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.