428. Another Hospital, another story😊!

One day last month, I got a call from my cousin’s wife saying that their mother had fallen unconscious and they have admitted her to a nearby hospital.  She said the aunt is in ICU and they will not allow anyone to visit.  Moreover, my cousin was in Chennai for some official work.  She said we can come later also as some tests are being done and she will update me once the results come out.

My wife and myself were about to start on a 12-day trip starting the next day.  The packing was supposed to be done that day.  We thought we will go to the hospital and check and decide on the trip later, depending on the situation.  We had our breakfast and left for the hospital.

On reaching the hospital, we got to know that our aunt is still unconscious and some of the tests done were showing normal results.  Only her BP was high, and some other reading was dropping down.  I went inside the ICU with my cousin’s wife.  The staff grudgingly allowed me to go inside as I was the only male person there in the family.  My wife, another family friend and my cousin’s wife were all ladies😊!  My aunt was still unconscious, but she made a grunting sound when I called her name.  It looked like she was aware that someone has come but was unable to respond and open her eyes.  In the meanwhile, my cousin who was in Chennai, also had booked his flight to Hyderabad in the next available flight. 

The doctor also came at that time.  He said some technical term as to the state my aunt was in and suggested that we put her into a ventilator.  He however said that if we put her into a ventilator, her coming out from this situation was only 50% and they cannot give any other assurance on her.  It looked like a way to extract more amount, irrespective of whether the patient lives or not.   He said that we have to take a decision either way soon so that they can take the next course of action.

Meanwhile, I also spoke to my aunt’s eldest son who is in the armed services.  He said that if we can shift her to the services hospital, they will take care of her and provide best care.  The doctor here said that he cannot be held responsible in case something happened to the aunt while transferring.  My cousin gave the phone number of the concerned person in the services hospital and asked me to speak to him.

I spoke to the gentleman and made him speak to the doctor there as it would make sense to him regarding the correct status of my aunt.  After he spoke to the doctor, he talked to me.  He also said that putting her in the ventilator will not be good. He suggested that since my aunt is more than 80 years of age, we should not make her inconvenient by putting her in the ventilator. He suggested that she has lived her life and it is better to take her home and look after her for another couple of days before eventuality happens.  He also gave an example of something like this happening in his family and that they too brought the relative home who expired after 2-3 days.  I did not tell this to my cousin as he has a very bad temper😊!  The services gentleman also said that he will send a doctor from his place and he will suggest what next can be done.

All this was happening in the ICU itself.  In the meanwhile, another junior doctor came and talked to me.  He suggested that if we have another hospital in mind, we can look at that option.  He will send a nurse with the ambulance so that he/she can take care of the aunt till we reach the hospital.   Last year, I had admitted my mother to another big hospital and they had taken good care of my mother. I call the Admin in charge there and told him about the situation.  He said that if we can bring my aunt there in an ambulance, he can ensure that best doctors see her and advise accordingly.

I called up my cousin who was at the Chennai airport at that time to catch his flight to Hyderabad.  He suggested that instead of that branch, we can shift her to another branch of the same hospital where he knew the doctors.  In the meanwhile, the neighbor doctor, who suggested to my cousin’s wife to take her to the current hospital, called my cousin’s wife.  She also opined that it will be better to shift my aunt to another hospital.  We learnt that the hospital was opened only 6 months back and may not be that well-equipped to handle such cases.

We told the hospital that we would be transferring my aunt to another hospital and they can do the formalities for discharge.  We also told them that we needed a nurse to accompany her so that she can take care of any exigencies on the way.  We were told to make the balance payment so that they can do the discharge process.  My cousin’s wife went to take care of the formalities.  In the meanwhile, a male nurse was going back home after his shift.  The junior doctor said that this nurse will be accompanying my aunt and that we need to give him Rs 500 for that😊!  We had not option but to agree. He then made me talk to their ambulance driver and negotiated a price for the transfer.  I told him that price was not a deterrent but he had to confirm that till we reach the other hospital, my aunt’s condition should be same as it is now. He confirmed that.  He said that he will also write a note for the doctor in the other hospital so that they can start their actions accordingly. 

By the time all these activities happened and my aunt was ready to be transferred, my cousin also came to the hospital after arriving from Chennai.  It gives an indication of the time taken by this hospital to finally discharge my aunt.

We went to the other hospital and she was immediately taken to the ICU there.  After completing the admission formalities, they started doing tests on her.  I also accompanied her to the brain MRI scan.  In the theatre, I again called her 2-3 times and she again once responded by a grunt. But did not open her eyes.  They then shifted her to some other ICU and we were all waiting in the waiting room.

My cousin’s wife went to the ICU to check on my aunt.  Suddenly my aunt sat up and asked her to give her some food as she was feeling very hungry😊!! She had fallen unconscious at about 8am or so in the morning, after taking a bath and putting her clothes to dry on a clothesline.  Now at 6pm or so she came into consciousness.  She had a vague feeling that some people, including me, had called out to her but she could not respond.  Or she was responding, but we were not able to hear her. In another hour or so, she was quite normal and was busy chatting.  Since it was a medical ICU, only 2-3 people were allowed inside and everyone was happy that she was back to her normal self. 

I then asked my cousin if I should cancel my trip or undertake it.  I told him that my son would be with them and will be staying at his place.  My cousin told me that I can proceed with the trip and he would let me know of the progress on a regular basis. 

For my aunt, from being put in the ventilator to coming back to her normal state, was a miracle.  For people with not much medical knowledge, it puts them in a difficult position to take a call.  Luckily, we had other people who gave sound advice and also not-so-sound advice😊!  We took a call and heeded the advice that turned out to be right at the end. 

In conclusion, one should always go to a bigger hospital whenever you need to get hospitalized.  Most of the small hospitals may not be equipped to treat all diseases; but may also lessen your bank balance at that critical decision time.  Of course, if it is really a serious situation, then go for a nearby hospital to get stabilized and then shift to a bigger hospital.  Well, all’s well that ends well😊!

Adieu till next time😊!