The right choice 22/4/2015

The right choice 22/4/2015

In the age of internet, you don’t need to be a doctor to know the conditions of an illness.  Google searching, you can find all kinds of information you want.  No matter how clever a doctor is, without the required medical devices and the patient’s sureness of his illness, the doctor’s cleverness is also limited in range especially in the cases which require immediate and urgent attention and treatment.

It was a grave mistake my late brother-in-law /D and his wife /S made to go to Sibu government hospital/SGH.  Being ignorant and in total darkness, late D chose to go to SGH instead of the medical centre S intended for him.

It was all because when late D had an acute pain, the doctor really relieved his pain with an injection with the kind of drug.  Ya, he went there for consultation before he was admitted on 21stApril. So, he stubbornly thought that SGH was a better choice for treatment.  Not knowing that this brought an end to his life, he insisted on going to SGH for treatment and refused to stay at the intended medical centre a day longer.

When he was in SGH, they also did not know they could choose first /second class ward to stay.  Hence, he suffered so much in the stuffy ward for 2 days before he was transferred to the ICU. 

He was brought to the hospital on 21^st April night and was admitted to ICU on 24^thApril.  He fell unconscious for a few days and woke up on his own.  When he was awake, no one was clever enough to reject artificial breathing and instead make him breathe on his own and he should have the operation on his back straight away.

It was a grave mistake, to waste time on identifying the bacteria that had infected D.  The result only came out after 3-4 days. 

No one was clever enough to know that there was a greater risk to take as a result of the delay to treat the primary cause of his suffering: osteomyelitis.  You just can’t wait for the infection to go away totally in this disease to do the operation.

Ya, so much time was waste and he was treated with the complications instead of operation to release the pinched nerve at C2 and C3 there. 

He had difficulty in breathing due to pain.  He shook all over.  had fever and chill, too.  He had all the symptoms of Osteomyelitis.  Am I wrong?   But I was not a doctor to convince anybody. 

Osteomyelitis

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Osteomyelitis is a bone infection that is caused by bacteria or other germs.

Causes

Bone infection is most often caused by bacteria. But it can also be caused by fungi or other germs. When a person has osteomyelitis:

• Bacteria or other germs may spread to a bone from infected skin, muscles, or tendons next to the bone. This may occur under a skin sore.
• The infection can start in another part of the body and spread to the bone through the blood.
• The infection can also start after bone surgery. This is more likely if the surgery is done after an injury or if metal rods or plates are placed in the bone.

Symptoms of osteomyelitis

• Fever, chills, or shakes
• Unplanned weight loss
• Nighttime pain that is worse than daytime pain

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000437.htm

We all must admit that SGH has no doubt saved many lives and eased many pains in many ways.  I have a friend who  had an operation to remove her womb on 7^th April and she is recovering well. 

Sibu government hospital is still the place where 90% of the people have to go for treatment.  But for illnesses that require urgent attention and treatment, a person must know clearly where to go for treatment to avoid unnecessary hassle and waste of time and the unnecessary risk.