The travails of a patient

This is a recollection of my experience long time ago when I had a major accident. Every time I come across an accident victim, I am reminded of the past. Now it appears to be comical and hilarious, while in reality it was nightmarish and painful. Incidentally, I realized that there is no single word for “a person visiting a patient, at the hospital or home” in English, while , in my native language there is a single word for such a visitor and also for the act of visiting. That is besides the matter.

It was the time when I did not have a stable job and was working as a lecturer in a small town 100 Kms away from the city of Hyderabad. Even though I was married by then, I did not have the courage to bring my city bred wife from city of Hyderabad to a small town. My search for a decent job of my liking was also on. So I was some how managing by visiting my wife during the weekends.

Suddenly my life took a positive turn and filled us with joy. I cleared the Andhra Pradesh Civil services Group-1 examination and the job of Deputy Tahsildar landed into my lap. By no means was it an easy feat to achieve. My wife and her parents were elated and I shifted to Hyderabad. My in-Laws insisted that we share the two bedroom house they were living in till we found a house for rent. Since finding a good place to live would take time, we agreed to it. Days were moving very fast as I was settling into my new job, which was quite different from my earlier job.

I noticed that there was a constant inflow of guests into the house. Most of mother-in-law’s time would go in preparing food and serving the guests. I also received special attention as I was newly married and Son-in-law. I was uncomfortable and conscious of the demands put on my in-laws, because of our presence there.

All of a s

Advertisement

udden there was yet another major incidence in my life, like a bolt from blue. While coming back from work on my two wheeler, one day I met with a serious accident. Some body admitted me into a hospital and I was found to have fractured my left leg. After a brief stay in the hospital, I was sent home with a plaster of Paris cast and then began the drama in life.

There would be an array of visitors, from my in-laws family, my family and friends, and new colleagues. This was in addition to the otherwise busy house hold. As is the practice in our society, no body informed us before they landed to see me. People would come at most inconvenient time and stay on unmindful of the duration they had been with us. My basic needs as a patient had to be compromised sometimes. There would be sensitive moments where I had to attend to the calls of nature. Suppressing the needs beyond a point was excruciating and I would curse the people to no end for lack of sensibility.The worst part was, while I was giving choicest abuses within myself, I had to appear normal from outside. A difficult feet indeed!

 Once a minister, who hailed from my native place and close to our family, came to visit me. Along with him descended the entourage of several people. As such the room was not big enough to accommodate so many people. One could imagine the situation and my plight! All I wanted was some fresh air!

 That was when I understood the need for refrain and balance when one visits a patient. From my own experience I realized that when a close one is going through tough times as described here, the best support is to quickly visit and offer them help and support in which ever form you can. I hated every minute of the time I went through during my recovery and wish I never had to go through again.