Well, it kept me thinking.. Y do i get to celebrate this special day just because of coincidence? Why did I not plan it? Why not send a card or make an effort every year? We like to celebrate for every single little thing.. Birthday, anniversary, pancake day, st patricks day...even days of people we haven't even met or know! Who cares about St Patricks? All we know is we get to drink beer on St Patrick's Day... So why not just give 1 day of the 365 that we have to some one that made us who we are today... Someone who cared so much for us we cant imagine.. Noneed for big party or expensive food or presents..just precious time..
Everytime I was sitting in my small hospital OPD in Kudat, when i see those old patients coming in... Well... You know, clinic can be busy in the morning.. It sometimes gets you impatient when they walk in slowly or when they missed their blood taking appointment, only to come in with no results to review... Or sitting there waiting for you for hours but forgot to go to the blood taking station... Sometimes they even cant tell head or tails when is their eye appointment, their surgical appointment when they are followed up by so many other specialty.. We r doctors, not God..how are we supposed to remember all their appointments etc.. Many times these patients come 1 week later for appointment thats was a week ago under specialist in QEH (which is 3 hours away from Kudat and difficult to reappointment in nearest time).. I even have patients who read the correct date but wrong year!
My response will be..'haiya..pakcik..kenapa tak ingat..haritu baru saya beritau..ini 1 minggu sebelum kena berhenti ini ubat cair darah, 3 hari sebelum kena makan itu antibiotik..2 hari sebelum makan bubur sahaja..pastu 1 hari sebelum minum air makan low residual diet...bla bla..... (well, thats to prepare him for a procedure in specialist hospital..)
Siapa sama pakcik? Mana anak? ( Hoping to find someone younger that i can converse to.. Hopefully with better memory..)
Pakcik: saya seorang.. Anak saya satu di KK, 3 di KL.. Semua sibuk kerja...
( FYI that pakcik forgot all the steps ive explained to him before.. But he only remember that heneed to eat porridge at some point,.so he ate porridge for 1 whole month!!) poor pakcik..
If they misses their appointment, often is because they have no transportation... It used to make me angry...dahla busy clinic..if all patients come in i have to settle all their logistic issues, my clinic will finish at 12MN!
But sometimes i think, who is doing all this for my parents back home? How do they know when to take blood, where to go about in the hospital..where to go take medications etc..Do they also get scolded by doctors at my hometown for not able to give good history or forget to take medications..or forgot appointment... How are they supposed to remember the complicated hospital procedure etc? When the doctors ask, will they be giving the same answer? 'anak saya 3 di KL satu di KK satu di singapore.. Ada doktor ada engineer.. But none at home with them...'
Me: Pakcik, takpa saya tolong buat appointment baru.. Nanti 1 minggu sebelum temujanji pakcik datang, bawa semua ubat..saya ajar apa mau buat...
I hope that the more patients i help here, the doctors in my hometown will be kind to my parents as well..
As we get older, our parents get older too... Every 3 mths or 6 mths u see them , they grow more white hair, older and older each day.. Dont take them for granted.. Spend time with them while you still can...visit them more often...call them... And dun forget to say ' I LOVE YOU, MUM'... applies to dad as well...hehe..
