Tuesday, 15 May 2012
.....AND SHE DIED
I heard she put to bed...Friday. So in excitement I called her. She sounded so elated saying her birthday is just few days away. She had been delivered of a baby girl. Yippee! We would go throw a party to celebrate the birth of the baby in another eight days. That is our culture.
Then came the call to my hubby's phone at night. It was my brother in-law saying his wife who had put to bed earlier in the day is now unconscious. I told my hubby, it can't be. I spoke with her and she was very ok.' anyway, he still had to go check her on Saturday to be sure she was fine. When he got there, he called me to confirm she was unconscious. Now that is really worrying. I had no clue what led to that. So as usual, I started asking my brother who is a medical doctor, what could be the likely cause. My hubby also asked the doctor in charge of my sister in-law’s delivery and it came to light that apparently her blood pressure shot up after child birth. This is a case know as post-partum eclampsia.
I called later that day; I was told 'she is asleep now. No longer unconscious. Of course I felt relieved. If only I knew then she never actually came to. Rather she fitted again through the unconsciousness.
Sunday came and I joined my husband, along with the kids to go see my sister in-law and her new baby. I got there. I went in the room where she lay unconscious. She is naturally very light skinned. The skin of the lady lying there looked so much darker and her mouth was open breathing forcefully, the sound of fluid in lungs was very clear to me and her tummy moved up and down in a fast irregular motion. I stayed a bit, and then I went and stood in the balcony. I made a call to my brother to describe as precise as I could the present condition of my sister in-law. He said with the way I described the treatment she was being given, she is not getting the sort of treatment she needed. She has been in that unconscious state for over 48hrs. So a decision was made to take her to another hospital. According to the doctor, as at the time she had the first fit that led to her being unconscious, her BP was 220/140. We took her to a private hospital that we were referred to but was told the doctor traveled. And in haste and fear and anxiety, we rushed her to another federal government hospital (all state government hospitals were on strike) were we were told there was no bed space. We pleaded for her to be seen even if on a stretcher but they insisted they had to get a bed for her first. By this time we were all crying in fear. We rushed her to another private hospital and by the time we got there, she was still breathing in that heavy, stressed irregular, fast patter. Then, as d car stopped, she seemed to heave a deep breath...her last breath. A nurse came out (coincidentally, one who knows...knew her) and by the time she was done checking her vitals, she confirmed her dead.
My iyale, my senior wife, my sister in-law, she was dead. She was gone. I called her name severally she did not respond....death, not such an abstract word after all.
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Too bad! too bad! what kind of doctors are we breeding in this country? what kind of health system are we building? ...*wiping tears from my cloudy eyes*...my condolences.
ReplyDeletethank you. that is the situation we find ourselves in this country.
ReplyDeleteHmmm.... N she died right in front of U n U cldnt help. Dats jst death; wen it comes there is nothing any1 can do abt it. May Allah guide us 2d right path. Very very sad. May Allah grant her eternal rest. Accept my sympathy
ReplyDeleteThis is the rubbish i am talking about in Nigeria. Can you imagine, those idiotic health practioners that don't honor the Hippocratic Oath, swearing to practice medicine ethically and honestly, to preserve life first.
ReplyDeleteSometimes i don't blame the wealthy n political families, who rather fly abroad for medical treatment than buy panadol in nigeria.
A life that could have been saved. a few years back my cousin could have been saved in general hospital sapele, but because she didn't have N2000 for deposit they left her to day at the reception. God help us.
Bola, my condolences on your loss, its such so sad, her death smeared the joy of having a new born in the family.
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ReplyDeleteThis is the rubbish i am talking about in Nigeria. Can you imagine, those idiotic health practioners that don't honor the Hippocratic Oath, swearing to practice medicine ethically and honestly, to preserve life first.
ReplyDeleteSometimes i don't blame the wealthy n political families, who rather fly abroad for medical treatment than buy panadol in nigeria.
A life that could have been saved. a few years back my cousin could have been saved in general hospital sapele, but because she didn't have N2000 for deposit they left her to day at the reception. God help us.
Bola, my condolences on your loss, its such so sad, her death smeared the joy of having a new born in the family.
How time flies. For da little time I met nd knew her, she was kind, nice nd luvly. Death is inevitable, may we end with kalmat shahada. Allah ya jikan ta, ya gafarta ta, ya sa ta huta. Amin Ya Allah
ReplyDeleteReally painful...my condolences!
ReplyDeleteMy condolences...May Allah forgive her sins
ReplyDeleteThe system is really messed up. We lose lives to the negligence of those that are supposed to take care of us. They have an obligation to do what ever they can to save lives..yet they act like means nothing to them. Lost a sister in law january this year...same sad story. May God help us
ReplyDeleteSo sad and touching . i had same condition when i delivered my baby my Bp was 220/100 but to the glory of God am among the living,bt me delivered in Fed govt hospital and they really try thr best coz my enemy almost passed on.my advise to people is to book in govt hospital even thou they have der private hospital coz govt hospital many doctors we takie of u and of diff knowledge bt private dey won't want to lose ther money that how me i see it ooo and even most of us think govt hospital is for the poor that is Capital NO...when most private can't handle it why do they refer to govt Hospital ? Bola ,my condolences
ReplyDeleteTears.......
ReplyDelete