Sunday, March 12, 2006

Prisoner of Hospitals

It is now a week that I have been out of my prison (Hospital !). I had little breathlessness on couple of weeks ago and that started a string of tests and subsequent hospitalization. I was diagnosed to have a cardiac problem, a cancer and pulmonary complications (at the same time!). The hospitalization itself was not that bad.. well there were lot of young nurses to begin with, but the being-instructed-where-to-pee is not a state one would want to be. Especially if you are used to sufficiently democratic house (now don't get me wrong, we do have bathrooms, but we also have balconeys with potted-plants). The worse part is most of the young nurses did not know their trade, thus they would insert the needles everywhere in my body without lot of professional skill and cause all kinds of IV fluids to get in my body, where least expected. I consider this to be very dirty game on the part of nurses. After all one is expected to be warned about the punishment before treating to full effect of it. The good part is I learnt how to manage the IVs and a great deal about 'Hepatoma' (hepato-cellular carcinoma or HCC. We, in medical trade, like to use the shortforms you see..), but none about what caused the 'breathlessness'. My doctor has a hypothesis that tumour in liver causes pressure on diaphragm and causes breathlessness. I think if proven true, he would probably publish a paper on it. In other words we have a rare condition. I wonder how useful this case would be for generations of medical students. There would be discussions about whether alpha-phetoprotein level should have indicated it or it was just another form of FLC (Fibrolamellar Carcinoma). Professors would have pop-quizzes on symptoms and the right answer would be 'breathlessness'.. :-). I am looking for quite a bit of photographs taken of my tumour in liver and become famous posthumously.
My wife (who wanted to be doctor but became engineer and assumes that she has the knowledge of medicine), on the other hand, thinks that I have a problem of overgrown nose bone which is causing all this 'breathlessness'. According to her I have sinuses problem compounded with pollution. My mother thinks I do not have problem and I need lot of rest.
However all of them agree on putting me through the experiences of hospital. I do not hate hospitals in general, but what gets you, is sleeping on rexine beds and staring at the white ceilings (well.. er and also the fact that you can not really flirt with the nurses, however young - it is like being in strip clubs, you can watch but can't touch!). Hospitals are almost like a prison, you have to drink tea at time they give it to you, lunch on time, dinner on time, even sleep on time (if you decline they force a pill down your throat to make you sleep) and absolutely no sex..not even thoughts (in case it increases your blood pressure). I am sure in even in real prison they treat prisoners better and nobody is drawing their blood 2 times a day. I have got so many pricks on my hands that it is difficult to find the contiguous part of the skin. I have radioactive isotopes in my body, lungs, liver. I have been treated through multiple magnetic scans. The tests ensured that if I do not have cancer, I would have one eventually.
I have few more tests planned this week, I am assured that the new prison is in different place and has better nurses, however punishment would be little severe... this time they plan to cut me open. It is true that prisoners don't have choice, only change of wardens...

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Just wanted to encourage you. I am a cancer survivor, and I feel your pain about the medical treatment. The doctors/nurses/hospital are all terrible, but there is no reason that you cannot be the miracle.

Many of us make it. If you have time, go to my blog, www.clarkcountydiva.com
I have learned, like you, that life is short, but each day is precious. Kiss your wife, pet your dog and live whatever time you have left... well.

I must say, however, after surviving a radical, miserable, cancer treatment (marinated, grilled and sliced and diced), I will be really angry if I get hit by a truck. :)

Take good care of yourself.
Clark County Diva, Washington State, USA