THEY WILL ASK thee as to what they should spend on others. Say: "Whatever of your wealth you spend shall [first] be for your parents, and for the near of kin, and the orphans, and the needy, and the wayfarer; and whatever good you do, verily, God has full knowledge thereof." - Al-Baqarah (2:215)
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Thursday 6 September 2007

Hospital visits

I was on clinic duty again yesterday. After the usual driving around the hospital a few times trying to find a parking space, I finally found a spot, again, where the sign says…

P: KAKITANGAN HOSPITAL SAHAJA

I’d only use that spot whenever I’m on clinic duty (and when I’ve given up driving around) although I cannot be considered a “kakitangan hospital”. After all there was the big letter P there… and I am… ehem… P! :)

We only had one new case referred to us yesterday, so there is not much to tell about yesterday’s clinic duty. We (the volunteers) spent more time talking to each other. As the afternoon visiting hours start at 12.30 pm, I excused myself from the clinic by then to visit 2 of my PLWHA clients in the wards.

Remember how I helped to bring Rina to the hospital for her appointment and she was immediately admitted to the ward due to her weak condition? Well, it has been 3 weeks since then, she’s STILL in the ward. The swollen feet doesn’t look so bad now but Rina is still unable to walk. Even when trying to sit down she’d feel one kind.

But emotionally Rina looks a lot better now. At least yesterday I saw her smile. And she talked a lot more than when I met her earlier. Of course she’s already feeling restless having to stay in the hospital for so long, but since she’s still unable to walk, she doesn’t really have much choice.

I don’t know what it is about Rina but since day one when I brought her to the hospital, I always seem to bump into people who either know me or people who don’t know me but still ask what my relation was to Rina. 3 weeks ago when Rina was being helped from my car onto a wheelchair, I happened to bump into a kampong folk of mine. She’s not the kay-poh type, but seeing that the “patient” came down from my car, of course she became interested… in case the person was a family member of mine. Not much problem with this one, I just told her that Rina was a friend, and immediately the kampong folk of mine assumed that Rina was a colleague at work. Doesn’t matter lah… just don’t ask anything further…

Then yesterday when I visited Rina in the ward, the first person to ask was a hospital staff. She asked if I was Rina’s auntie. Auntie?! According to the staff we both looked rather similar. OK la… but why assume auntie? Why not sister? Do I look so old? Rina is after all, already 40 years of age. But I have to admit, Rina’s mom (whom the staff sees every day) looks young so maybe that’s why the staff thought I was an aunt. (I’m trying to console myself here… hehehe)

Then the makcik whose bed was besides Rina’s came back from the toilet to her bed. The moment she saw me she said, “Ha, ada maknya!” Huh?! She thought I was Rina’s mom?? Haiya! Do I look that old? Hmmm… maybe I look motherly? (I doubt it, really!) Aduuuh…. never mind…

After visiting Rina, I went down to another ward at the floor below to visit Mr. K who had been hospitalized since last week. Mrs. K was there too. Since Mr. K needed help to go to the toilet etc, someone had to stay at the hospital with him. Mrs. K has been accompanying him at the hospital since day one which means that her children are by themselves at home. That’s not too bad considering they have a reliable 16 year old boy taking care of his younger siblings including the 8 month old baby. But the bad thing is that it also means the boy has been missing school since last week. And Mrs. K too has been taking leave from work since then and that means much lesser pay this month!

Ah well, problems… problems…

25 comments:

winniethepooh said...

Pi Bani, when I was 16 attending my elder sister's (who's 19) poly graduation, one of my dad's friend asked.."Oh this is your younger daughter's graduation?" He turned to look at me and ask, "ure the elder daughter? Working already? married with kids?" I nearly fainted!! Since then, I learn to take 'shock' much better hahaha

Hope that Rina and Mr. K will feel better soon and the kids can return to school soon.

Btw, Pi Bani, when you hv some free time, do pop over to my blog, have something for u :)

have a great day Pi Bani

Nightwing said...

Hello, i am new to your blog. Came by way of Uncle Lee's blog. Hope you don;t mind my visit...:)

I think u r an Angel on earth in helping people. U have a great weekend ahead.

Cheers...

Pi Bani said...

Winnie,
I bet your elder sister must have been real flattered, eh? At your expense, of course...

What to do, orang tua pun orang tua lah...

And hey, hopped over to your blog. Thanks for your kind thoughts! Truly appreciated.

Pi Bani said...

Nightwing [you only grow wings at night, huh? :)]

Welcome, welcome to my blog. Thanks for dropping by and hope to see you around more often!

Unknown said...

My dear Pi,

You have touched so many people that even I pun dah confuse who is who, imagine you yang hands on tu. This is what I have to say lah. If cloning was ever successful (woo) the only good thing I can think of, is that there can be more of YOU in this world. Take care dear.

sue said...

syukur..there are still people like ur friends and u out there..

've been following rina's story

Nightwing said...

Hello Pi Bani, thanks for the warm welcome. Will surely be coming in often.. U r an Angel among us.

Pi Bani said...

K.Ruby,
You dah confused who is who? Well, I meet them quite often so I don't get confused who they are lah. BUT yes, for blog postings, sometimes I do get confused what's the name I used for so and so because I don't use real names. And sometimes when I need to write up my monthly report for my NGO, I ter-use their blog names... :)

Pi Bani said...

Sue,
Hey, thanks for dropping by and thanks for your kind words. Reaching out to these unfortunate families has opened up my eyes to a lot of things, Sue. Sharing the stories with my blog readers is the least I can do.

Pi Bani said...

Nightwing,
Am not to sure about the angel part... I can be a "devil" at times... hehehe... *one eyebrow raised*

nyonyapenang said...

Hi Pi Bani,

hahahah...same over here lar...gua pun 'pantang' lar whenever someone I don't know address me as 'Auntie'. aiksss....they are so 'politically incorrect' kan? Call me 'kakak' and I will be happy and call me 'Pretty Woman' and I may make a double-spin-around. heheheeh...

J.T. said...

Imagine I was 13 years old when this neighbour of mine, a boy of 7, addressed me as "auntie". :) What lah!

Then when I got married and moved overseas, the word "ma'am" sounded brutal to me. hahaha
Eventually I figured, they were not wrong in addressing me that way. It is a form of respect.

Calling me "Miss" would have been nice but it did sound like an honour when someone in uniform addressed me as "ma'am" (especially when the ranks got higher! haha)

I hope Mrs K and her family's situation get better. As well as Rina's.

kina said...

Kak Pi, I had my "makcik' moments as well.

I was almost 27 when a neighbor's kid called me makcik, suddenly my blood goes upstairs la, then immediately go n change the tudung style, like almost strangling myself in doing so...

after a while, started laughing myself guling guling... what was I trying to proof, ek?

So now, "makcik" pun makcik la...

tua, tua kelapa tua
lagi tua lagi ada harga...

kekekekeeee

Pi Bani said...

NyonyaPenang,
Gone are the days lah. No more leng lai... good enough if they don't call Ah So! I wonder what happened to the strangers who used to call me "adik"... hahaha!!

Pi Bani said...

JT... ma'am..
Nowadays even when I go to the bank, the trying-to-be-polite staff would ask, "Boleh saya tolong, makcik?" Look at the brighter side... I take it now they respect me more... ;)

Pi Bani said...

Kina,
I tak heran people call me makcik... ada pernah budak panggil I "opah" pun! Yang tu pun takpe because the mother who is in her early 20's memang layak panggil I makcik pun. But for people to think that I'm the mother to a 40 year old lady, alamak... something not right somewhere lah... :(

Unknown said...

KakPi...It doesn't matter what people perceive about you, whether you look like an aunt or a mother...to me and I bet to many of us...you are really one of a kind with the kindest heart and the thoughtful mind in a selfless body...

I pray daily that God gives you strength and will to continue doing what you are doing now...bless you Kak.

Pi Bani said...

Raden Galoh,
You said I'm "one of a kind with the kindest heart and the thoughtful mind in a selfless body"

Maybe need to rephrase that to "one of a kind with a kiddies heart and child's mind in an old body"...

Hehehe... sedar dah tua... saja nak lagak muda...

Nightwing said...

Helo Pi Bani...u have been tag...:)

Pi Bani said...

Nightwing,
Aiseh... another tag? Actually one of my answers for the tag, under question no.10 ie the things I hate most, one of the items would be "Doing Tags" ;)

I did the bimbo tag because there weren't many rules to it and I could easily incorporate the tag into my usual postings. But this one... aiseh... must think first lah! Now already a makcik, cannot think so much meh...

Kerp (Ph.D) said...

yea i remember the previous post abt mr K and his family but i didnt know his 16 year-old son has been taking care of their 8 month-old baby. i'm amazed. that shows a lot abt their hardship.

Pi Bani said...

Kerp,
Yep, when other 16-year-olds are enjoying their teenage life, this particular boy has to miss school to take care of his baby sister. Many boys would probably make long faces it if they are asked to babysit their baby sister/brother even for just an hour...

Nightwing said...

Ok..will keep in mind next time not to tag u..hehe.

Kerp (Ph.D) said...

very true la kak pi, including yours truly.

i wld be the first to run if my brother needs someone to babysit his daughter even for mere 1 hour..hihi

Pi Bani said...

Kerp,
Tau takpe... :)