Cynthia is back at school after two nights in the hospital. When I left her, she was still in incredible pain because the doctors would only give her one shot in the butt every thirty minutes. She said it took hours for the pain to be dulled enough, so it was bearable. Bop stayed with her most of the time, sleeping on a mat on the floor. There aren't any nurse aides, so Bop fanned her, emptied her puke bucket, and took her to the toilet. The bathrooms didn't have toilet paper or soap. Worse yet, since she had taken off her shoes at the front door like everybody else, she was walking through puddles of urine on the floor.
She had many stories to tell about life in her room. It sounded more like a loony bin than a hospital. At one point, the nurses wheeled in a man who was just out of surgery and left him there. He immediately began thrashing around and pulling out his tubes. His monitor went wild and flat-lined for a brief time. Bop and several other patients' family members sat on top of him and held him down for a couple hours until he was finally calm. Meanwhile, he crapped all over the krama (typical Cambodian checkered scarf) that was wrapped around his waist.
A young French couple was brought in after being involved in a bus accident. It was really windy that day, and their bus flipped into a stream. The man was fine, but his girlfriend had a couple broken bones in her back. That didn't stop them from repeatedly lifting her up and down with their hands. She was in a lot of pain, and eventually, they took her to the hospital in Siem Reap which is better equipped. (By the way, if for some reason I require surgery, I'm getting my butt airlifted to Bangkok.)
Many teachers and Laum visited Cynthia during her stay and brought her food, water, and napkins. On her third day, she convinced the doctor that she was feeling "just fine." Really, she wanted to get the heck out of there before she contracted some disease. Her hospital bill was less than $40.00.
She had many stories to tell about life in her room. It sounded more like a loony bin than a hospital. At one point, the nurses wheeled in a man who was just out of surgery and left him there. He immediately began thrashing around and pulling out his tubes. His monitor went wild and flat-lined for a brief time. Bop and several other patients' family members sat on top of him and held him down for a couple hours until he was finally calm. Meanwhile, he crapped all over the krama (typical Cambodian checkered scarf) that was wrapped around his waist.
A young French couple was brought in after being involved in a bus accident. It was really windy that day, and their bus flipped into a stream. The man was fine, but his girlfriend had a couple broken bones in her back. That didn't stop them from repeatedly lifting her up and down with their hands. She was in a lot of pain, and eventually, they took her to the hospital in Siem Reap which is better equipped. (By the way, if for some reason I require surgery, I'm getting my butt airlifted to Bangkok.)
Many teachers and Laum visited Cynthia during her stay and brought her food, water, and napkins. On her third day, she convinced the doctor that she was feeling "just fine." Really, she wanted to get the heck out of there before she contracted some disease. Her hospital bill was less than $40.00.
No comments:
Post a Comment