The sick wayfarer . . .

About a week back, we had a peculiar problem not commonly faced by most hospitals . . . 

There was one middle aged man with an intestinal problem which needed urgent surgical intervention . . . Read his story . . . 

SD was a helper of a truck with a National Permit. The whole of India was his backyard. He knew each city and town like his own village . . . He was from one of the major cities of the country. 

SD and his friend who was the driver was taking a consignment to Ranchi. SD started having pain as the were passing through the middle of Madhya Pradesh which continued as they entered Uttar Pradesh. In fact, they stopped to see a doctor (most probably as quack) in Robertsganj. It would have been better if they had visited our sister hospital at Robertsganj rather than the quack. The quack prescribed some medicines - antibiotics and antispasmodics. 

They continued their journey. The pain did not seem to subside. Now, he had episodes of severe vomiting and his abdomen started to bloat up. They asked people on the wayside on what to do. The next nearest city was Ranchi, their final destination. 

After they crossed Daltonganj, the pains worsened. Somebody told them about a hospital in Satbarwa. They got down in Satbarwa. Someone told them about a good doctor . . . again another quack. The quack recognised that SD was quite sick and told his friend to bring SD to us at NJH. 

Nandu saw the patient and it was obvious that he had an intestinal obstruction caused by a Sigmoid Volvulus. The problem was that he needed immediate surgery. And SD's only bystander was his driver . . . We had the unenviable task of doing an emergency surgery without any immediate relatives of the patient. 

We contacted the local police station and informed the District Medical Officer. After conveying the matter to his relatives, we got the go ahead for the surgery. It was good to have got through to our ED for advice. We had one more problem. He needed blood. That was when we realised about one patient who died in the afternoon while being prepared for surgery. Someone had donated one pint of blood for this guy. 

It was still in the fridge. It was a life-line for SD. Thankfully the blood matched.

We went ahead with the surgery. It was good that we operated on him. One part of the inflated bowel was on already looking unhealthy, but not enough to warrant a colostomy. 

SD made a remarkable recovery. 

He got discharged today morning . . . 

It was good to see him walk out happily. We thank the Lord for helping us be good Samaritans for this man. If he had become sick in a city or town, he would not had much of a problem - - - but to have become so severely sick in the middle of a journey and having had to undergo emergency surgery - - -  he was blessed . . . .

Tetanus - help from a Good Samaritan

CD who was with us for almost a month got discharged couple of days back. He was quite in a bad shape when he had come in.

It was a matter of concern for us on how he will make his way back home. He came from almost 100 kms away and it was not on the main highway. With great difficulty he arranged for food. We were quite sure that the family did not have any money.

I’m yet to see the total bill. It should be something around at least 20,000 Indian rupees excluding the medicines which also we helped him to buy. Tetanus is not a great disease to have. He took almost a month to recover, of which he was heavily sedated for about 20 days.

I come to the story on how the good Lord arranged for people to arrange for his travel back home.

I was in my office when a middle aged gentleman walked in. He did not look that rich though he could have been even poor. He told me that he was the father of a lady who had come for delivering.

I was very dismissive of him thinking that he has come to ask for some charity. Meanwhile I asked him to sit. He asked me how CD was doing. I told him he is fine but would need some more physiotherapy before he could be fully back to his normal routine.

The gentleman told me that CD was his neighbor. And also that during normal days, CD’s family had struggled for food. CD getting tetanus had made things worse. He requested me if he could allow CD to come back with him when his daughter was discharged. Thus, CD could have a comfortable ride back home.

CD (seated) with the good Samaritan (on the extreme right)

I was thrilled. It was so good to see a caring neighbor. I wish we have more people in our villages, who would care for each other especially when it came to issues of healthcare and food security. I wondered how long it has been since I’ve seen somebody offer help without being enticed for the same.