My 2019 in review
AS the year comes to a close, I’d like to take a look at 2019 and what took place during the year for me. Call it my “2019 review” if you will. Several family members were hospitalised due to various illness and diseases; some required chemotherapy, others required surgery.
I too was hospitalised — twice — for ill health. The year was also marred by the deaths of relatives as well as close friends, young and old. It has certainly been a tumultuous year.
When someone you love falls ill, your whole world turns topsy-turvy. Along the way you learn to prioritise. It gets easier with experience and you find that you can’t do everything or please everyone all the time; something’s got to give.
Sometimes in the interest of caring for your loved one, you give all your time and energy to be there for him/her. You’d do anything within your means to make things better so that your loved one has a fighting chance to beat the odds.
You’d also want to be right there so that you can watch over them while they recover from surgery. You get a closer look at how precious life is when the possibilities of losing that someone hit you head on.
You learn that caregiving is about working with so many different people in so many different places, namely hospitals but also everywhere else that you spend your time, whether for therapies, recreation or just a place to chill.
You also learn that the various people you have to work with play an important role in your life no matter how small. It was like that for me when my late parents were critically ill. I felt as though I could ward off anything bad from happening if I stood guard over them.
They can’t, no, they mustn’t, die on my watch! Of course that was fanciful thinking because so many things weren’t in my control. Ultimately, there’s a “higher Authority” that determines life, death and destiny.
HOSPITAL WOES
This year was no different when those dear to me were critically ill. Some of them pulled through but sadly, some didn’t. All that time spent in different hospitals over the years under different circumstances revealed just how diverse everything can be. The procedures or SOP may be similar in each hospital. However, the people, the condition of the premises, and circumstances make for experiences that are worlds apart.
I wish there are enough hospital beds and rooms for all, and that conditions in the hospital are pleasant enough for it to be conducive for all — for the hospital staff to work as they should without having to put up with poor environment, and patients to get better quickly without having to feel that they’re a burden even to the hospital staff.
I can’t help but note how many of our hospitals, both public and private, but especially public hospitals, are in dire need of help and makeover. It’s not just the hospitals per se, but everything else that supports it and leads to it, from the lack of parking space, dangerous sidewalks and filthy toilets, just to name some.
In some places, the lack of proper parking spaces has caused people to park anywhere they see fit. This causes traffic congestion. If you have to manage someone on a wheelchair, the situation can be downright dangerous.
Uneven pavements and sidewalks make it challenging for everyone, regardless of your physical condition. Navigating your way from the outdoor carpark to the hospital is like going through an obstacle course. Wheelchairs notwithstanding, those who are pregnant, have mobility problems or are generally in poor health struggle to get healthcare.
As you make your way to the main building, you see public signs warning you of possible bag snatchers right in front of the hospital. Can you imagine that? Robbers preying on sick people and visitors to the hospital! It’s hard enough that you’re sick or have to deal with loved ones who are. You really don’t need that!
Unfortunately, trouble can come in many guises. One could be a shared toilet in a hospital ward that’s not working as it should. Bad plumbing with clogged sinks and toilets (with wobbly seats) that can’t flush are stuff of nightmares. And what about doors with no lock and don’t close properly?
WORKING TOGETHER
I’ve seen apathy from both sides — hospital staff as well as the patients and their families. Where there should be consideration, patience, cooperation and some civic sense, some people seem more interested in demanding what they’re entitled to.
Caregiving is a collaboration of so many people working together to get the sick well or best care possible. Everyone’s working hard towards a favourable outcome, but there are just some people who are bent on making life difficult.
Indeed change should come from each of us. It has to start with us. Let’s make 2020 a better year for all of us.