Some patients you never forget. The following story I have told before somewhere else. Those who already heard it please forgive me, but I always have those children on my mind.
One late evening there was the familiar knock on the door. The guard outside asked for my presence in the OPD (open patient department) for one emergency. The staff never calls me unnecessarily. Knowing that I am on call every day and night continuously, they always try to spare me.
In this case it was an older brother of a young girl who insisted that the doctor came to see her. The staff knowing very well that it was not an emergency case refused, but the boy was so persistent that finally they gave up and called for me.
The boy had come with his younger sister from a hospital some three hours by car from Aira. Before coming to Aira he had carried her several hours in his back to reach that hospital. But in vain - they could not help her. The couple was sitting outside that hospital not knowing what to do when a car passed by and asked if they would take the chance to go to Aira.
Now they were here and the boy wanted to know if we could help her. If not he would have to return with the same car in the same evening. That’s why he persisted on asking for the doctor to come and see her.
She had an enormous sarcoma (cancerous growth) of the right knee. She was anemic, but otherwise fit, and there seemed to be a reasonable chance to remove the malignant growth. So she stayed with her brother and was scheduled for the following day.
The right leg had to be amputated through the hip joint (exarticulation of the hip). A major procedure which turned out successfully since we could remove all the enlarged lymph nodes in the inguinal area.
On the round the following morning we found her smiling all over the face in spite of the disfiguring and painful surgery. “You removed my burden!” She exclaimed with great relief. “I never thought it would happen!”
Soon she started to ask for discharge. Why she was in such a hurry to go back home made us curious. She explained that there were orphanages. Both parent passed away some years ago, and they were living on the land they inherited after the parents. Her 16 year old brother was supporting herself and her two younger sisters by farming. She herself was keeping the house, preparing food and seeing to that her two younger sisters went to school every day. Now she was worried for the well being of the younger ones and wanted to return as soon as possible.
The poor fund covered all the expenses including crutches and transportation back home. I never saw them again, but they are always in my mind. I wonder how they manage.
The person who took the couple back home told me that the brother tried to comfort his sister during the trip with the following comment “The good thing is, that in the future we need only to buy one shoe for you.”!
Tags: amputation, exarticulation, exarticulation of the hip joint, osteosarcoma, sarcoma, soft tissue sarcoma
This entry was posted
on Wednesday, May 20th, 2009 at 9:39 pm and is filed under Bone surgery.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.
Some patients you never forget. The following story I have told before somewhere else. Those who already heard it please forgive me, but I always have those children on my mind.
One late evening there was the familiar knock on the door. The guard outside asked for my presence in the OPD (open patient department) for one emergency. The staff never calls me unnecessarily. Knowing that I am on call every day and night continuously, they always try to spare me.
In this case it was an older brother of a young girl who insisted that the doctor came to see her. The staff knowing very well that it was not an emergency case refused, but the boy was so persistent that finally they gave up and called for me.
The boy had come with his younger sister from a hospital some three hours by car from Aira. Before coming to Aira he had carried her several hours in his back to reach that hospital. But in vain - they could not help her. The couple was sitting outside that hospital not knowing what to do when a car passed by and asked if they would take the chance to go to Aira.
Now they were here and the boy wanted to know if we could help her. If not he would have to return with the same car in the same evening. That’s why he persisted on asking for the doctor to come and see her.
She had an enormous sarcoma (cancerous growth) of the right knee. She was anemic, but otherwise fit, and there seemed to be a reasonable chance to remove the malignant growth. So she stayed with her brother and was scheduled for the following day.
The right leg had to be amputated through the hip joint (exarticulation of the hip). A major procedure which turned out successfully since we could remove all the enlarged lymph nodes in the inguinal area.
On the round the following morning we found her smiling all over the face in spite of the disfiguring and painful surgery. “You removed my burden!” She exclaimed with great relief. “I never thought it would happen!”
Soon she started to ask for discharge. Why she was in such a hurry to go back home made us curious. She explained that there were orphanages. Both parent passed away some years ago, and they were living on the land they inherited after the parents. Her 16 year old brother was supporting herself and her two younger sisters by farming. She herself was keeping the house, preparing food and seeing to that her two younger sisters went to school every day. Now she was worried for the well being of the younger ones and wanted to return as soon as possible.
The poor fund covered all the expenses including crutches and transportation back home. I never saw them again, but they are always in my mind. I wonder how they manage.
The person who took the couple back home told me that the brother tried to comfort his sister during the trip with the following comment “The good thing is, that in the future we need only to buy one shoe for you.”!
Tags: amputation, exarticulation, exarticulation of the hip joint, osteosarcoma, sarcoma, soft tissue sarcoma
This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 20th, 2009 at 9:39 pm and is filed under Bone surgery. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.