Hopsital Tales: the power
Many of the doctors, nurses and hospital staff come from different racial backgrounds and as the new chinese girl, i was the specialist clinic's favourite interpreter. Last week i found myself in the anesthesian's room, which was ironically called the Pain Clinic. The patient in the Pain Clinic was an elderly chinese woman in her seventies, accompanied by her elderly husband. She was in a wheelchair, she had wispy white hair and eyes that crinkled and disappeared when she smiled.
"Can you tell Mrs Cheng that her ECG shows that her heartbeat is weakening and we need her to see the cardiologist (heart specialist) to find out what's wrong," the anesthesian told me.
I did so and she asked earnestly in Mandarin, "What's wrong with my heart? Yes i feel that it's getting slower recently too."
"Tell her that's why we need her to see the cardiologist to find out what's wrong. We can't allow her to undergo GA without being sure that her heart is able to take it."
Many patients who haven't undergone operations before think that performing anesthesia is an obvious procedure, but they do not understand that if anesthesics are mis-given, the consequences are fatal. When anesthetics reach the bloodstream, the drugs that affect the brain pass through other blood vessels and organs so they are often affected too. Therefore, patients must be carefully monitored before the anesthestician gives the go-ahead to the surgeons. The cornerstone of every patient's safety is the early recognition and treatment of these potentially harmful responses.
"Is the operation going to be dangerous? She's already in her seventies, can she take it?" Mr Cheng suddenly asked.
99% of all patients ask this question and the anesthestician's answer is always the same.
"Tell him that for every operation, big or small, there is always a certain level of risk. Taking her old age in consideration, that is why we have to be extra careful and her weak heart is a concern. We'll do our best to see if she's fit enough for the operation."
They kept quiet after hearing the answer, it does not contain the ressurance that they had badly needed but it will do. At least for now.
"That's all for today, thank you Mr and Mrs Cheng."
Mr Cheng gets to his feet unsteadily and i opened the door for them as he pushes his wife in her wheelchair slowly out of the room. He looked even older and more fragile than her.
Seventy years and they are still holding on. There are some who would take their own lives at 25, believing in quiet delusion that they are booking a ticket to fly across the oceans. Why does the elderly couple continue to fight, most importantly, how do they keep on fighting? And then i saw her...in the darkness, she turned in her bed to see her old husband beside her, she smiled and reached out to smoothen his eyebrows. She spent the rest of the night fashioning a coat of arms to take care of herself and him. That armor is now embedded in her wrinkled skin, nothing can tear her down - not fear, not pain, and certainly not cancer.
There is no denying it: the true formidable foe of disease and suffering is the strength of love.
"Can you tell Mrs Cheng that her ECG shows that her heartbeat is weakening and we need her to see the cardiologist (heart specialist) to find out what's wrong," the anesthesian told me.
I did so and she asked earnestly in Mandarin, "What's wrong with my heart? Yes i feel that it's getting slower recently too."
"Tell her that's why we need her to see the cardiologist to find out what's wrong. We can't allow her to undergo GA without being sure that her heart is able to take it."
Many patients who haven't undergone operations before think that performing anesthesia is an obvious procedure, but they do not understand that if anesthesics are mis-given, the consequences are fatal. When anesthetics reach the bloodstream, the drugs that affect the brain pass through other blood vessels and organs so they are often affected too. Therefore, patients must be carefully monitored before the anesthestician gives the go-ahead to the surgeons. The cornerstone of every patient's safety is the early recognition and treatment of these potentially harmful responses.
"Is the operation going to be dangerous? She's already in her seventies, can she take it?" Mr Cheng suddenly asked.
99% of all patients ask this question and the anesthestician's answer is always the same.
"Tell him that for every operation, big or small, there is always a certain level of risk. Taking her old age in consideration, that is why we have to be extra careful and her weak heart is a concern. We'll do our best to see if she's fit enough for the operation."
They kept quiet after hearing the answer, it does not contain the ressurance that they had badly needed but it will do. At least for now.
"That's all for today, thank you Mr and Mrs Cheng."
Mr Cheng gets to his feet unsteadily and i opened the door for them as he pushes his wife in her wheelchair slowly out of the room. He looked even older and more fragile than her.
Seventy years and they are still holding on. There are some who would take their own lives at 25, believing in quiet delusion that they are booking a ticket to fly across the oceans. Why does the elderly couple continue to fight, most importantly, how do they keep on fighting? And then i saw her...in the darkness, she turned in her bed to see her old husband beside her, she smiled and reached out to smoothen his eyebrows. She spent the rest of the night fashioning a coat of arms to take care of herself and him. That armor is now embedded in her wrinkled skin, nothing can tear her down - not fear, not pain, and certainly not cancer.
There is no denying it: the true formidable foe of disease and suffering is the strength of love.
Labels: life observations
