Urology and Nephrology last week when she did a Cystoscopy procedure under GA. The room was very clean and has en suite facilities. It's a far cry from the ward that we were put into at the pediatric ward at the old HKL building 6 years ago when Cass did her first MRI. That ward was creepy and old and the toilets outside still give me bad dreams. It certainly didn't give me a good impression of government hospitals.
Directly opposite our bed was a jovial and chatty Indian lady in her mid 60s. She had been staying at the ward for 10 days and the day we checked in was her discharge day. She was in the hospital for an eye surgery followed by a bladder surgery to have some stents removed. She told me that she's been a cancer survivor for 10 years but sadly the cancer relapsed recently. She told her oncologist that she didn't want to get treatment and would just prefer to die slowly. What made me truly sad for her is on the day of her discharge, she had to take a taxi home by herself and lugged her big suitcase down to the lobby all by herself. She told me that her son is a lawyer and has been extremely busy, thus couldn't fetch her back from the hospital. What if this happened to me 20 years down the road when my 3 daughters are too busy to help me discharge from the hospital? 😌
On the left opposite side of us was an Indian lady with her 6-year old daughter. They had taken a train from Ipoh in the morning and came straight to the hospital from the train station. She had bought 2 boxes of KFC which were to be her lunch and dinner that day. Her daughter has recurring renal stones and this was her second (or perhaps third) admission for laser removal of the stones. This mother looked very aloof and was very terse with her answers and just didn't want to have any eye contact with me. She looked very distressed and I truly understood what's going on in her mind. The pissed off look on her face could be because she's extremely worried. Moreover she's alone with her daughter and hundreds of miles away from her other children and husband. When her daughter came out of the surgery the next day and refused to pee or eat her medicine, this mummy, out of frustration, threatened the daughter that she would not look after her anymore and would send her to her grandma's house. Her daughter bawled and then mummy hugged her and cried along. This made me tear up too. Mummy continued coaxing her girl to pee and eat her medicine for more than hour. When we left in the late evening, she was still coaxing her daughter. We bade our farewells and I tried to coax the little girl to eat her medicine. I hope she didn't give her mummy many days of heart-breaking time in the hospital.
On our left bed was a Malay lady in her early 50s who's been in the ward for more than a week. I didn't really get to chat with her except for the daily "hi and bye" but I think she's got some urinary tract issues as well. She had a bunch of disposable urinary catheter to help her drain her urine out and she needed diapers.
After the senior Indian woman was discharged, a Malay lady with her 9-year old girl got themselves checked in. The little girl has recurring renal stones too and needed to undergo a laser procedure for removal of renal stones. The girl is such a bubbly and smiley girl who would smile and wave to me each time she saw me.
Cass was the last of 5 patients to be wheeled into the OT as she was the oldest kid. And we were the last to be ambulanced back to the ward. Again! And all 4 kids before her had renal stones removal. I was shocked to know that even young kids are prone to recurring renal stones.
When we left in the evening, Cass commented that it felt strange to be in a room with people who have quite similar problems with her. I think it won't be too long before we are back for another stay when Cass undergoes another surgery. This time, it would be a major surgery. I've been having sleepless nights thinking about Cass' next surgery. I've never really had a good relationship with hope but I am trying my best to stay positive and not let my anxiety affect me. I truly need lots of miracles and divine intervention for Cass now. 🙏
This is another photo that I stealthily took outside the OT when Cass was waiting for her turn to be wheeled into the OT.
Me in OT scrubs and OT Crocs with Cass next to me playing with her phone. All the kids waiting for their turns for surgery sought comfort from their phones. And they all looked just as tough and calm as Cass. I'm sure they'd gone through a lot, just like Cass.
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