Updates…

Brought Sofie to the hospital this morning. She didn’t have an appointment with the doctor, but SN wanted to see her to make sure she’s compliant with the latest HAART. Since I needed to see SN anyway to discuss with her about the 2 homeless PLHIV we need to send to shelter homes, I had offered to fetch Sofie at her house so she could come with me to the hospital. Sofie was ready when I got to the house, and this time, Saiful & Ika did not follow us to the hospital. I had told them earlier that if they make it a habit to skip school every time their mother has to go to the hospital, we may consider cancelling their education sponsorship.

So what Sofie did was to get them to set the alarm at 10.30 am for them to get ready. The school bus comes at 11.30 am. She had already told them where to leave the house keys.

After dropping off Sofie at the hospital, off I went home for a while. When I grabbed my “mobile office” bag from home earlier, I had forgotten to put my wallet into the bag. So all the while when I was driving to Sofie’s house and then to the hospital, I didn’t have my IC and driving license with me!!

Luckily my house isn’t too far from the hospital. It didn’t take too long for me to go home, get my wallet, and then back to the hospital. It took me much longer to find a parking space! There seemed to be so many people today, more than usual. I ended up parking my car at quite a distance, and then walked all the way to the specialist clinic. I guess God just wanted me to have my daily exercise… I didn’t do any gardening earlier in the morning as I had to leave home quite early.

When I got to the doctor’s room, SN was talking to Sofie, checking on whether she had been taking her medication on time. She was then asked to go to the front to weigh herself and to get her BP checked.

We (SN and I) then discussed about the 2 homeless PLHIV referred to me last week, Lee and Kasim Teoh. I confirmed with SN we’d be able to send them to Hospital Sg Buluh this coming Thursday as I already have someone sponsoring the transportation cost and a fellow volunteer to join me for the trip. I could just send my fellow volunteer to accompany the 2 homeless chaps, but I wanted to meet with the people from the 2 homes so I could get more details about their homes. SN had already made the necessary arrangements with 2 homes willing to accept them, one Muslim home for Kasim and another home for Lee. The people in charge of the 2 homes promised they’d come fetch them at Hospital Sg Buluh so that we don’t have to go to 2 different places.

I asked SN to make all the necessary arrangements to get the 2 discharged early morning so that I don’t have to end up having to wait for the papers and the medication etc when we come on Thursday morning to fetch them. With previous experiences of having to do everything including to settle payment and to get medication from the pharmacy, I don’t want to end up leaving Ipoh in the afternoon.

SN promised me she’d get the staff at the ward to bring Kasim down immediately after breakfast so that we don’t have to go up to the ward to fetch him. Great! That means I don’t have to find parking. In addition, SN also said she’d try to get Lee (who is at a district hospital) to be brought to Ipoh earlier so that we don’t have to go to the district hospital. That would even be better!

SN said she’d call me once all the arrangements are made.

Anyway, since Sofie didn’t need to see the doctor, she was done quite early. By the time I brought Sofie home, it was only about 10.40 am or so. To our surprise, both Ika and Saiful were ready in their school uniforms. They were having brunch… leftovers of tomyam cooked by their aunt the day before.

After sending Sofie home, I went to the Buddies Centre. I wanted to make sure all the necessary reports for our coming AGM were ready. Glad to note that all amendments were done… the only thing left now is for the honorary auditor to sign the financial statements. I told the part time staff to make sure that all notice/annual reports are sent out to members by 7th March, so I guess everything is going according to schedule.

I then remembered a new case referred to me from Taiping Hospital. A single mother who works as a school gardener, needing help with her children’s education. Since I had not met her yet, I decided to give her a call. Lela, in her late 30’s, has 3 teenaged children. She had been on leave from work since her youngest daughter was hospitalised. The daughter had been having high fever for some time  now. All 3 daughters had been tested negative for HIV and so the illness had nothing to do with HIV. Just talking to Lela on the phone, I couldn’t really figure out what was wrong with the daughter, but I was made to understand that she may need to be warded for a few more weeks. Oh dear.

I also found out from a fellow volunteer that another client’s child is also having health problems. Hana’s daughter, who is under our education sponsorship programme, of late had been fainting at home and from time to time would be complaining of chest pains as well. Hana did bring the child to the district hospital, and was told that the girl is suspected to be having heart problems. I told my fellow volunteer to make sure Hana brings the girl for follow-up checks. I don’t want Hana to use the “tak ada duit” excuse to postpone doing so.

I do hope the condition of the 2 children is not too serious…