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Tuesday 8 December 2009

Getting on with life…

Remember my recent update about Yati complaining to me that her husband AJ seemed to be getting weaker but simply refused to go to the clinic or hospital? Yati herself had almost given up on him as she didn’t how what else to do with him.

“Pujuk sudah, marah pun sudah kak. Tak jalan!”

I told Yati she had to continue coaxing him to get treatment. Otherwise nobody could help him. I even told Yati to threaten him that I’d be visiting them at home if he still refused to get treatment. I knew neither Yati nor AJ wanted me to visit at home to avoid suspicions from Yati’s family who were still unaware about AJ’s HIV.

I guess the threat worked. The very next day Yati sent me a text message saying she was at the hospital. I called her to find out more info.

“Di mana ni?”

“Kat hospital lah.”

“Masuk wad ke?”

“Tak tau lagi kak, masih kat tempat emergency lagi ni. Doktor dah jumpa tadi, depa kata hati dia bengkak. Tapi lepas tu dok melangut je lah. Saya pun tak tau depa nak suruh balik ke apa ke.”

Oh well, it was the emergency unit… unless you look like you’re dying, you’ve got to wait!

After a while I got another text message. They were already in the ward – AJ had to be warded and he was put on drip. Yati was worried. The next day was the Saturday that her brother was getting married and the whole family including herself was going to KL. I told her I’d try to visit if I had the time but whatever it is, I’d inform AJ’s buddy about it and get him to visit at least.

Saturday came and I was down with a flu. I didn’t dare visit for fear of spreading the flu to others, especially at the hospital ward. Besides, I wanted to have a good rest as the next day was our awareness campaign at the OA village. But my colleague who’s been assigned as AJ’s buddy did visit.

Yesterday I got another text message from Yati – inviting me to her house as her family was planning to have bacaan Yaasin after Maghrib. Hmmm… so now they don’t mind me visiting at home? No more worries about her family becoming suspicious? Or does her family already know?

Anyway, remember AJ was supposed to have his blood test done at a private hospital to get his CD4 count? And they couldn’t afford it and so we approved the amount from our Client’s Welfare Fund? Due to the long list referred to the private hospital by the GH for the CD4 tests, an appointment had to be set. The appointment was for this afternoon but AJ was at the ward in Ipoh GH. Yati called me to find out what to do.

Somehow these clients prefer to call me to ask these things when it would have been easier to ask the nurses at the ward. Or are they just afraid to open up their mouths to ask?

I told Yati to explain the matter to either the nurses or the doctors. Or call the lady in charge at the private hospital to explain the situation. Yati did finally call the lady at the private hospital and was told to get the nurses at the ward to arrange for AJ’s blood to be taken, then reps from the private hospital will come over to get the blood and payment for the blood test.

Later today when I called Yati, she sounded a bit happier. She said AJ seemed better and could at least sit by himself and could walk to the toilet if aided. Earlier he was so weak he looked so helpless.

Hopefully that is proof enough to him that he could get better with proper treatment and that life is not over just because he has been infected with HIV. He just needs to have more faith.

12 comments:

Kak Teh said...

Pi Bani, tu dia! One threat from you, terus jadi! Good on you! Sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind, kan?

mamasita said...

Pi..from your experience AJ has a probable life-span of how many years??

Pi Bani said...

Kak Teh,
Dah banyak kali I terpaksa jadi cruel for their own good. Otherwise, they'd either give up or they become so manja they expect people to do everything for them.

Pi Bani said...

Mamasita,
Getting HIV doesn't mean they're gonna die soon. Ada yang dah berpuluh tahun hidup dengan HIV, masih nampak steady lagi. Ada yang sebelum ni rupa macam takde harapan nak hidup, siap withdraw all their EPF, la ni dah boleh kerja balik.

So no, don't ask about probable life span lah. ALl I can say is there's always a probability that I yang takde HIV ni yang mati dulu...

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Aunty Pi,
Perhaps we need to remind ourselves: Embrace the world as if you're gonna live for another 1,000 years, do your ibadah as if you're gonna die tomorrow. Beul tak Aunty Pi? And never ever give up on life. Syukur with whatever we have. purrr....meow!

Pi Bani said...

C-i-S,
Clever cat!! *Pat on the head*

Cat-from-Sydney said...

I know!!!! *grins* purrr...

Pi Bani said...

C-i-S,
This cat not only clever... perasan too! ;)

Kerp (Ph.D) said...

how about this; get somebody who's in the same boat to have a few word with him. That may strengthen the faith and lift up his spirit a little more.

Pi Bani said...

Kerp,
The buddy assigned to him IS a PLHIV. But AJ is still in that "my situation is worse than yours" mode.

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Aunty Pi,
Where got perasan? Dah terbukti! Anyway, no other cat loves you more than I...purrr....meow!

Pi Bani said...

C-i-S,
The other cats don't love me as much as you do because I always bully them! You? I still don't have the opportunity to bully you yet! ;)