Hospital stories (one)
My romance with hospitals turned to a new chapter when this time I was the guardian of a patient. That is, my mother.
My long affair with hospitals started when I was 6 years old, the fat and inactive boy who knew nothing but memorizing the times table and chinese history, fables, poems and famous people told to him by his father.
Quite astonishingly, my appendix needed to be get rid of. A surgery with general anaesthetic and lots of wishes of speedy recovery. The aunties used to say only the mischevious kids who jump about after meals suffer this unfortunate fate. I wasn't.
15 years after, I found myself lying in a Singapore hospital bed 3 times that same year.
1st it was dengue fever. 3 days.
2nd it was harremorhoids. Pulse that is. The spelling should be wrong. An operation and a one night's stay.
3rd it was the wisdom tooth op where I took off 4 at one go.
---
My mother had an eye operation, i dun really know the details. It was something like adjusting the pupil to the right position. It was a day surgery that was supposed to be completed by morning and back home by afternoon.
She was a real sleeper and woke up late afternoon and was feeling giddy, weak and really weak. Being the unfilial son that I was, I asked why she was looking so languid and lifeless. She was probably too sleepy and physically exhausted to smile or talk. I sat beside her bed, feeling it was responsiblity that kept me in my seat and not filial piety or love. I couldn't stand the sight of her not making an effort to get better or at least sit down or eat properly.
I recall the patients around me when I was a patient. I was surrounded by old age, depression and pain. I couldn't help but think one day I will face a similar situation with my mum lying in bed. I love my mum but I doubt my ability to handle the sickly stench of depression that the hospital wards give off. I can't help but thinking what a bastard I am.
Of course, my mum got better and when she greeted me with a smile the next day, i felt much better. So it is indeed selfishness on my part. I only want good things to happen to me. I want smiles, laughter and happiness.
To be continued.
My long affair with hospitals started when I was 6 years old, the fat and inactive boy who knew nothing but memorizing the times table and chinese history, fables, poems and famous people told to him by his father.
Quite astonishingly, my appendix needed to be get rid of. A surgery with general anaesthetic and lots of wishes of speedy recovery. The aunties used to say only the mischevious kids who jump about after meals suffer this unfortunate fate. I wasn't.
15 years after, I found myself lying in a Singapore hospital bed 3 times that same year.
1st it was dengue fever. 3 days.
2nd it was harremorhoids. Pulse that is. The spelling should be wrong. An operation and a one night's stay.
3rd it was the wisdom tooth op where I took off 4 at one go.
---
My mother had an eye operation, i dun really know the details. It was something like adjusting the pupil to the right position. It was a day surgery that was supposed to be completed by morning and back home by afternoon.
She was a real sleeper and woke up late afternoon and was feeling giddy, weak and really weak. Being the unfilial son that I was, I asked why she was looking so languid and lifeless. She was probably too sleepy and physically exhausted to smile or talk. I sat beside her bed, feeling it was responsiblity that kept me in my seat and not filial piety or love. I couldn't stand the sight of her not making an effort to get better or at least sit down or eat properly.
I recall the patients around me when I was a patient. I was surrounded by old age, depression and pain. I couldn't help but think one day I will face a similar situation with my mum lying in bed. I love my mum but I doubt my ability to handle the sickly stench of depression that the hospital wards give off. I can't help but thinking what a bastard I am.
Of course, my mum got better and when she greeted me with a smile the next day, i felt much better. So it is indeed selfishness on my part. I only want good things to happen to me. I want smiles, laughter and happiness.
To be continued.
posted by jingli K at 12:07 PM
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