The 4th Episode of Satyamev Jayate 2014 season,
featured today (26th Oct 2014) was about The Ticking Time Bomb – TB (Tuberculosis).
No doubt Aamir Khan is doing a great job by bringing out the most awaited
topics, giving information about it and making nation aware about it as well.
The one of its kind show is a true inspiration and knowledge for each and every
one of us. It always brings out the burning social issue plaguing the Indian
Society.
Today when Aamir Khan spoke about TB and phrased it Ticking
Time Bomb, it straight away poked my mind. I am myself a survivor of
tuberculosis, thou not that worst as what it was shown on the show. But it
could have been worst, only if the negligence would have gone a little far.
Today, I am inspired to share my story of how hardly my TB was diagnosed and
how my family had lost the hope before even knowing that I had TB.
I gave birth to a baby gal on 14th July 2010 and
within just 18 – 20 days’ time, I suddenly caught high fever. Initially my
family gave me some home remedies, which when did not affect me; I was taken to
a normal physician. For about 3 weeks I was given antibiotics and drugs for the
viral fever without any tests. Day would usually go good, with bit of temperature
going up and down but evenings went horrible, cold and fever use to catch me
badly. At times I use to shiver whole nights with more than 3 blankets on me,
yet my doctor never asked me to go for any test till about 3 weeks, while I
visited him almost 5 times during those 3 weeks’ time. Finally, after about 22
days I myself changed the physician and went to a trusted name of the city.
Private Doctor, with a small hospital and no appointment or time schedule been
given to the patient.
I had a baby with cesarean before 1 and half month and
despite of knowing everything I was made to seat for hours waiting for the
doctor. Leaving apart the trouble of seeing a doctor, he straight away gave me
the medicines for Malaria, without going for any clinical tests. He gave me 15
days course of the medicine and asked me to come after 15 days. Nothing worked
in those days, first few days it felt like fever is going low, but then it
happened as it was before. I waited for 15 days but nothing happened, I again
went to see the doctor and he insisted me to continue the medicine for 1 more
week. Day by day I was getting weak, it was getting hard for me to wait for
doctor for hours, leaving home my 2 month old child. But Doctor had nothing to
do with my problems, he just had his own rules and no appointment or schedule
systems. After those 3 weeks he finally asked me to go for clinical test for
malaria but reports were negative, yet Doctor said that sometimes report does
not show but it surely is malaria. I was at the best doctor’s clinic in the
city and I had no better choice so I agreed to what he said. He said that
medicines aren’t working for me and I must be taking IV drugs, so then for next
two week 3 days a week I was given medicine in my vain thru IV. But yet nothing
worked and the side effects of medicines were so bad, I lost my appetite, I
lost my strength and a bit of hope too.
Yet after taking IV drugs, I still was in the same condition
as I was on first day, fever was still taking over me every evening and I had
no choice but to bare it. Then the same doctor asked me to go for a typhoid
test, which again was negative but as per his earlier story, he gave me the
same reason that sometimes reports don’t show and started to give me medicines
for typhoid. Almost 4 weeks of medicines of typhoid and I still wasn’t cured.
Again he said that medicines aren’t working and I need to take IV drugs. 3 more
weeks I was taking the IV drugs for typhoid and still the fever wasn’t ready to
move away when finally my family lost hopes over me. Mom cried and informed my
sister that I was not going to survive as no medicines were working for me. I
was so much irritated with irresponsible behaviour of doctor and those waiting
hours with a body that was not even able to stand for 10 minutes. For few days,
I just took nimesulide drugs by choice which was initially given to me, without
thinking or knowing anything about the medicine much as I had already lost the
hopes on doctor and at least that drug was relieving my fever for few hours.
Finally, my sister and jiju came down all the way from Nairobi
after hearing about my situation from my mother. They inspired me to not give
up and see the doctor once again, we again went to the doctor and yet he did
not seem to have any specific answer to my illness. Finally when my jiju got
aggressive about his negligence and asked him that if he cannot treat me, he
should refer me to some better doctor, he asked me to visit a new hospital in
town. I was admitted in the hospital for about 5 days and about 20 of test occurred
on me and finally doctor declared that I had tuberculosis. Till that time my haemoglobin
level had fallen to 3.1 and I was hardly able to do my tasks on my own. Every
now and then I was suffering from loss of breath and sometimes was losing my consciousness
too. But I was to survive and hence my TB was diagnosed and I was given medicine
course of 6 months, which was finally working on me starting from the 1st
week itself.
But all this medical negligence from a reputed doctor made
me lose 14 kgs of weight and it took me about 18 months to fully recover from
the situation.
I did not have any financial issues, I was visiting the most
reputed doctor of my town and yet all those months I had to suffer with false
diagnosis and guesses of him. After seeing the today’s episode of Satyamev
Jayate, I am on thoughts that what would be happening to those less fortunate
people who cannot even put expenses on the their health. It looks like my blood
is freezing hearing the stories and condition of those sufferers that were
brought on the show today. Can we all, I mean we all the normal public can’t do
something about this? Can this kind of medical negligence be not taken to the
court or can we not have some kind of standards of those doctors, just like ISO
or something?? Which could finally guide us that what kind of treatment we need
and what grade of doctors are we visiting?
We need to think a lot on this matter, not only from the way
of treatment and awareness but the even serious issue is negligence of doctors.
And this is my serious appeal to each and every doctor of the country.. ‘You
are not God, but we people have given you the consideration of God and we put
you in their place, Please for heaven sake do not play with the lives of
innocent and if the treatment is not in your hand, inform the patient to see
better doctors or hospitals’.
#SatyamevJayate
#tickingTimeBomb
#Tuberculosis
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