Hospitals...

I never liked hospitals.... but it's one of those places which all of us have to go.... eventually. Most of us begin our lives at the hospital! Some of us are also forced to 'do time' there too for health problems. And some of us even end our lives there too.

Was at the hospital recently, in KL. Because my father-in-law was in a 'critical' ward, we were allowed to wait outside the ward all the time and pop in to see him for brief moments. Sitting there without much to do and with so much time in my hands meant I could observe the going ons around.... or think. But most of the time, it's too tiring to do the latter.

It is easy to make friends at the hospital. After just a couple of hours, you can talk to those around you with ease. Everyone opens up more easily and conversations usually start with why you are at the hospital. And inadverdently you begin to share your little hopes and frustrations. I think everyone of us finds that sort of sharing comforting in its own way. You won't do that on the street somehow. Your guard would be all up! As you talk, you'll discover that you are not the only one going through a tough time. There are always others in situations more difficult than yours...

People will walk up to you and even though you might be suspicious but in the end, a conversation would still begin and even continue. And as the night progressed, you see people nodding off. Some would lie down on their makeshift 'beds' on the chairs or their own reclining chairs, and they would just get their shut eye. Some of us would just wonder around looking for places to charge our gadgets.

Despite what people say of the government hospitals, my recent experience at one shows that there are still plenty of good and nice doctors, nursing staff, etc there, though it helped also that we knew people. I guess it must be quite tiring for the nursing staff to entertain all these repeated questions from visitors and family members. Yet they tried to understand us too... I find that quite commendable.

Father-in-law would have gone sooner had he not been there. Their response time was actually quite fast and I guess where ICU care is concerned, the government ones still come out tops.