Thursday, January 28, 2010

Baba: in pain again

27 days into 2010. I am at my daughter's place beside the beach, hoping to watch the sunrise. Woke up to a torrent of morning shower. The sky is dark at 7 am. No glimpse of the orange ball.




At about 8.00 am a slice of the dark sky was seared.




Came here yesterday. Had to take leave from work. Baba has been unwell and has finally agreed to be seen by a surgeon. Went to see Dr Huzaimi at Kuantan Specialist Hospital. He ordered a colonoscopy to rule out cancer. To Baba's horror, he cannot take food until the procedure the next day. Only juice and plain water. 


We were told to come back at 9 am the next day.


We retreated to the house by the beach. 


At 6.00 pm Baba had to take his first 45ml of laxative. 


It was a long night for Baba. Must have been longer for Ma. I knew it was very long for me. I kept counting the hours.


Baba rolled out in pain throughout the night. To see Baba in so much pain was unbearable.


At 6.00 am Baba had to take the second bottle of laxative. That made his visit to the loo more frequent. He refused drinks saying it made him purge. Ahhh!!! Tension nyerrrr!!!! I was scared he might get dehydrated.


By 9.00 am we arrived at the hospital and since I have already done the registration yesterday, all that was left to do was pay the deposit and off to wait for the procedure in the ward. The lady at the reception was very attentive. Seeing Baba dragged his pain ridden body, she quickly get a wheelchair and helped get Baba into the lift to the second floor. Baba was swiftly settled into a bed next to the toilet.


By 10.30, Baba was getting rather agitated. He reasoned that since the doctor told him to fast until 9.00 am, he can break the fast after the hour. I went looking for the doctor. He was not available. I asked the nurse if Baba can be put on IV because he has been purging for more than twelve hours and he has not been drinking any water. Nothing.


I expected the doctor would come to see Baba in the ward. No.


By 12.30 I went to the nurse's counter again and saw the doctor there. Told him of my concern. He made a few calls and scolded a few people for not setting up Baba on drip.


What was that????


Anyway, he came to see Baba and told him to drink as much plain water as he want because he can suck the water out of the stomach later during the procedure. At the same time, nurses rushed in to set up IV drip.


The doctor ordered a very fast drip.


The drip bottle emptied in about 10 minutes.


At about 1.30, Baba was taken to OT. Doctor said it would take about half an hour.


I took Ma for lunch at the hospital's cafetaria.


About an hour later, we got back to the ward just as the nurse got on the phone to call me.


Baba was sleeping, apparently still under sedative.


He woke up few minutes later and saw the lunch he ordered earlier. It's been 24 hours since his last meal.


I went to ask the nurse if Baba could take his lunch. NO. He has another procedure to undergo. Ultrasound scan. No food allowed. Only plain water permitted.


3.30 pm and still waiting for the scan. Baba was ravenous. Been fasting for more than 24 hours now. I went to ask the nurse how long before the scan would be available and asked if Baba could have some food. The nurse ordered a light meal; two pieces of wholemeal bread with butter and strawberry jam and a cup of hot cocoa. Baba seemed better after the hot drink.


At about 4.00 pm, Baba was taken for the scan. I took Ma down for cuppa hot drinks. 


When we came back to the ward, Baba was in the toilet. The doctor came with the diagnosis. Baba has acute gastritis, inflammed pancreas and swollen colon, all of which are unoperable.


The result was - doctor could not take away Baba's pain.


He could only give medications to help relieve the symptoms.


Zantac, xxxxxx and xxxxxxx [forgot the name of the medications, will get it later]


Looks like same old same old !!!


At a cost of over rm2k.


Would I rather wait for the appointment at Temerloh Hospital scheduled on 8/3/10 and save 2k?


Big thumping NO!


I would do it again at whatever cost should the need arise.