The PGH Experience

After resigning from my work I immediately embarked on the job of a nurse. I had to take care of my niece who just went under the knife for an ASD Patch Closure. Her heart has a hole and had to be "patched" using some synthetic material. The operation went well except that the cathether used as a tube in her neck was left in her body. The next day following her heart procedure she had to go through another operation to try to remove the catheter, but no such luck. The object was broken into 4 pieces and was placed in different parts of the body to keep it from interfering with the organs, like the lungs, from functioning properly. What the doctors expect to happen is that the object will be embedded in the body's system and the body will adapt to the foreign object and just wrap tissues around it making it permanently part of the body.

It's screaming medical malpractice, isn't it? But because we went in on Charity this is already good as gone. We are very much thankful for all the doctors for staying with her during the whole ordeal but somehow we feel that this could have been prevented. One of the rumors was that patients from Charity doesn't usually get the good doctors but those who are still practicing to become doctors, so in effect Charity patients become guinea pigs. To some extent, there's nothing wrong with that because if you think about it how will they learn to become efficient doctors if they cannot practice what they learn, the twist here is that why do they have to do it with their poor patients? They practice their craft with poor patients so that they can better serve their paying patients, now that's kind of screwed. For a public, government funded, and an educational institution the welfare of the patients specially the poor ones should be prioritized, the wise and popular words of Magsaysay comes into mind in this situation, "the ones who has less in life should have more in law". It's very difficult to go in on charity. Nurses can wake you up in the middle of the night to ask you get some medicine or whatever the hell they need. During the operation you had to be at the OR's door because you have to run errands for them. You have to answer their every beck and call. And since they have limited supplies you have to buy your own. And the prices of the medicines are pretty ridiculous too. One vial can cost up to 2000 pesos. No wonder a lot of patients die even from simple illnesses because of the very poor quality being provided by our hospitals. Not too mention the nurses, I understand that they're in a lot of pressure from heavy workloads ( 1 nurse to 17 beds or patients) but sometimes their foul attitudes make matters worst. You can't ask them anything, if you try to ask them they'll take it as if you're being a smart ass but all you're trying to do is ask, so none of the patients ask, what medicine they're taking in, hell knows if its poison or what instrument is being attached to them. Of course there are also exceptional nurses who goes beyond the call of duty and serves with full sincerity and kindness.

As for my niece, she's recovering well. It seems that her blood is not developing some kind of virus or bacteria that's why she was allowed to go home 6 days after the operation. The rest of the healing process is to be done at home, she has to take in meds to keep infections from forming on her body specially now that she has a remembrance from the operation that she will keep for the rest of her life.

It's a very difficult ordeal, financially, spiritually and physically. December is actually a good time to be confined at the pediatric charity ward of PGH. There are a lot of outreach activities done, many good hearted souls bring in groceries, toys, some even provide meds. Lucio Tan, through his son, even gave 20,000 pesos to each of the patients there. At first I was kind of cynic to all the outreach programs conducted at the hospital, for me it was like they were only doing it because they want to feel good that they have done something nice. The thing is its actually a good trade off since for a short time patients and their families get to forget that they are suffering. Somehow you get entertained when people visit, its really important that you visit people when their sick, it reminds them that they on their own and someone is willing to share the burden with them.

It's a pretty life altering experience for me.

Maria Francia Posted At 11:47:00 PM

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