The great thing about pretending to be doctors and interacting with charity ward patients is that they always give you perspective.
11:00am: Library (Bodge and Joemal are buried beneath a hill of neurology books and a lone orthopedic surgery book, trying to think of a decent diagnosis to discuss with Dr. Aquino, aka, FPJ’s doctor, for F.F., 50 year old comatose woman from Novaliches, Quezon City.Bodge is suffering from dry cough and colds of 4 days duration)
Bodge: Cough…cough… Leche ang hirap naman nito. San ba talaga yung problema niya? Sa midbrain? Diba sira na yung cranial nerve 3, 4 and 6? Pero nabubuksan pa rin niya mata niya e.
Joemal: Oo nga, ayus pa cranial nerve 3 niya.
Bodge: Hindi nga? Leche. Ayoko na.
Joemal: Feeling ko sa cortex problema nito.
Bodge: Ano, pwede ba yun? Buong cortex? Diba usually lateral lang yung mga ganun? Takte Joemal, alam mo kung ano gusto kong gawin ngayon? Umupo sa isang sulok.
Joemal: Ano? Laughs.
Bodge: Oo, mga tatlong oras lang.
3:00pm: Neurology Ward (Bodge and F.F.’s daughter are standing at the foot of F.F.’s bed. F.F.’s is buried underneath a hill of NGT and respiratory tubings, IV drips and catheters.)
Bodge: Ate, di ba i-susurgery dapat si Nanay?
F.F.’s daughter: Smiling. Baka hindi na e…kasi sabi naman daw maliit pa rin yung chance na bumalik siya sa normal.
Silence.
Bodge: Eh…ano po yung ibang choices niyo?
F.F.’s daughter: Smile brightens down a notch. Microexpression shows despair. Di ko nga alam e…
So whenever you’re having a bad day, always remember that the hill you’re climbing is probably a great deal smaller than you think.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Hay... it really does give one a slap in the face sometimes, doesn't it?
We've been assigned to four different district hospitals in the last four weeks and dude, nakakaawa talaga yung ibang mga nagiging pasyente namin. Seeing them having such huge problems, tapos alam mo pa na although may sakit sila and they need surgery but couldn't have it coz they dont have the funds... just breaks my heart.
True, and syempre di kami pwede masyado maapekto dahil baka magbreakdown kami and we wouldn't be able to do our job. Uy, ano ba work mo? Nasa NGO ka ba?
Post a Comment