day 35: the thank-you list

We brought Ate Malou home on 8 March.  She is now busy getting better, talking all the time.  She sleeps in the living room surrounded by her contraptions, and we have granted her full control of the tv remote.

This goes out to all the people who helped us through the one month that Ate Malou was confined at the Philippine Orthopedic Center.

To Mommy Janet, our neighbor, who bathed and fed my four-year-old, brought her to school and fetched her after class while Ate Malou was away.

To Gohan, Kitty and Grace, Shasel and Ms. Cecile, whose referrals made us breathe easier, and made us understand the workings of the government hospital system.

To my officemates who responded to the email and forwarded it to friends, and to the resident surgeons at East Avenue and Makati Med who kindly offered to help.

To Irene who paid for the pediatric crutches; to Liza for the bulalo lunch that Ate Malou thoroughly enjoyed; and to Pia for the care package.

To Shirley whose sister brought the wheelchair to the POC; and to Joanna who brought the pediatric walker to the office.

To Jackie whose sister sent money and whose brother brought the commode chair to the charity ward and caused Ate Malou to become a celebrity-of-sorts in the ward. The commode chair now resides in my living room and the cat has claimed it as her throne, when Ate Malou is not sitting on it.

To Eva and Jun at the Department of Health; we are very grateful.  Come over one weekend when Ate Malou is well enough to cook, and let's have lunch together.

To Ate Baby and the watchers at the ward who helped at one point or another, you give kindness a whole new meaning.

To my mother-in-law, who makes a mean pork steak and who has taught me how to properly wash my husband's shirts. :-)

To Dr. Badiee and Dr. Chua, and the team who handled Ate Malou's operation, thank you.  I still marvel over the staples on Ate Malou's leg, and since I am afraid of needles, I will always be in awe of someone who can put injured people back together again.  Thank you too for taking the time to respond to my text messages, and for kindly putting Ate Malou's mind at ease every time you visit.

And here's to the POC staff: to Nurse Mario and Nurse Red at the third floor, whom Ate Malou said were particularly solicitous to the patients; to Nurse Jenny at the second floor who was cheerful and kind, and to the nurse who helped Ate Malou's mother navigate the billing procedure.  The staff at the Philhealth Office were efficient and friendly.  The lady at the Medical Records was strict but very helpful.

To Sol at Billing, who didn't know me, but who pleasantly accommodated my questions in the many days we were at the hospital.  To Karen at the Social Worker's office, who showed me the many ways we ordinary people can help others.

When I submit the formal report, your full names will be there.  This is my informal thank-you list, but this one is just as heartfelt, and this one will also be read by people.

I wish you could have seen my little daughter when Ate Malou came home.  They hugged so hard I was afraid I'd have to bring Ate Malou back to the hospital for more broken bones.  I also have to put some bandage and micropore tape on her leg so she could properly sympathize with Ate Malou.

To all of you out there who wished Ate Malou well even if you didn't know her, she doesn't know I'm blogging about her, so I'm thanking you all on her behalf.  Bless your kind hearts, people.

day 28: the operation

On 22 February we were informed that Ate Malou's schedule was on the 28th, but given our experience the previous week, I wasn't going to believe it until I actually see it written down in her chart.

The doctor has already given me the prescription for the antibiotics and the materials needed for surgery, but the ward watchers tell me that someone has to be on standby, because the requests for additional materials would be given the night before surgery, and other medicines would be required in the recovery room.  So on 27 February, I was there, double-checking the list.  I asked the doctor if everything was complete, and if the clearance is still valid.  I thought I'd suffer a heart attack if we would be informed that one test needs to be repeated this time.

The nurse explained to me how the schedule for surgery gets finalized, from the time the anesthesiologist makes his rounds, to the advise to the nurse station, to the operating room lineup.  The anesthesiologist will make his rounds in the late afternoon, and we'd get the instruction to bring the form to the blood bank.  Then they'd run through the checklist.  The nurses on shift would keep checking the materials until the patient is ready for surgery.  I should get the name of the nurse; she is helpful and pleasant.

They kept the watcher running that night.  She bought the anesthesia, then the nurses were asking about the intravenous solution and the sheet for the operating table, which weren't in my list.  Finally, at 6:00 am on 28 February, Ate Malou was brought to the operating room.

Ate Malou says she was semi-conscious throughout the operation.  The doctors were discussing, and she could hear the pounding of some metal, which she assumed was the implant they were going to use on her.  She said she could recognize the voice of her doctor, and that of the anesthesiologist, and they both sounded nice and light-hearted.  Finally, the doctor said they were finished, and she said she thanked the Lord, then thanked the doctor.  The doctor texted me when they finished, and you don't know how relieved I was.  It is a big deal, when the doctor tells you everything went well, and it is a bigger deal when the doctor takes the time to inform you.

I spoke to Ate Malou the following morning, 1 March, and already she was so talkative.  She said she needed blood transfusion, and that she had a fever.  But she remembered to greet my husband a happy birthday.  She also said she had a new doctor, and this doctor is also cute and very cheerful.  The new doctor explained the whole operation to her, and what is expected, and what the possible problems are.

Ate Malou's version is that when the doctors were trying to screw the implant to her thigh bone, her bone would disintegrate.  So they made another incision to try getting some bone from her hip, but that didn't work.  Her hip bone was very thin.  They got some bone from their bone bank and fixed the implant in place using that.  The doctor said it was successful.

That's what's important.  It was successful.  We can worry later about preventing infection, and the risk of hospital pneumonia, and why she had fever, but in the meantime we're only glad she's out of surgery and talking about going home.  I'll make sure I can personally thank the doctors.  They have no idea how grateful we are for helping Ate Malou get well again.

day 26: the watcher

Ate Malou has a neighbor in the ward, a lady who has been in the hospital since November.  She was supposed to undergo surgery for a broken hip, but the doctors have learned that she has goiter.  She has undergone medication at the hospital, but she needs further tests, a biopsy, and treatment before she can be scheduled for surgery.  Said specialized treatment was not available at the Orthopedic Center.

The lady was crying, because she was being sent home.  Her doctor has advised that she could continue the treatment on an outpatient basis in another hospital, and then she can come back for surgery when her goiter is ok.  She will need a wheelchair when she gets discharged.  She was crying because she can't afford a wheelchair.  She is a fish vendor in Navotas.

Ate Malou cried with her, of course.  Such is life in the ward; you share each other's miseries when you've been together long enough.  Her watcher, Ate Baby, asked Ate Malou if we could help her sister obtain a wheelchair.  We said yes, we'd try to help.  At this point we were already talking to DOH, so we might as well include a request for a wheelchair.

Ate Baby has been living in the ward long enough to know how it works, and more.  She is the one the other watchers ask when they're not sure where to go.  She runs to the drugstore to fill another patient's prescription when the watcher is not available.  She coaches the other watchers what to buy first in the prescription, and which drugstore offers the lower prices.  She advises the other watchers what time to go to the blood bank, where to get the medical abstract, where to buy water.  When Ate Malou needed to get her thyroid test brought out, it was Ate Baby who offered to go to the laboratory, and she refused the money Ate Malou gave for her fare.

The ward watchers share what they have: food, magazines, gossip about Coco Martin's lovelife, kindness.  They are poor, but they have a good heart.  They look out for each other, and they wish each other well.  They seem truly happy for you when your patient's test comes back normal, and they rally around a patient who gets scheduled for surgery.

It is Ate Baby who will run to Red Cross when Ate Malou needed blood transfusion after the surgery.  It is Ate Baby who will buy the paracetamol when Ate Malou got a fever at 3:00 am, and who will bring Ate Malou's mother to the right office to be interviewed by the social worker.

Right now we're deep in debt due to the hospital expenses, and I'm truly anxious about the bill.  We've asked numerous people for help.  Ate Malou will need her own wheelchair and crutches when she gets discharged.  But you know what, I think I'll ask a few more people.  The lady will get a wheelchair too.

There is enough kindness to go around, even among strangers, in the ward.  This goes out to thank Ate Baby, and I wish her sister well.