Fellow Sufferers

When writing about my little holiday in hospital recently I may have given the impression I was alone in a room, referred to here as a single-bedded. This was not the case. I opted, to save money, for a four-bedded room, and was lucky from the first in that the four-bedded room could only fit three patients due to the awkward placing of a window at its deepest end. This was near where the toilet was, and the position closest was obviously the prime spot. This fell to me immediately upon entry, and for a couple of days the whole room was mine.

It's not that I mind terribly having others around, but there's an element of chance in this. As a reasonably regular visitor to Noi's frailer relations in hospitals I know that a visit from a Malay extended family can turn into a major party. Such occasions suggest deep hearts, but a lack of restfulness.

My luck held for the week I was there. Only three other patients were admitted during that time, two being left for me to say goodbye to when I skipped the coop. I think I'm right in saying that all three were in some way associated with the ships at the PSA. I think they were probably employed on board, with insurance to take them to a private hospital in Singapore in case of emergency. This meant that I was the only 'local', and the only one to have visitors. (Noi and I kept quiet regarding the fact I was there as we didn't want to drag people in, or disturb the other patients with our own version of an extended family. Still, it was touching, oddly reviving, when people came.)

So it was a bit of a multi-national experience brushing up against the other guys there, very globalising. But it was also a bit worrying that I think all three others had concerns a little deeper than me. For example, the first guy in, an Eastern European speaking poor English, I think had a problem with diabetes, and he didn't seem aware of the gravity of this. A lot of time was spent trying to convince him of what he didn't need to eat, and definitely shouldn't eat to get elevated blood sugar levels down. (Yes, I'm no expert, but it sounded something like that.) He was still there when I left and looked like a man out of place. Poor man couldn't even enjoy the tv.

The second patient in was an Indian national and his aim was to get out as fast as possible and back to treatment in India. Young guy, with young family, and obviously missing them. His doctor spent at least fifteen minutes talking to the patient's wife back home trying to convince her to let her husband stay in Singapore where the tests were done and the treatment going to be the best you could get. (Of this, by the way, I have no doubt.) By the way, in case you're wondering just how much eavesdropping I was doing, let me assure you it was impossible to miss these conversations. The doctor on the phone could have been heard at least three rooms away. In the event, the Indian guy didn't stay long, being in and out almost overnight, and I don't think it wise for him to go home so quickly. They were worried about fainting spells, I think, brought on by a possible stone in the kidneys?

The last guy in was a German, resident in Ethiopia. Of the three I'd have guessed he was the most ill. Youngish, in his thirties, he was a smoker - claiming to have just given up - and had suffered some kind of thrombosis in his leg some years back. One his legs was now discoloured and, although he wasn't making a big fuss, I think he was putting up with quite a bit of pain especially at night. I think that had him wired to something that went beeping when things got bad. They were about to put him on medication to clear the blockage of blood to the leg, which had just been diagnosed through one of those angioplasty type things. (If I'm getting all the medicine wrong, just enjoy it folks, as a sign of how little I do know of such matters. At least I can't be accused of compromising confidentiality as I don't really know what I'm talking about.)

The problem was, though, that if the medication didn't do its magic the leg was in real danger. The guy took this incredibly well. I'm thinking of him now, and saying a little prayer.