All Pain and no Gain!
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There are some instances in life where we make mistakes and pay for them. And then there are other instances where mistakes are made by others and there’s nothing you can do about it.The title itself would give you some idea where this article is heading towards.
This is about the journey of two weeks that was transformed a mistake to blunder, an ache to pure misery. Once you read our experience, you will understand why I choose to share this with you all.It was truly all pain for no gain at all.
It all started on the verge of a weekend, where my husband and I were making plans for a movie. We had to cancel because he had a minor sprain. This is how things went.
Friday: My husband, had sprained his ankle while walking on the foot-path. A ditch in the path was dug up for laying out fibres and was loosely covered, hence the mishap. Everything was fine till he felt excruciating pain once he was back. So bad that he was unable to walk. It was quite evident that the next day would be a visit to the doctor.
Saturday: We went to a renowned hospital named HOSMAT where we were told that doctors were excellent and highly reputed. Quite a few formalities, long wait and a cash deposit later we were able to meet the doctor. After the initial examination, an X-Ray was recommended, post which the verdict- a ligament rupture, grade 2.There was medication that could ease the pain but since the nature of injury was extreme, the foot would have to be place in a cast for two weeks. Once progress would be seen and then further action would be taken. The whole process would be for 4-5 weeks.
It was a tedious process but the irony was we didn't mind at all, because we knew we had come to the best and just wanted the best for us. But little did we know what was in store for us.
Sunday: My husband said, he had a lot of pain in the knee. We figured, the whole leg would respond that way since he had an acute injury. We still waited for the pain to subside. The next day it became weirdly swollen and the pain was unbearable. It was getting worse by every passing hour, until at 10:30 pm he said, “You know what, I really can't bear the pain. Let’s go to the hospital."
Monday: We rushed that very hour because we saw the agony he was in and understandably there was something not right. The doctor in charge was a little surprised by the late visit, he patiently heard out our case and figured it was minor thing. He said in his career this thing did turn up and suggested painkillers to relieve the pain. My husband clearly shared his doubts about the cast and said there was a possibility that the cast was set in a wrong angle. But after discussing with our doctor, who was senior to him, it was concluded that no major problem was there except that the impact of the twist might have aggravated the knee as well. Painkillers were recommended to my husband orally and we were sent back.
Tuesday: At night around 11:00 pm, my husband was in terrible shape and again wanted to go to the hospital. . My father-in-law and brother-in-law accompanied us this time.He was in so much pain that he started having fever. We went to the hospital once again and this time the doctor in charge was different. He was elderly, we expected something to be done immediately considering that the patient (my husband) had undergone 48 hours ofagony with no relief and his case was far from progressing.
I got the shock of my life with what and how the doctor spoke. At first, he was unwilling to speak with us, pretending to be in the middle of some documentation. After a few minutes of continuous requesting, he rudely said "take the patient back home, nothing can be done today. It’s late and all the equipments are locked. If you have pain, bear it or take some tablets. Come tomorrow and meet your doctor. You should be aware of the time you're coming. Right now, in the middle of the night nothing can be done."
How do you respond to something so irrational? I literally wanted to smack this guy irrespective of his age or qualification. All I could see was someone so cruel and arrogant that his responsibility meant nothing to him. What a shame? My father-in-law and brother-in-law had to yell and scream for his attention. We were having a spat in the middle of the night in the emergency room. I dialled the number of our doctor desperately because on no condition was I ready to leave until a solution was provided that gave my husband relief.
Around 12:15, our doctor responded and said, “Remove the cast; I’ll meet you tomorrow afternoon." Finally the doctor in charge said, "Ok, we'll remove the cast because that is what you all want. But we can't do anything else." That’s it. They removed the cast. No crape, no medicines given nothing from his side. Our doctor then instructed him to tie the foot with crape bandage to avoid any further injury.
We came back home around 1:30 am hoping this would be the end. But this hospital had more in store for us.
Wednesday: The next day we met our doctor and clearly expressed our dissatisfaction in the services provided and in the diagnosis given.
Our reputed doctor re-examined the case and said “Maybe the cast didnot suit you. I may have missed out something, why don’t you take another X-Ray for the knee this time so we can see what’s wrong?”
He then gave a knee cap and an ankle band after finally concluding that it’s a muscle tear and the knee has some internal injury. The swelling had to be treated with Ice-packs and the medicines given. In case it did not subside, there was a chance a minor surgery had to be performed.
Oh, not only that, the doctor was convinced, everything was normal and that my husband could resume work the very next Monday. (Seriously, just half a week of rest for a ligament tear? Do we need a medical degree to see it would take more time?)He provided a medical certificate for a simple sprain. We followed it for another one week and with no progress made, we finally gave up.
Monday: My husband resumed work .But three days later; he found it unbearably hard to walk so he again took a leave. And this time we were frustrated enough. So we went for a second opinion to a different hospital. By now it was two weeks and my husband was having unbearable pain and fever repeatedly.At night,every 2-3 hours he'd wake up and would need an ice-pack kept on the foot for some relief.
Thursday: We did consult another doctor and this time we first seeked for references,asked about his specialization and then walked in.After seeing the existing reports; an MRI scan done for the knee. The new doctor expressed his concerns on slow progress and felt something amiss.
Friday: It was diagnosed as knee fluid collection which he removed by syringe. Turns out due to negligence, the fluid collection was immense; around 60 ml fluid was there in the knee area. No surgery was required, with some rest advised and fewer medications things were to improve. The second doctor was surprised at the first diagnosis and told plainly that it is serious damage that needs a two weeks rest. He provided the necessary certificates to avail leaves and also conducted some other tests to recheck for symptoms in the case.
After two days of the fluid extraction, the swelling in the knee did subside and for the first time in two long agonizing weeks, my husband had even though not painless, but atleast a peaceful sleep
I have to admit here, we did make a couple of mistakes. We never had any information about our doctor nor did we care to have a reference check. In the second time, we did gather a bit of information.On the other hand, I realized why people call doctors as businessmen who make profit out of your pain.We did shell alot of money, and had no relief for a long time.
Like me, even you might have faced situations like this. I really did not want to take names but I did put in the name of the institution for 3 simple reasons.
Like me, anyone who enters the gate of any hospital is in desperate need of assistance. Here they failed to even conduct complete check-ups. I felt really deprived and disappointed.
My husband like anyone else had undergone unnecessary procedures like having the cast, had to intake medicines that were not completely helping him and most importantly was bearing excrutiating pain. This was completely avoidable.
In spite of being on duty at night, some doctors failed us by not even bothering to even empathise, leave alone being in line of duty. This was clearly inhumane.
I am just thankful to God that things did get under control or else my husband could be having some serious repercussion due to negligence. What happened to me can happen to anybody. And I don’t want me or you to be just anybody. I want to be somebody who tells you please remember to:
A. Get a reference check of the doctor, even if he is well-known or reputed. Find out the success cases statistics.
B. Get alternate doctors references in case you need a second opinion. And if you are even a little dissatisfied, please don’t hesitate to take a second opinion ASAP.
We paid a heavy price for somebody's mistake and it was frustatingly unbearable.At the end of two long weeks,I can say God's mercy is the only thing that got us through the pain.Hopefully and I pray,none of you go through such kind of painful experiences for no gain at all.