Saturday, September 15, 2007

Destination: KL Hospital

Kelab Kami Perihatin made a visit to KL Hospital today. Initially the visit was scheduled last Tuesday, but due unavailability of many members - there's roughly about 20 currently - the trip was postponed to another date. Salehudin - one of the senior member - texted me just after maghrib last night to inform of this visit.

I have been hospitalised several time in life, most of the time I was admitted via the emergency door. Having medical insurance does help in the bill payments; not having one means having to seek treatment at a government hospital. It was one of those times when I did not renew such policy that I found myself having to rush to the University Hospital.

The available members of Kami Perihatin rendezvoused at Jalan Raja Laut to pack date fruits and some baulu cakes into bags meant for distribution. As there were no proper parking, we parked illegally by the roadside and did the packing on the road shoulder, causing many pair of eyes to glance and perhaps, wonder quietly about us.

On the particular time mentioned, my body was producing lots of thick phlegm which blocked my air passage and had me coughing, sometime rather violently. A doctor had prescribed prednisolone which was supposed to be taken according to prescription and tapered off slowly to avoid any complications. But I had found them too effective and conveniently took them against prescribed manner.

Once at KLH, we divided ourselves into 4 groups of 3 members each. Each group is then assigned to different wards of different floors. My group consisted of Aishah, Ustazah K, and much to our surprised, a lady visitor who volunteered to wanted to assist; she had gotten to know about us only then and it struck her to become a member of KP there and then. Since we were totally unprepared, was accepted her assistance and will discuss her membership in our next meeting.

I had finished my last prescription of pred for 2 days then, and there were less phlegm. But that night, I awoke to sudden seizure of violent coughs. My body began shaking and my right ribs were experiencing cramps - one of the rib bones was beginning to jut out of its lining and soon hardened like a brick. I had no choice but to call a cab and head directly for UH.

There were many kinds of people of different race and religion, each with a health problem of their own. For a non-medic, there is no way I can ascertain whose health problem is worse. The only thing my mind could make out then was that those patients who had friends and relatives visiting them, are the lucky ones. Those without, lie silently starring straight up the ceiling, looking sad and dejected.

At UH, I was stretchered to a waiting room, and later, yet another waiting room, but this time with the patients lying on their temporary beds. A Chinese-looking doctor then came to have a look at me. I tried explaining but he does not seem to understand. I showed him the rib bone which though was jutting, and had not penetrated out of my body and thus not causing any wounds. He called several other doctors and they spoke in a language I was not familiar with. Strangely, all of them left me there in pain. A nurse later came to give me a sedative which gave me relief and allowed me to sleep briefly later. The doctors, the nurse informed me, were from Myanmar and still new to the hospital.

As I passed several rows of bed, I notice one of our bags on the bed of an Indian patient. The guy looked at me with his sad eyes and I smiled to him. On the way out of the ward, I approached the Indian guy, took the bag from his bed and placed it on his bedside table. We talked a brief while and I learned the guy was suffering from some stomach problems. I did not want to ask about his family as I did not want to add to the sad and lonely look of his face.

At around 8am, an attendant wheel-chaired me to the pharmacy. The guy was kind enough to take my medicine from the counter for me and later wheeled me to the taxi stand where I took a cab home. Except for the medication given by the nurse and assistance of the kindly attendant, I felt like I was cheated and had not received any real treatment to the problem that plagued me that night.

Once all the bags were distributed, we made our way out of KLH. InsyAllah, we will continue visiting in our effort to at least bring cheer to the poor people not only in hospitals around KL but throughout Malaysia, and to oppressed people like those in Kampung Berembang and its like. But we need more funds and more volunteers to enable a continuous effort in assisting the poor and needy, not only in KL but throughout Malaysia. The main aim of KP hospital visit is to bring the people closer to us and allow us to offer our assistance to them in return.

I later learned that the problem I had that night was mainly due to my abuse of the pred. Alhamdulillah, I have since stopped taking pred or any steroid medication. My medical problem later ceased to afflict me after I found a simple medication by the name of jelly gamat.

11 comments:

tokasid said...

Salam cakapaje:

Secara jujur aku tabik spring pada semua NGO yg buat kerja-kerja sukarela utk pesakit hspital,rumah anak yatim,rumah org tua dan penduduk setinggan.
Only a small percentage of ppl are willing to do that. keep up the good effort bro.

Yes, steroid is a wonder drug if taken properly, if abused you'll get a lot of complications.

Yes, it is unfortunate that we get more and more robotic doctors esp at the govt hospitals. Be it locals or foreign doctors.The way they treat you is as if you are just another piece of meat. As if you have no souls. What they didn't realise is they are the one which is souless.

cakapaje said...

Salam Doc,

Kekadang, terasa bersalah pula menulis pengalaman yang dilalui bersama webtv8 dan KP, takut naik takabur. Namun teringat pula cerita Saidina Umar r.a. yang melawat rumah seorang tua. Saidina Umar memotong kayu api dan bersihkan rumah dengan alasan mencari nafkah untuk dirinya - sewaktu memegang jawatan Khalifah! Jadi apalah diri kita yang duduk jauh sekali dari Saidina Umar r.a. itu.

Kerp (Ph.D) said...

bro shah,

yes, hats off to u!

i am moved by the kelab's activity that i cant help to enquire more abt this said club. where do u guys based and how do one become a member? i may not be able to join the club's modus operandi in going around assisting the needy but can i still join as a member anyway?

one suggestion, how abt paying wards k8/k9 a visit the next time around? its both a spinal injury-related wards. bukan nak memburukkan sesiapa but some patients r visibly in a sorry state to say the least.

so anyway, good weekend for us bro. ferrari 1-2 and mclaren stripped off their season construction points totally. hahha..

cakapaje said...

Kerp my bro,

A very good suggestion from you bro. InsyAllah, I will put to the floor about it, and the K8/K9 wards - had you not mentioned it, I would not have known about those wards.

And yes, it certainly is a good weekend for ferrari, and off course, us :).

HH said...

Hey CakapAje,

It's a lawatan hormat.

cakapaje said...

Hey Restless,

Kalau cam time kadet dulu, kenalah beri "Hormat, Hormat Panglima...Hormat!" :)

tokasid said...

Cakapaje:

Apa yang hang tulis ni bukan takabur. They way I see it, its a report of what your NGO is doing, and along the way it motivates others to do the same,apa lagi di bulan posa ni.

Yang aku tabik spring tu bukan apa...aku dapati(aku pun sama jugak), tak ramai orang yg berminat atau yg minat pulak tak boleh nak istiqamah buat kerja sukarela ni apalagi bila di buat pada weekend.

Dulu aku dan few friends selalu buat medical camp kat kawasan luar bandar, tapi susah nak cari org tolong organise kan. Dah tu pulak yg tukang buat kerja ramai yg very vocal about govt( read as opposition la..), tempat yg kami dok buat pulak lubok kuat kerajaan. Bukan kami bagi ceramah apa pun,tapi sebab depa kenai doktor2 yg kaki 'bantah' ni..depa tengok/ushar kami semacam je. La ni bila kita offer nak buat medic camp...yg kuat sokong gomen will decline.

Whenever I read NGOs dok pergi buat kerja sukarela amal ni, aku dok fikir,kalau lebih banyak NGO Muslim buat gitu kan baik, esp to penempatan Orang Asli.

Yes bro kerp, you can contribute sama esp to orang2 yang kena musibah macam yourself.

Unknown said...

I admit I have never done such charity work. Kekadang memang geram dengan treatment yang di offerkan di hospitals ni, bith by the docs and the nurses. Depa kata depa letih. Yes kita tak deny that tapi sincere la sikit bila buat kerja. Bila ada sincerity, orang dapat rasa dan akan rasa puas.

cakapaje said...

Salam Doc,

WIth regards to penempatan Orang Aslo, I think JIM - Jemaah Islah Malaysia - is already doing it. But that does not mean others cannot follow suit.


Cikgu,

I have to agree with your comment.

Minci said...

I'm looking forward to be part of this in Malaysia nanti..
I wonder if you have any activities lined up in December/Jan/Feb.. coz I'll be back then :)

cakapaje said...

Minci,

InsyAllah, we will be having more activities. Currently we are having a low-level talk with JAKIM and may be later JAWI to see where we can work together; funding is a crucial factor here as we would need to but items of need.

I look forward to you joining us.