Where was Ganda?

Who would like to stay in the hospital...

A few hours ago we visited ganda( a niece and a friend) in the hospital. I had to ask if I could blog a bit about it just to update some of the fans:) rather friends who know her.

Yesterday, she had an excruciating pain that caused her to loose consciousness. (She had an attack once in December 2007, but she got well after a few days. We thought it was UTI).

Ganda had suspected it might be an ectopic pregnancy and that was diagnosed later to be true. At the ER in the hospital, the doctor attending her thought it might just be an ordinary pain, but Ganda, who could feel and could not stand the pain, thought it otherwise. If I remember hearing from her, she mentioned to the doctor that it might be pregnancy related. Being a nurse herself must have been an advantage. It is good the doctor did not feel inferior about a patient's opinion. After all, a doctor is not all knowing even it is her/his "specialization" or expertise.

[Sometimes you have to question their findings before they realize that they were wrong (there are many cases where wrong medicines are prescribed to a patient). This actually happened to the latter friend I mentioned below when I was with him as a watcher. Since my friend knows about the medicine even before he was admitted to the hospital, he questioned the nurse about the medicine. The nurse says, "Oh yes, it is wrong!" What if the patient does not know about it?]

When the doctor pressed hard on the area were the pain was, she was 85-90% convinced that it was...until she took a syringe and drew from it and all that it sucked was the blood that had exploded from her fallopian tube. Thus, she had to be operated. There were three stages: a) exploratory laparotomy (whatever that is- explore-ation is all I know); b) ooforectomy (ovary removal); c) salphiengiectomy (removal of the fallopian tube). She says she was basically aware of what was happening around her even when her stomach was taken out and put into a basin. Her resistance to anaesthesia prevented her from sleeping. Too bad...the pain in the pocket hurts a lot too. For someone who has been in a private hospital, a lot of pesos are required.

In a related scenario, last week, I was in the hospital, not as a patient, but as "bantay" watcher to a patient who is a friend. Just like ganda, he is a servant of the Most High God and has been serving as a community developer here in the Philippines for a number of years. He was admitted to the hospital the evening of December 24 because of a debilitating pain coming from his back and going down both legs. In one of my stays as a watcher, I saw and heard him screaming because of the pain. All possible tests that high technology could offer had been done, but nothing was found wrong. He had to be brought to his country January 17, 2008 after almost a month of lying down in the hospital. May he get well soon and come back healthy again.
There are things we wish that do not happen. Who would want to be in pain or loose a baby? Only time can tell when HE reveals why HE allowed those things even when it hurts Him just like when HE sent His Son on the cross for you and me.

Perhaps we know what joy is because we have been to sorrow... is it vice-versa? Whatever happens...God never says, "Oh I thought...." (Akala ko.... in Tagalog).

Shalom!!!