“Doctor, I
have left the cannula on his hands even though we were discharged yesterday,”
said a very aggressive voice.
“Hmm”
“Actually
both of us have spent more than a week in your hospital and we were discharged
yesterday and our doctor told us that he has to get two antibiotic injection
via IV today that is why I left the cannula. That will I hope reduce the cost?”
“Yes, I
suppose so,” a very polite voice seemed to agree.
“Our doctor
also told us that the only cost that we have to bear, is the drip set cost, no
other charges will be expected of us,” the aggressive voice said in clipped
tones.
“Sir I would
request you to talk with reception regarding the cost before we start any
procedure,” The Emergency Room Doctor suddenly had come alive.
“Could you
not do that?” a very irritated voice asked.
“No sir,” the
polite voice continued, “We just log in whatever has been done, we do not do
the billing.”
I could not
see the people who were having this conversation. I was locked inside a very
narrow bed (I am not joking when I say locked! There were bars on two sides of
the bed which could be let down by the nurse. I could not remove them myself!).
Anyway I was attached to an Intra-venous drip on one hand with a weird
something around my finger (supposedly to track my vitals) and on the other hand
was a band on my upper arm to check my blood pressure. I was (as all of you
must have realised in the Emergency room of a big hospital). There was a
curtain all around me so I could not see anyone, but I could hear everything!
Being bored
(I could not even use my phone) I listened to whatever was happening on the
other side of the curtain.
There had
been a pause in the conversation (presumably the aggressive gentleman had gone
to the reception)
Some muttering
started…
“Arre Dinkar
could have given me this at home!” an older male voice said.
“Why Dinkar,
even Aaryan can do it! The cannula is already there all he has to is fix the
lead,” said the all-knowing aggressive gentleman.
“Sorry Sir, I
just spoke to Dr._____ and he said he had not said that no charges would be
taken as you mentioned. The ER charges will have to be taken along with the IV
set and other things,” a soft feminine voice said firmly.
“You mean
that I have to pay twice the bill if I need to come in the evening for the
second dose?!,” the aggressiveness was back in full force.
“Yes sir,”
said the apologetic feminine voice.
I really don’t
know whether the pair of them left and had Dinkar/Aryan do the needful or they
did take one dose in the next bed. For I seem to have fallen asleep for an hour
or so while the medicine went drop by drop into my poor molested veins!
The loud
machine beeps woke me up to see that the bottle was empty, and no one was
coming to check on me! So I rang the loud call bell, and a wee little male
nurse came running and did whatever was to be done to stop the beeping machine.
But I was still a prisoner!
“Could you
please unwire me?” I asked politely.
“No Ma’am you
need to have your breakfast before I can do that,” said the tiny boy.
The break
fast came (As inedible as you all must have experienced) Fortunately I had had
a huge, delicious breakfast before, so I just pushed the food around, had a sip
of the cold coffee and waited.
“Doctor, the
pain starts at my hips and travels to my toes. That too only on my left side,” an
insistent voice said.
“Do you feel
any pain when I do this?” this was obviously a doctor speaking.
“No, not
really”
There were
lot of similar questions and at last I heard an “Ahhhh.” So the point of pain
had been found! I felt like saying “hallelujah!”
“Actually
Doctor, we just returned from the Kumbh mela yesterday. I was fine all the
while I was there. I even walked to the taxi by myself from the airport. But at
night the pain was unbearable, so I came to you.” Explained the insistent voice.
“Hmmm; should I call the specialist or the on call Orthopaedic?”
“Before you
do that, I must tell you that I had a mild stroke in December due to a blood
clot. I didn’t want to take chances, so I came here. Could this pain be due to
another clot or because there is a slip disc or……....” the voice continued with
options and treatments.
“The
concerned doctor will be able to clarify your doubts, sir.” Said a very tired
but clipped voice.
Meanwhile I
got a glimpse of my nurse, and I called him to free me up as I had finished my
breakfast. He came and with a flourish opened the curtain in front of me.
“Please wait
I will call someone.”
Now I saw a
very harassed looking lady carrying a lot of reports and x ray reports in a
huge bag peeping at me. I smiled at her, and she smiled back sympathetically.
Dressed in a salwar kameez which looked as if it had fought with the fifty-crore
population of Kumbh Mela she had the stoic look of a long-suffering woman. So,
I smiled back at her sympathetically.
The Orthopaedic
had come in the next cubical!
I heard a lot
of groans and ahaaas and then.
“I will send
you for an x ray and then we shall decide on the course of treatment” a very
firm medical voice said sweeping away all the information that the patient had
to give him.
So I got a
glimpse of ‘Mr. Kumbh Mela Returned’ on a wheelchair followed by his wife pass
by my cubical.
Now a new
male nurse came and took out the tube connected to my cannula. He searched for
the armband around my other arm. I sheepishly told him that I had already
removed it.
“What about
my cannula?” I insisted.
“After your
dues ma’am,” he said as he disappeared from my sight.
I was right
in front of the Nurse’s Station. However hard I tried I could not catch the
eyes of the nurse peering into a computer. Having spent quite a bit of my life
in the North I knew how to be pushy.
“Hi Sister!” I
hollered and she had to look up.
“Please could
you remove the cannula?”
“As soon as
your dues are done,” she mumbled.
I got
distracted by ‘Kumbh Mela returned.’
“From your
x-ray I can see that everything is ok. So it must be a muscular problem. We
will keep you on Muscle relaxants for a couple of days and then take a call
whether to go for MRI or CT scan’,” the firm voice said.
“They have
not taken a Xray of my spine. Suppose some disc has slipped ….,”
“We can give
you an IV painkiller here and then see what happens if you prefer that”?
“You are sure
this medication you are prescribing will solve my problem?” KMR asked.
“Yes,” said
the doctor firmly.
The sigh I
heard across the curtain was unclear whether it was the patient or his wife.
Thankfully,
my lord and master had paid the ‘dues’ and then another nurse came to release
me from my cannula jail and I tottered back to the car and to home sweet home.
