Hospital Visits, Life Lessons, and Gratitude

Trying to look at the silver lining in every situation

The past two weeks have brought life into a better perspective. As I wrote in my post here, the year began with vertigo for me. Yes, we joke about how I am on a permanent high now — but funnies aside, it is really inconvenient to move around slowly and be careful about turning my head and changing positions. You see, I literally enjoy rushing around the place. I am happiest when I am busy.

And now, having a lot of time to sit and reflect reminded me of a scary incident last year in January. Frequent hospital visits were on the agenda to treat my husband’s lichen planus issue. It all began with a trip to the dentist, who recommended a gum specialist, who said he had to have a biopsy to confirm. This was only done in a hospital.

Long story short, and a lot of painful experimentation and several visits later, they prescribed a new medicine. Truth is, nothing they recommended was working. So two weeks after starting this medicine, he had to repeat some blood tests to see if the meds were effective. The side effects of the medicines included anemia, dizziness and stomach upsets, and headaches, among others.

So that Monday morning, just like every Monday and Saturday for the preceding six months, we set off to the hospital after breakfast. We were already worried as my husband experienced a dizzy spell accompanied by breathlessness and general discomfort a week after the new meds. The feeling passed, and he shrugged it off, but it was cause for worry.

Added to this, we had news of a close friend’s husband who led a healthy lifestyle had been rushed to the hospital after he felt uneasy. A couple of hours in emergency and a bunch of tests later, they discovered a 70% block in his heart. He had to have a stent.

So yes, we were worried and could not ignore the new medicine’s side effects, especially as the feeling of breathlessness would not go away. We did call the doc, who assured us that it had nothing to do with the meds — which only made us feel worse.

After we arrived at the hospital and met the doc after a long wait, he wrote a list of tests and suggested a full physical to “rule out any serious issues”.

It occurred to us we could go to our family physician close to our place, but we decided to do it at the hospital since all the facilities were on the same premises.

And thus started our waiting saga in a massive waiting area overflowing with people.

There was only standing room as all the seating — close to 150 chairs — was occupied. As usual, we made the most of the situation, playing guessing games — guessing people’s backgrounds and occupations, and of course, ailments. Yeah, we’re childish like that. Also, it was fun to hear the names — some very unusual — being called out.

Our turn came after two hours.

I was surprised we remembered our own names.

Naturally, we were freaking out over what the diagnosis would be, but quickly got over that, reaching the conclusion that there could be two outcomes:

• All is well
• Something is wrong

We should feel grateful for both, my husband said.

— If all is well, great. Let’s make lifestyle changes and strive to stay healthy.

— If something is wrong, then let’s feel grateful we now know, and can take timely action.

Couldn’t argue with that logic, eh?

Anyway, they called his name and we went in. After the clinical examination, as a first step, the doc advised a blood test, an x-ray, and an ECG.

The blood test was painful (ABGs usually are), thanks to some target practice by the phlebotomist. (Yeah, those are the guys that draw blood).

What followed was some running around, upstairs and downstairs, in and out of various chambers.

If you are familiar with how hospitals work, you’ll know that one has to wait in a long-ass line for something before they tell you where to go and what to do — and invariably this is the cash counter at the other end of the building. Because money talks. Then we rush there, pay for the service and bring the receipt. By this time, we have lost our place in the queue for the test. The procedures that precede lab tests and other diagnostics are quite tiring, especially in a hospital that size.

Back to us. Once the blood was drawn, the emergency section advised us to hand it over to the lab three floors down. The lab refused to accept it without a payment receipt. Urging my husband to stay put, I ran back to the emergency section to ask them what to do, because I was holding the sample in my hand. They looked mildly surprised and sent someone with an ice pack to hold the sample since the cash counter had a long queue and the blood sample would get messed up during that time.

Terrified that they’d misplace the sample somehow, I ran off to do ‘the needful’. Half an hour later, I ran back up three floors to bring the sample and handed it over to the lab with the cash receipt.

Realizing we would have to rinse and repeat this for the X-rays, I cleverly included it while paying for the blood test to avoid standing in another queue.

So, by this time, it was 2.30 pm and we were hungry as hell.

A funny thing about hospital visits — you go there for treatment. And do everything you shouldn’t do — skip meals, don’t drink water, get stressed — as if wanting to get sick. And standing around waiting is so tiring! The fatigue alone leaves us feeling worse.

I always joke it’s a good thing, as one can immediately seek treatment for the new ailment. Ha, ha, funny! Not.

We settled down to wait for the X-rays.

Got it done.

Went back upstairs for the ECG.

After another long wait at the cash counter attached to that department, settled down to wait again.

This time around, we managed to find two chairs. I mean, after all this even a normal person would feel exhausted, eh? We amused ourselves by playing song-tag until our turn came. After the ECG was done, I ran back to the lab downstairs to get the blood test report.

Armed with the ECG and blood test report, and being assured that the doc could view the X-ray on her system, we waited. A little bit tense, yes. But also, hopeful.

As my husband loves to say, until the fat lady sings, we cannot assume anything.

I somehow like to think we lived in the present moment throughout our visit.

• We did not check our phones. We generally don’t until it rings and the call appears important.
• We chatted, joked, laughed, and tried to make our visit as pleasant as we could.
• We realized it was pointless to stress ourselves out. The staff was doing its best and also, we accepted the fact that we weren’t the only ones waiting.
• We appreciated the stressful schedule of the doctors on duty.
• During the times I was by myself, I was constantly chanting prayers, both for us and for all the patients waiting there. It was the least I could do.
• Moving around a large hospital puts our own lives in perspective. We see people from all walks of life, some from neighboring towns or cities. They come with their families and luggage and try to make themselves at home along the corridor or anywhere they can if they are allowed. We see them struggling with infants — obviously, they can’t leave them somewhere, right? We see people who have no clue what to do in that huge place teeming with people. It is heartbreaking to see those accompanying surgery patients. Some of them have no idea when they’ll get back home.
• Consequently, when we look at our own lives, it seems like a cakewalk. We have access to treatment, are able to afford it, and have a comfortable home to go back to. Also, we have each other’s support and love.
• We were grateful to be able to get all the test reports after a short wait, without having to make another trip for it. I mean, what’s another hour in the grand scheme of things?
• As it happened, the doctor okay-ed the reports, even though some breathlessness persisted, and attributed it to the seasonal changes. She also warned us that bird ’flu was in the air, and to be careful. She advised plenty of steam inhalation to keep the airways moist.

We got back home and had a super late lunch, which I had had the presence of mind to make the night before and stash in the fridge. We enjoyed a cup of coffee together, musing over the day’s happenings, followed by a chat with our son. My husband caught up with his work.

I said I would also catch up with work. I settled down comfortably on the sofa with my laptop. A nap seemed like a great idea, deciding everything else could wait.

Right now, as I sit with my laptop in front of me, I am about to rest my head back and close my eyes. I am filled with a sense of gratitude for all that I’ve got.

Thank you for reading ❤

I loved this post by Dharan.M about how embracing good anger leads to positivity. Good anger, you ask? Yes — read!

Vidya Sury, Collecting Smiles ❤ Did you smile today?

Help me support underprivileged children via Ko-Fi. Thank you so much!

And oh, I just started a Substack newsletter. Subscribe for daily motivational tips ❤