And CALLOUSNESS….
I am writing this as my husband lies in hospital…. Two days after an emergency surgery……
This is the second time in one year for us to be in hospital for surgery. Except that the last time around, I was the patient and was blissfully unaware of what was happening….
So why am I blogging now ? I am so frustrated and appalled by the health-care system….. the doctors, the lab tests, the scan centres, the works….. and I have no other vent now for my feelings…….
I have been feeling somewhat like King Midas…. Expect in reverse….. everything I touch turns into gold for the hospital….. and it is not funny to be at the receiving end of bills every twenty minutes. Bills on blank white paper (no letter-head, no signatures, nothing)… just the room number and an arbitrary amount….. not even a name…. My husband has been reduced to a room number?
This surgeon is highly renowned, a recent Padma Bhushan awardee, has travelled all over the world, has about forty six letters following his name to denote the various degrees he has accumulated over time, and hundreds of photographs along with the who’s-who of Indian politics and filmdom…. Good for him….
He is also an extremely religious man, going by the name of his clinic and the numerous God photos on each wall….. but what has this religiosity taught him ? What does his distinction mean ?
To him, it means the right to treat the patient and his attenders like something that crawled out of the earth….. and charge fees that make even the strong-hearted feel faint…… I keep thinking, how do the poor manage when they fall ill?
We were almost held to ransom just after the surgery, when my husband was in the recovery room…. He was shifted into the ward only after we had paid up the entire amount….. ek haath se do ek haath se lo types……
And there is nothing I can do but watch helplessly….. it is such a vulnerable feeling… to be completely at the mercy of the hospital….. and it is not about the money alone…. It is the entire attitude of callousness which sucks…..
I hope it is a Happy Diwali for us this year……