The wait continues.....

So our hospital tyrst continues. Bro in law is yet to respond to all those TB drugs. As Dr. Zarir Udwadia (from whom we took a second opinion) put it across to my sister, the current hospital reduced drug dosages to prevent some psychosis that was happening and later they began giving him 8 drugs at one shot which is like an overkill. I am no Doctor. So as an ordinary mortal, I'd believe them when they cite that what they were doing was right from this case's perspective. We don't understand the medical lingos and nuances to probe this further. But having a paediatrician with a secondary specialization in tropical diseases isn't the logical person to put on board if in case of a chronic MDR TB patient. That's whom we have apart from the neurologist who's treating his brain issues. It would work better if there had a specialized TB specialist for such cases.

To give an idea of the hospital where he's admitted, he's in this pish posh hospital based in the plush suburbs of Mumbai. It's the locality where most Bollywood film stars and TV personalities claim to have their residences. The hospital lobby is like a hotel lobby. The sofas are plush. The lighting and AC works, unlike our other Govt hospitals where nothing does. They have a pharmacy, fine dining area, cafetaria, phones, gift shop,ATM and wireless facilities. They also have a 'Yasmin's spa' in that place. My, my!!! The ICU and room facilities are awesome. Then what is lacking? Well..if you have the money, then this place is heaven. If you don't, they'd stall the medications, management would harass the treating doctors for ensuring that they remind patient's family of any pending dues, they'd keep the relatives waiting for news in relation to the patient or give them half baked information via the doctor. These are some of the salient features that we got to witness in the last few days just because there was some miscommunication between the insurance company and the hospital authorities on account of which the relevant money didn't get deposited at the hospital on time. While you sit in the lobby, you hear many such horror stories of expensive medical tests being conducted. An MRI scan costs lesser when it's done from some external place. Guess we are paying to maintain all those expensive machines that are available here. All the maintenance bills are covered with the money that's recovered from middle class families like us. Every day is like a ping pong game. Some days, the news given gets your hopes up. Some days. it's just another hopeless day when those same hopes get crushed. It's a torturous wait for those whose ears are pining for some good news in relation to their dear ones.

I am not someone who is evil. But when I sit in this hospital and see the huge smiling, mounted, larger than life photographs of the founding mentors of this hospital, I fervently pray to god that someone in that family should die of a disease which cannot be medically cured with the millions of black/white money that they have stacked in their coffers. I sincerely pray for this because of the way in which they encourage their management to weigh people against their financial situation. That day, I'd be the most happiest person in this country. Awaiting  judgement day....

I wish I had loads of cash that can be utilised to help people who are in similar situations like ours. Medical care needs to be attuned to people's needs and it needs to gain a more humane structure. We are talking about people here. Not animals!

Wishing for humanity to make an appearance in minds and societal institutions in general!!!

In almost every profession - whether it's law or journalism, finance or medicine or academia or running a small business - people rely on confidential communications to do their jobs. We count on the space of trust that confidentiality provides. When someone breaches that trust, we are all worse off for it. Hillary Clinton