Before I go on to tell you about the other days that I spent and went through, I feel the need to tell you about the patients in my ward. I dedicate this chapter to four patients in my ward, who have left a significant impact on my memory. I never talked to any of those patients because I was not able to speak, but they all had different lives and different situations which forces me to write about them. You will know after reading, why among all these four are the only patients I would like to mention.
The first patient I recall was a woman. She was a healthy woman, wore a nice suit with flowers imprinted on it. She was healthy and was just brought to the ward. As I stated it was an IMC ward which had only critical patients under watch everytime. Even in the night. It was around 3 pm and I was talking to my sister. My sister was reading something from her phone. That lady had her husband with her who was sitting on the stool right beside her. Her husband wore a grey polo shirt The man was tensed. He had reached hospital from where things usually starts getting better, but he did not look relaxed. The lady was sitting on the bed with one leg folded under another. The doctors came and examined her. She had some problems in her stomach. Doctors advised her strictly not to drink anything as of now. Later, maybe after 15 minutes, she expressed her desire to drink a cup of tea. To my surprise, her husband did not resist. He quickly went and came back with a cup filled with tea in his hand. She sipped from the edge of the cup and smiled a little. It felt as if she has taken something so refreshing that has soothed her soul. She drank the tea quickly and soon after five minutes started to jump on the bed. She was having trouble in breathing. Doctors and nurses arrived in a few seconds and placed an oxygen mask on her mouth. Still, the condition could not be seen improved. They started pumping her chest but after a minute or so, they placed the bedsheet on her face and drew curtains around her. A doctor who was with her, came to me for taking notes and said, "Look this is what happens when you don't listen to a doctor."
The second patient was a funny man. Not himself but his behaviour. He was in his late 50's maybe. He looked somewhat like Satish Kaushik He was being treated for dialysis, his kidneys were not functioning correctly. He had his wife along with him who was a really nice lady. She tried her best to take care of her husband at every hour of the day. The man was a very restless man. He would scold the doctors, scold her wife and sometimes scolded himself too. Every day he used to shout at doctors telling them that he is alright , he does not need treatment. Before every dialysis cycle he used to say "I am fine, you doctors are fooling me to make money, I am fine, discharge me". Every day he would say like this to all the students (doctors). One fine morning a student complained about him to the senior doctors that he resists his treatment daily and don't take medicines also. The doctor came to him and asked him would you like to go home? He said, "I will not pay you a single dime from today. You are making me go through this pain without a disease." The doctors asked the nurses to discharge him. He was so happy to hear that. He said these words to everyone, "I am going home" repeatedly for many hours. He would say this to all the people in the ward. He would say this even if you ask him, "How are you?" and he would respond by, "Who won't be fine going home?". You ask him, "Did you eat something?" and he would reply,"I won't eat this stale tasteless shit these people say food, I am going home, I will eat what I want." He was discharged in the evening. I was happy that I don't have to wake up at 3 in the morning to his loud voice scolding his wife. I slept peacefully for two days after which that bed beside me no longer was empty. I woke up that evening and was not surprised to see the man lying beside my bed. He was the same man. He was admitted again due to problems in kidney. He was admitted again on the same bed which he left, on my right. The doctors came to him and said, "Guess who is the fool now?"
The third patient was a skinny boy. He was admitted on the bed just in front of me. He was very young, in his early twenties. He looked fine to me at the first but then soon after he vomited blood. Both of his parents sat beside him. His father's eyes were filled with tears. He never averted from his son. Soon, the doctors arrived and checked him and gave him medicines. His mother told my mother that he tried to commit suicide this evening. She said, "He is not telling us the reason" but I highly doubted that sentence. How can someone take this huge step without consenting his parents? Only if, parents are also one of the reasons maybe. He vomited blood the whole night. He was very weak. He had mixed phenyl (toilet cleaner) in his milk and drank it. He was very young to take that step. Whole night I thought about him. His father bought him some soup to eat. He was a sikh boy. His father opened his turban and caressed his hair as he drank the soup. He remained in the hospital for just 2 days but in those two days, he did not utter a single word to his parents. He would hardly look at them. He would stand up on his own to go to the toilet and then his father would notice and supported him. Somehow, somewhere I felt that his parents were one of the reasons. But who am I to comment? He was discharged later but he was not happy, he had the same countenance like 2 days ago. How can he be happy, when the underlying disease was not cured.
The last patient that I remember is a man whom I never saw. Never heard and never spoke to. He was on the right of the man who was treated for dialysis. He was admitted very late, around 10 pm. I heard someone say, he is newly married. He was in his 30s people guessed. I never saw him. I saw a woman who was with him, she was very young maybe early 30s or late 20s. There was another girl whose relation I don't know with that man. He was just another patient. I slept after the hussle bussle was over. Later in the morning, around 4 am, I heard those girls crying loud. They were crying very loud and shouting, "Don't leave, don't leave". The whole ward woke up. I saw his bed. Doctors were all around him, his face was covered with the sheets and the sheet was tied on both the ends. Nurses took him out of the ward .While he went past me, the urge inside me to leave the place really increased. I was very sad to see people dying everyday less than 5 meters from me. It is very heart shattering to see someone die and his family members cry for him. It is very sad to see the face of that woman whose husband passed away at such a young age. She felt a void inside her. She must have felt so alone. While he went past us on the stretcher, the man with the dialysis said to his wife, "I want to go home, I don't want to stay, these doctors just want money." Well, what can I say. He was quite a man.
The first patient I recall was a woman. She was a healthy woman, wore a nice suit with flowers imprinted on it. She was healthy and was just brought to the ward. As I stated it was an IMC ward which had only critical patients under watch everytime. Even in the night. It was around 3 pm and I was talking to my sister. My sister was reading something from her phone. That lady had her husband with her who was sitting on the stool right beside her. Her husband wore a grey polo shirt The man was tensed. He had reached hospital from where things usually starts getting better, but he did not look relaxed. The lady was sitting on the bed with one leg folded under another. The doctors came and examined her. She had some problems in her stomach. Doctors advised her strictly not to drink anything as of now. Later, maybe after 15 minutes, she expressed her desire to drink a cup of tea. To my surprise, her husband did not resist. He quickly went and came back with a cup filled with tea in his hand. She sipped from the edge of the cup and smiled a little. It felt as if she has taken something so refreshing that has soothed her soul. She drank the tea quickly and soon after five minutes started to jump on the bed. She was having trouble in breathing. Doctors and nurses arrived in a few seconds and placed an oxygen mask on her mouth. Still, the condition could not be seen improved. They started pumping her chest but after a minute or so, they placed the bedsheet on her face and drew curtains around her. A doctor who was with her, came to me for taking notes and said, "Look this is what happens when you don't listen to a doctor."
The second patient was a funny man. Not himself but his behaviour. He was in his late 50's maybe. He looked somewhat like Satish Kaushik He was being treated for dialysis, his kidneys were not functioning correctly. He had his wife along with him who was a really nice lady. She tried her best to take care of her husband at every hour of the day. The man was a very restless man. He would scold the doctors, scold her wife and sometimes scolded himself too. Every day he used to shout at doctors telling them that he is alright , he does not need treatment. Before every dialysis cycle he used to say "I am fine, you doctors are fooling me to make money, I am fine, discharge me". Every day he would say like this to all the students (doctors). One fine morning a student complained about him to the senior doctors that he resists his treatment daily and don't take medicines also. The doctor came to him and asked him would you like to go home? He said, "I will not pay you a single dime from today. You are making me go through this pain without a disease." The doctors asked the nurses to discharge him. He was so happy to hear that. He said these words to everyone, "I am going home" repeatedly for many hours. He would say this to all the people in the ward. He would say this even if you ask him, "How are you?" and he would respond by, "Who won't be fine going home?". You ask him, "Did you eat something?" and he would reply,"I won't eat this stale tasteless shit these people say food, I am going home, I will eat what I want." He was discharged in the evening. I was happy that I don't have to wake up at 3 in the morning to his loud voice scolding his wife. I slept peacefully for two days after which that bed beside me no longer was empty. I woke up that evening and was not surprised to see the man lying beside my bed. He was the same man. He was admitted again due to problems in kidney. He was admitted again on the same bed which he left, on my right. The doctors came to him and said, "Guess who is the fool now?"
The third patient was a skinny boy. He was admitted on the bed just in front of me. He was very young, in his early twenties. He looked fine to me at the first but then soon after he vomited blood. Both of his parents sat beside him. His father's eyes were filled with tears. He never averted from his son. Soon, the doctors arrived and checked him and gave him medicines. His mother told my mother that he tried to commit suicide this evening. She said, "He is not telling us the reason" but I highly doubted that sentence. How can someone take this huge step without consenting his parents? Only if, parents are also one of the reasons maybe. He vomited blood the whole night. He was very weak. He had mixed phenyl (toilet cleaner) in his milk and drank it. He was very young to take that step. Whole night I thought about him. His father bought him some soup to eat. He was a sikh boy. His father opened his turban and caressed his hair as he drank the soup. He remained in the hospital for just 2 days but in those two days, he did not utter a single word to his parents. He would hardly look at them. He would stand up on his own to go to the toilet and then his father would notice and supported him. Somehow, somewhere I felt that his parents were one of the reasons. But who am I to comment? He was discharged later but he was not happy, he had the same countenance like 2 days ago. How can he be happy, when the underlying disease was not cured.
The last patient that I remember is a man whom I never saw. Never heard and never spoke to. He was on the right of the man who was treated for dialysis. He was admitted very late, around 10 pm. I heard someone say, he is newly married. He was in his 30s people guessed. I never saw him. I saw a woman who was with him, she was very young maybe early 30s or late 20s. There was another girl whose relation I don't know with that man. He was just another patient. I slept after the hussle bussle was over. Later in the morning, around 4 am, I heard those girls crying loud. They were crying very loud and shouting, "Don't leave, don't leave". The whole ward woke up. I saw his bed. Doctors were all around him, his face was covered with the sheets and the sheet was tied on both the ends. Nurses took him out of the ward .While he went past me, the urge inside me to leave the place really increased. I was very sad to see people dying everyday less than 5 meters from me. It is very heart shattering to see someone die and his family members cry for him. It is very sad to see the face of that woman whose husband passed away at such a young age. She felt a void inside her. She must have felt so alone. While he went past us on the stretcher, the man with the dialysis said to his wife, "I want to go home, I don't want to stay, these doctors just want money." Well, what can I say. He was quite a man.
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