PALLIATIVE CARE
IS
HEALTH CARE
Palliative care is... 8 MONTHS IN ISOLATION
Frail, weak, extremely sick and literally skin on bones. Her face lined with pain and distress. This is the picture that a young 28 year old female presented with on the day she was admitted to the Health Care Centre. Diagnosed with both HIV and TB young Agnes (We will call her this as confidentiality is essential in the care we provide) arrived from the transferring facility. She was still sputum positive as we say in hospital jargon. This means simply that the TB germs were still alive and there was a potential danger that others could be exposed to live TB germs. Agnes therefore had to be placed in what we call an isolation ward. In addition to being isolated, the staff also wore protective clothing and mask. This meant that for the longest time this woman was even deprived of seeing another human being greet her with a smile. She was diligently taking her medication but when the time came to check her sputum for germs the results came back positive again and so it continued for months. The unit doctor had to repeatedly adjust medication and eventually had to resort to administering a Multiple Drug Resistant TB treatment regimen. This happened after consultation with experts as she did not fit the approved criteria for an average patient with Multiple Drug Resistant TB and therefore also did not qualify to be admitted in a Multiple Drug Resistant TB treatment facility. This presented us with a dilemma. Our facility was hardly adequate. The little room she was in were far from friendly and did not even have a basic a thing as a television to help the time pass. One can understand how in time Agnes ended up lonely and depressed. Family and friends were allowed to visit but they too had to hide behind a mask. A working, breadwinning person can hardly spend hours and hours next to a sick patient so family only came when time and finances allowed. So this just added to the loneliness. The staff did their utmost to encourage Agnes and the unit Housekeeper, along with other staff shared the good news of Christ with her. How does one accept the Lord when life’s circumstances are so dismal? But the Lord is GOOD. Five months after her admission the first sputum negative result arrived. A tiny ray of hope appeared. A trace of a smile was present in her eyes. Two months later and two sputum negative results later, the doctor finally gave the okay for Agnes to be released from her isolation. And the best news of all is that a week for she was allowed out of isolation she accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as her personal Saviour. The day she went home we all rejoiced. She walked out of her after coming in on a stretcher 8 months earlier. And she had the biggest smile on her face. Go well Agnes. God Bless.
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