Irfan Warded...Again...

Last week, Irfan was warded again for pneumonia. He had had fever for three weeks and the fever was very high at night. At first, I thought it was a 'misteri nusantara' sort of thing but it turned out to be the reaction to our hormone that's different at night. Higher cortisol or something. Before Irfan was warded, we did bring him to other clinics but they did not find anything irregular. The turning point when I insisted something was terribly wrong was when Irfan started vomiting even after drinking breast-milk and even plain water.

Irfan was warded for a week! Again, I found myself at Hospital Kjg's Paediatric Ward. Irfan was at the critical section for about one day, and he was transferred to the moderate section for the rest of the stay there. I didn't have time to care for myself. My mom probably pitied me (and Irfan too, of course) to the extent that she came to visit us twice or trice daily, so that I could have time to bathe. Yes, it was that bad. But that was why I didn't feel comfortable accepting visitors who weren't family members, even the ones from Mr.H's side coz I felt that I was so...selebet!

This time, my interaction with the medical workers wasn't as smooth as previously. Well, actually, to be specific, I had an argument with one nurse. Just one person. But as the saying goes, 'kerana setitik nila...'

Irfan's medication had to be taken through intravenous, which means there's a machine that slowly injects the medicine with speed unit of millilitre per hour. The medicine had to be taken 4 times a day. So, on day five, when a clown (that nurse) comes, I watched as she diluted the medicine and set the machine. When she didn't do it as the other nurses had done before this, I started to question her. Not only did she not answer my questions, she scolded me. Our 'conversation' went something like this:

"Kenapa letak 30ml/jam? Biasanya nurse lain letak paling tinggi pun 15 je," I said.
"Kalau 15 nanti berjam-jam la baru habis," she answered, annoyed.
"Berjam atau tak bukan isunya. Apa standard yang sepatutnya?" I asked again.
"Kalau macam tu, awak nak 10? saya boleh letak 10? Nak?" she scolded back with her voiced raised. Memang masalah mental makcik ni. Tak guna sambung bertekak dengan dia. After that argument, I saw her going around complaining to the other nurses about me, probably somewhere along the line 'tu ada mak patient yang perasan diri dia pandai sgt smpai tak nak dgr ckp aku...'

I guess she's probably in her 50s and therefore felt as if I had challenged her expertise. After the medication had been given and the doctor came, I asked the doctor about how she had diluted and the speed of the machine. When the nurse saw me talking to the doctor, she quickly approached us. Huh, ingat saya takut ke. I repeated my questions to the doctor and the doctor said, "Ia. Sepatutnya ada standard piawai tapi kita kena refer kepada pharmacist." That was the annoying diplomatic answer that I received. Somehow, I suspected that the doctor, who was even younger than me, was afraid of the nurse.

I had always observed the other nurses prepare the medication and set the machine. After 14 times observing, when a clown comes and does it differently, of course I would start questioning. I think she was too used to people in that 3rd class ward not questioning what she did. People probably gave her 100% trust because she was an elderly. She's not a senior nurse, coz she wasn't wearing a blue uniform, just a usual nurse who was a makcik. Just because you are a makcik, doesn't mean you are an expert. For a clown like you who is too egoistic to learn from others, age and expertise does not go hand-in-hand. Nurse-nurse lain dah bagitau dah kalau pasang mesin tu laju sangat, baby akan sakit. Ubat tu kena dilute betul-betul kalau tak akan menyebabkan pedih sangat. True enough, that night Irfan cried the whole night and the next morning I fell sick and my voice was a hoarse croak because I did not sleep at all. When the specialist doctor came, it turns out that Ifan's vein had been damaged and swollen. When I asked if it could have probably been because of the dilution and speed, the doctor said "Possibly. Tapi boleh jadi jugak sebab faktor-faktor lain". Hinting to me that I don't have any solid proof.

Apart from that, Irfan made many friends. The kids probably like him because he smiles and 'talks' to them and looks so cute. Ehehe. Because he had too many friends, I only managed to snap a few pictures.

This is Danish. He was Irfan's 6th bed-neighbour and he was warded for only two days. He even asked his mom if he could stay a little longer to play with Irfan.

Dania (left) and Shaza Amalina (right). Dania has pneumonia too while Shaza has kidney problem. They were both still at the ward when Irfan was discharged. I'm sure they would be discharged soon. InsyaAllah.

Zaim and Alia...
Zaim became Irfan's Facebook-friend. The doctors too, could not detect what was wrong with him. He was discharged from the hospital on Sunday and immediately 'balik kampung' up north, only to be warded again at the hospital kerajaan up north. He's fine now but the doctors still do not know what was wrong.

Alia is a standard one kid. She was hospitalized for asthma. Her bed was opposite Irfan's. She would quickly run (although she has asthma!) to Irfan's bed whenever she hears Irfan crying. Sweet, kan?

Such innocence... Sigh...

At the hospital, we also found out that Irfan has anaemia; irregular blood cell shape and low blood cell count. Irfan left the hospital with more than 9 needle-hole scars on his tiny hands and feet. A sad sight.
Hikmah di sebaliknya, we (me and my mom) managed to plead one of Mr.H's aunt to take care of Irfan. No more nursery. Hopefully Irfan's health would improve significantly.