I have to let this out somehow, although this is not baby or child related, I have always seen this blog as therapeutic in a sense , my diary. So here goes.
All of you know that I live in South Africa .
My grandpa has recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer. He is 86 years old and had survived pancreas cancer 42 years ago (what a miracle right!?).
He has been on morphine patches for pain and all has been going well, It is very important that I tell you guys that they don’t have medical aid. In South Africa , the public health care is ridiculous, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.
Unfortunately the patches has not been working too well lately and he has been having sooo much pain , my grandmother thought it best to rush him to the public hospital. What enfolded from here is so sad that I feel like I have been traumatized by the whole thing.
after having to wait 6 hours, he was finally admitted.The doctor assigned to his case prescribed a high dose of morphine through and IV, his pain was gone.
The next day we got there and he was completely out of it, could not speak, could not eat, could not control his bathroom visits, he had no idea where he was or what was going on. He was so scared. They put railings up on his bed because he tries to get out , and they eventually tied him down to ensure that he does not move. He had a diaper on and no clothes. When we asked the nurses (which took us about an hour to find one) why he has no clothes on, they said its easier this way to change his diaper. And that he is refusing to eat (he could not even sit up, so I don’t know how he is supposed to feed himself). We tried to accept it , the next day when we got there , he was in such an uncomfortable position that his whole neck bent side ways and he could not move because his hands were tied to tightly. No one came the whole day to check on him and move him , he mumbled for help but no one listened . I honestly just cant get this picture out my head . 3 days ago this man could walk, talk, go to the bathroom with help, eat his food, and speak properly , the only problem was that he was in pain.
When I asked a nurse to come and help me sit him up and unchain him, she came and said to me that she does not know how it works and she does not know where the nurse is who does . Needless to say we found her in the end , where they told us that he is discharged and gave us a bag of pills, no explanation, no doctor, hell, no note from a doctor, when I asked the nurse what he was given, she said to me that she does not know.
Luckily, we found an amazing company that offers home care to terminal patients and we finally got the help we needed.
NO JOKES – A few hours after getting home my grandpa could talk, he even started moving around a little bit, the next morning he could eat, feed himself even , swallow all his pills and get to the couch with some help.
I have no words as to what goes on in these hospitals, until you experience it yourself, you will never fully understand, I have no idea where to point the fingers, or if there even is enough fingers in the world to point, but it is scary. Scary that our people has that, and only that to rely on. Staff is not held accountable like in the private sector . But listen , I don’t work in the medical industry, therefore I cannot speak for the nurses or the state of care from that point of view. All I can do is share my family’s experience.
Its now been two weeks and my grandpa is safe and sound at home with a nurse and is so much happier , he is a bit traumatized by what happened as he started remembering it all , but thank the Lord he can spend what time he has left with his family .
Ps. Pic of my grandpa and my little girl 
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