medic 1: 'you know what?'
medic 2: 'what?'
medic 1: 'the last time i put someone on drips, the guy screamed.'
medic 2: 'haha. think you got the wrong place. that's why pain what.'
medic 1: 'ya, then he fainted.'
both medics then laughed out loud in a hearty manner. note that this conversation occurred whilst they were by my bed, preparing the needles, moments before they poked me with that yakult straw-sized needle. thank God mine got done up quite carefully, slowly by medic 1 and the pain was bearable, but how would you feel if you hear that before the poke?
2 days ago, i was down with fever and likes once again. the 4th drip administered to me and most traumatizing yet.
medic a: 'i very long never do this already leh.'
medic b: 'so you can or not?'
medic a: 'i think so.'
(he proceeded to poke me with that yakult-sized needle. as he was
inserting it in, he hesitated. he started feeling for my vein with
the needle half inserted.)
medic a: 'like cannot leh. how come cannot find again huh?'
(he continued to inch that needle into my hand while maneuvering it
in attempt to 'locate' the right vein, to no avail. so he decided to
give up and pull that sharp thing out. you should have seen the
expression on my face.)
medic b: 'try again la. i do, i do.'
(i uttered a prayer under my breath and i tightened my muscles to
lessen the pain. then medic b poked me again, almost around the same
place where the last needle was previously pulled out. he repeated
whatever medic a did, once again to no avail.)
medic a: 'eh eh, don't pull out. let me try.'
(then medic a took over and tried to help. i could feel he was panicking
already.)
medic a: 'eh, i think cannot cannot. call the MO.'
medic b: 'wait. change hand. we try again.'
(my heart sunk. with whatever life i had left in me, i
displayed my pain on my face and uttered some words.)
me: 'you're not asking the MO help?'
medic b: 'no. MO is last resort.'
(if you were there, you might have seen !@#$%^&* in my eyes. once again,
they pulled out the needle and diverted their attention to my left hand.
this time, medic b finally succeeded as fresh red blood started oozing
out.)
medic b: 'eh hurry up! hurry up! past me the tubes. the needle is in
and he's bleeding.'
im not too sure what happened after that as i was quite traumatized by the episode. i only recall the 2 medics sitting by my bed, referring to a blue booklet that looked like an instruction manual to me.
the 3 red dots that look like
mosquito bites are really holes
that are left behind by the
needles. they are actually
quite big if you see them
real life.
on the same note,
i was never subjected to drips before service as drips were never deemed as necessary in the civilian context unless for serious conditions.
conversely, the military medical officers somehow believe dripping is the panacea to fever and other ailments, next to their favorite prescription: the ultimate Panadol, the small yet magical yellow flu pill and of course the ever soothing non-menthol lozenges.
you can tell i am kidding.
did i also mention that the waiting time at the medical center is an average of minimum 2hrs, regardless of whether you are the 1st patient in the medical center or not. if you just imagined
the crowd to be that of your friendly neighbourhood polyclinic, you are nowhere close because it is much less. (the last time, there were only 5 patients in the clinic and there were 3 medical officers.) trust me, if you're feeling terribly ill, the 2hr wait will definitely cause you to feel so much better. what's best is that sometimes, you spend less than 1 minute out of the 2 hours in the consultation room. yes, i know i should tolerate all these because nothing comes free, and
if they do, don't expect it to come so 'easily'. so much for medical excellence.
___
alas, it'll prick my conscience if i don't
mention that there are medics and MOs
who are really professional.
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