Day two- Our health sector.

It is quite dark in the lobby where we are seated. Shadows loom around. The light has been placed at the front of the room to mainly cater for those inside the office and not for those waiting to be served. We are only three people there. My dad, daughter (who was whimpering having cried a good one) and myself. My Dad stands and starts pacing; impatience is starting to gnaw at him. My daughter is still whimpering. She probably had no more tears to cry.

My Dad then tells me, “It is very easy to die in a public hospital, very easy”. I shake my head in agreement, I feel like crying. It is quiet chilly which is usual for Othaya. I tag harder at the kikoy I had carried my daughter with. We are waiting at the lobby of the district hospital to pay 30/= to enable us get a “card” so my daughter can be treated. And the rules are very strict there, No card no treatment. Plain and simple- the rule is cast on stone.

And so there we were, the person who gave the cards was not in the office. She had not left her telephone number somewhere for us or whoever else needed to call her to ask her where she was or how long she would be. It was a torturous wait. The worst part is that the medics at E&R wouldn’t touch you without the 30/= shillings damn card!

I went back to the E&R section and started pleading to them to check my daughter who was still bleeding from her mouth. I gave them my car keys as surety that I would pay the 30/= when the lady came back. Nothing doing, it was not enough. My Dad tried, we added the physical 30/= to the car keys. They couldn’t bulge. Treatment is only done after 30/= shillings is paid, a receipt given and a file opened. 20 minutes later, I understood the importance of a file and 30/=. Judas would have been proud of selling Jesus at the same rate.

My Dad and I gave up. We had even tried selling my car for 30/= and they refused! We went back to the lobby to strategize. The nearest private hospital was in Nyeri 17 kms away. We also had a choice of going to the Nyeri  PGH (Would services be different?) . Or going to my Uncle’s home-he is a doctor- but we were not sure whether he would have the requisite medical equipment in the house. But of essence here was time.  As we were contemplating leaving, the lady come whistling, opens her office and starts serving us. Just like that, no apology, no remorse, nothing. It was business as usual .The weirdest thing is she was wearing gumboots.

We paid THE 30/= and went to the E&R section. My daughter almost broke all her teeth while diving from a chair to another one. Her mouth was bleeding profusely as we left the house. My Mum who has had a stint working in a hospital, suggested we put honey in her mouth to stop the bleeding. I didn’t believe her remedy but at that time my choices were limited. Turned out that honey also has antiseptic properties and actually really did help in controlling the bleeding. As the medical officer (I was later meant to understand the Doctor was on call for real emergencies) examined my daughter, I felt totally helpless. All they could offer was a painkiller. I would also have to come the following day to see a dentist who would check on her gum and teeth.

The following day as advised I was at the District hospital at 8.00 a.m. My daughter’s lip was as swollen as it could possibly be. There were three clients before us. The lady who sat next to me decided to engage me in chit chat as we waited for the dentist. She told me the Dentist would come, look at all of us; we go pay for our specific ailments as well as fetch our files from the store then finally get treatment. If finally occurred to me the pink files everyone was carrying around was their bio data file (the one accompanying the 30/= the previous day).

The dentist came at 9.30 a.m. no apology, no remorse, nothing. It was business as usual. We started going in. Our turn came and she told me the obvious, my daughter has milk teeth they shall come out by themselves later in the year. I just need to monitor them. That was it she was done with us. I requested she prescribe for me Betadine for general cleaning of the wound. To my utter amazement that big hospital has no betadine! Not in the Dentists room, not in the pharmacy nowhere! They told me to go buy it in a commercial pharmacy.

I then flashed back to about 5 years ago when Angel was about one. I get a call from my house help that my child is not feeling well. I rushed her to a hospital whose core business is treating children. My child was having a running stomach, had a very high fever and was generally week. And the fever was still rising. We get to the hospital and the service was a bit sluggish probably because I wanted my daughter to be served ASAP. Finally we get to the Doctor a young lady in dreadlocks. She was on her cellphone. “Mumemaliza kutengeneza bumper ? Iko sawa kabisa? ” We sit and wait for her to finish with her caller. She looks at what has been keyed in by the attendant at the triage and asks me how long the child has been sick. I tell her when I left for work in the morning my daughter was ok. Nothing more was done she didn’t look at the child but prescribed to me 6 types of drugs that cost about 3,000/=. You can bet rightly a strong antibiotic was included. I couldn’t believe it; this doctor like Jesus Christ looked at my daughter and discerned her illness. I went back to the waiting bay and sat there for a long time reviewing the case in my mind. Then I remembered my daughter was starting to teeth. Bingo, that was the problem. Luckily, the lady (Who was called a Doctor) had given me ORS for dehydration and I had ashton for the tender gums. For the fever, Calpol did wonders.

That same hospital has a branch where I live. It is common knowledge among mothers around that area that if you go there and find the dark female lady you will be misdiagnosed.  I learnt from my earlier lesson to ignore miracle workers. Everyone who wears a white lab coat in a hospital could be anything but a doctor. Even in an expensive private hospital. A friend and colleague after imbibing one to many came to the office on a Monday morning suffering a nasty hangover. She kept throwing up. The elderly ladies thinking it was food poisoning took her to the nearest private hospital as they thought she was very sick. The lady was carried from the reception of the hospital with a stretcher and was put on drip. She was then put under observation for the next four hours. I tell you, a hangover !

An elderly lady gave us an experience in church as a patient at a high cost hospital which left many of us in tears. Despite her advance in age her general health was okay. Sometimes she succumbed to general illness like anyone else. And so in her daughter’s hysteria over a prolonged cough she had and general fatigue got her into this hospital. Sooner rather than later she was admitted. The senior doctor put her under his observation. She was admitted for about two weeks. Her medical bill was in excess of one million shillings. She lost about 10 kilograms in that period. This lady was put under sedatives which made her very groggy. One day her gut told her to skip taking her medicine. She felt better in the evening. She decided to skip the drugs for another day. As the nurses were changing shifts she had them discuss when she was likely to be discharged as nothing was wrong with her. She almost fell off her bed but she could have blown her cover. She waited for the next day to call her children to get her out of that place immediately. She now gives a sorry testimony.

I hear gory stories everyday of children reacting to medicine given in ignorance/misconduct. Of mothers who have had miscarriages or death of their new born babies because somebody did not listen or understand them. Or they were busy on their phones talking about bumpers or whatever else. Or the doctor kept you waiting as they flew from Mombasa to Nairobi. Or anything including they switched off their phone at that crucial moment. Have you gone to a private clinic where the doctor has about 30 patients waiting for them?

My general rule of the thumb is to trust your gut and common sense. If the Doctor seems to be checking on his/her phone consistently she is most likely goggling. Remember you could have done the same. Hence if you take yourself to the hospital and all of a sudden you are informed how sick you are and need admission: your first instinct should be to doubt the messenger. Unless you have an underlying illness. Call someone to pick you and go for a second opinion. I have on numerous occasions heard of cases whereby as you waited for a patient to be treated, you meandered to the triage for your BP to be checked and ended up being admitted.

The rise of availability of insurance is both a blessing and a curse. Many of us know we are not paying cash so we visit the hospital for the most irrelevant illness. It is common knowledge that when the cold season starts a majority of the population will catch a cold. It also common among children who have joined pre- school to catch a flu every now and then. Many of us will rush to the hospital to get drugs after all we won’t get charged directly. Sometimes you drop by the hospital and think there is a chief’s baraza or a huduma centre. The number of people is impossibly high. Again you find adults and children who take 4 or 5 doses of antibiotics in a year. How now?  How do you expect to build disease resistance with such amounts of drugs in your system?

As my mother would say many years ago, let us observe your headache for a few hours before we take any action. The doctor was visited when it necessitated it. The doctor in turn listened and then diagnosed the illness. You were likely to get healed without seeking a second or third opinion. Read the caption and write up inserted in drugs packaging. Then match them to your illness. If something dosen’t add up , seek a second opinion as soon as possible. It might just save a life.

Sojourner,

As much as possible do those things that keep you healthy. Eat a balanced diet, exercise, go for regular check-ups, drink water, protect yourself from the cold/rain/drugs/smoke, do everything in moderation (eating,). And if you have health insurance use it wisely. 

Pray, pray that you don't get sick. Believe it or not KNH has bookings for cancer treatment running into the year of the Lord 2018.