Friday, February 15, 2008

4 days 3 nights!



It was not my real vacation. It was......... a vacation to the M0uw@sat prison Hospital! I was there taking care of my 2nd daughter, Coan. Before going there, I've draft an entry about how sick Coan was and I was waiting for abang to bring us to the hospital. This entry is kind of continuation from that one.


Since it was a pretty long stay, I decided not to write this entry in chronicles (sebut chronicle, teringat kat sorang adik blogger ni :)). Also, if I were to write them in chronicles, I may end up writing more about Coan who was crying and crying again and then Coan was weeping... it will full of Coan who was scared of the needles, medicine and nurses!


There were a few happenings occured while I was staying in the hospital, the extinguish ones I supposed. Here they go:


Happening 1 - Ind1an vs F1lp1ns

There were only 2 Ind1an nurses - the rest are F1lp1ns. The F1lp1ns nurses referred them as the thin and the fat one! (I guess it was harsh - there are more words to describe people right....)


Happening 2 - I know your salary :)

I started to realize a salary is not a P&C matter in s@udi. Even a B@nglsh1 car wash guy wasn't shy to ask my husband, "how much is your salary?". I did ask a nurse about her salary too (I didn't expect to get the answer actually) but she did tell me the basic and the salary if she did overtime.


Happening 3 - M@lays1an nurses are richer ;)

I learned that our M@lays1an nurses earned almost 5 times higher than the F1lp1ns nurses in S@udi. By the way, I had a friend who is an ex nurse here and she was the who told me about the M@lays1an nurses salary. So, for nurses back home, get a job in S@ud1. You have to come here alone though coz' it'll be a single package (no husband and kids please..)


Happening 4 - I don't like hospital

Living in a cell hospital is not an enjoyable experience. Though the room was pretty luxury (like a 4 star hotel room indeed), there's no sun light coz' window is not opened. The window shutter knob was jammed. Its only the lights that made the room brighter. I missed fresh air. I can't leave Coan alone coz' I was there as her companion (the insurance covered my expense (food and stay) there. So, I had to stay with her. Besides, it kind of troublesome for me to go out as I had to wear abaya (the black jubbah)


Happening 5 - Coan cried most of the time

Coan's spinning head due to the viral infection made it not comforting for her. She felt pain which led her to cry and wept most of the time. Whenever nurses came, she cried coz' she was afraid the nurse would give her injection or medicine (things she hate most). I was pity for her but nothing much I can do but to console and cuddle her. The doctor changed the antibiotic when the first one wasn't good enough (perhaps Coan's body didn't respond well to the first one). She wept at night too and sometimes had bad dreams. She cried and wept in sleep.


Happening 6 - A challenge for a mother

Besides Coan, I had to take care of Shahmey too. Yes, he was there with me in the hospital since he's still breastfeeding. I can't leave him at home with abang. Who's gonna feed him. He refuses formula milk. I was lucky since the nurse gave me a baby cot. I can put Shahmey in there while looking after Coan. But, it was a pretty tough time for me, having to take care of 2 kids (1 sick and 1 healthy) in the hospital. If I were at home, the situation would be different.



Happening 7 - Crank call

On the 2nd day, I received a call (through hospital phone) from a female s2@udi. She spoke arabic. I passed the phone to a nurse who happened to be there (the nurse understand arabic a bit). Then the nurse told the lady "Maafi maklum arabia" - tak faham bahasa arab. Then she hung up. Half an hour later, she called again. I could recognize the voice since nobody called me using the hospital phone. But this time, she spoke English. She asked me many questins - my name, kids, nationality and others. Of course I didn't answer all. I answered with a questions like why? what about yourself? and sometimes with a lie (forgive me God..).

She told me that she's been married for 2 years but got no kids. She was not happy with her husband (he was not a good man - according to her) and tried to file a divorce. The best past was, she told me she has a boyfriend and was waiting for her boyfriend to come to her house. What?? I was skeptical whether I actually listened to a different thing. But she kept repeating that she wanted to marry the boyfriend. I did ask her, "How could you have a boyfriend?" The answer was really shocked me - "I like it coz' I like s*x". Then I knew something was not right with the lady. I knew I had to hang up so, I gave her excuse, my kids need my attention. She was still speaking but it wasn't that clear since I was trembling then. To me, she's insane. I hung up and sat for a while. Usually a crank call exist at home but this is a hospital. Until now, I still wonder, who that lady actually was.


Happening 8 - Too many doctors

Coan was treated by Dr. Ftma when we went to the hospital for the first time. But, when she was admitted, the file was written, Dr Wfa. Everyday, the attending doctor was a different one, everytime. Definitely, Dr Ftma was never one of them. I remember when my kids were admitted back home, the same doctor treated them, right from the first visit till the last day they were hospitalised.


Being able to leave the hospital yesterday, was such a relief. Though Coan is not fully recovered yet, she is better now. I hope the rainbow will appear after the rain... Insyaallah...


11 sugar & spice:

zino said...

patut lama tak ke udara.. syukur dan selamat balik ke rumah..

Unknown said...

Neeza....pertama nya , saya tumpang rasa lega now that Coan dah baik, dan u all anak beranak dah boleh pulang ke rumah.
Keduanya, sorry lah i tak datang menziarahi u all kat hospital tu..

ketiganya, sungguh seronok memabca ur 'happenings' - all remind me of saudi...
memang gaji tidak menjadi rahsia. ini menjadi masaalah kepada kami the HR people...hehehehe
about that 'phone call' ermmm....i dok sana 4 tahun tak de pulak mak arab nak calling2 mcm tu hehehe...
u handled it very well...kalau i tak tahu la....seram jugak rasanya!!!

IDHAM

Neeza Shahril said...

zino, lama tak keudara? heheeee.. cam DJ lak ye.. alhamdulillah, dah balik rumah semula..

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Idham, takpe tak datang ziarah. Doa pun dah cukup.. lebih bermakna kan. the happenings tu buatkan neeza takkan lupa moment dok hospital tu.

HR and salary - kalau everyone shares how much they make, memang HR akan kena tembak especially time bonus and increment. I was at that position before... cuma tak setinggi you la.. :)

Pasal phone call tu kan.. neeza rasa, kalau Idham... errrr.. the lady tu akan goda you suruh datang rumah dia kot... heheeee.. sebab you tu opposite sex.. memang sangat seram.. heheeee

silversarina said...

Alhamdulillah Coan tak lama duduk hospital. kalau tak macam-macam lagi insiden yang tak dijangka berlaku kot... tentang tukar-tukar doktor tu rasanya arab ni sama je cara kerja nya, masa akak kat Jordan dan menjaga sahabat yang masuk hospital, macam tulah, hari-hari doktor lain sampai kami insist nak jumpa doktor pertama yang ambik kes my friend ni.

ZABS said...

Salam Neeza,
Alhamdulillah, semoga Coan sudah bertambah sihat sekarang.
Banyak happening di hospital rupanya.
Tentang gaji Malaysian nurses lebih mahal tu, mungkin mereka ada good reputation di sana. Ada seorang kawan isteri saya sedang bekerja di sana untuk set up, training for nurses di sana.
Mungkin tak banyak kes begitu di Saudi, jadi ramai Dr. boleh dapat pengalaman treating the patient.
Macamana caller tu boleh dapat nombor Neeza di hospital? Mungkin orang dalam hospital itu juga tak? Saja nak lepas tension kot?
Take care.

أم الليث said...

hospitals memang tak best. bosan, gloomy and depressing. tapi selalunya kalau children's hospital ceria sikit kot? ke tak?

sini pun selalunya doctor yang lain handle cases every day. because masing2 ada shift kan. usually one doctor berjawatan tinggi akan handle the case dari awal sampai habis tapi dia tak gi jumpa patient tu sendiri..dia minta a more junior doctor buat every day assessment. tp the senior doctor still knows about the case. (usually la)

alhamdulillah insurance cover a lot of the expenses. bersyukurlah kita dapat access to medical care when we need it; walaupun taklah sehebat mana.

Ummi said...

Alhamdulillah, Coan has been discharged from the hospital. Hope she will get better very soon. You are a supermom, if I can say so. But then again, I believe all mothers are , no? Do take care ya!

Neeza Shahril said...

Kak Rina,

memang problem bila tukar-tukar doctor ni kan. Yang bestnya, doctor boleh tanya neeza, how's her fever today? walhal everytime nurses tu ambik temperature Coan, tak pernah pun nak bagi tahu. Nasib le neeza ni suka busy body sikit. Everytime dia check, mesti tanya. Boleh le bagi tahu doctor tu..

tapi kan doctor sini tak berapa friendly dengan kids. Kalau kat tempat kita, doctor kan datang pegang the kids tu.. ini tak, doctor tengok dari jauh aje..

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Zabs,

alhamdulillah... Tentang gaji nurses Malaysia tu kan, neeza ada dengar from ex-nurse malaysia yang since western nurse dah tak boleh masuk Arab Saudi lagi, the package is given to Malaysian nurses. Beruntung lah kira diorang.. :)

Pasal caller tu kan, tu yang heran. Tanya jugak, macam mana dia boleh mintak extension our room tu. Dia kata dia nak speak to Nora, then operator pass ke bilik kami. Memang lah nama neeza ada Nora kat depan.. agaknya dia tu sex maniac kot.. heheee..

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Aliya,

akak ada gak complain dengan social worker kat situ pasal nurses tak friendly. Dia kata, patutnya children kat wad lain and the nurses are very friendly. Tapi sebab dah penuh kat situ. Kebanyakannya kes yang sama - kids kena high fever. Ada yang diarrheoa and vomiting. Alhamdulillah Coan tak sampai gitu...

Ada gak nampak sorang doctor tu macam head to all tapi dia bukannya yang first time ambik case tu.. Lain tempat lain cara kot..

Betul tu, kalau insurance tak cover, rasanya problem jugak sebab medical expenses kat sini mahal sangat...

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Ummi,

alhamdulillah. Susah hati bila anak tak sihat. Betul tu.. rasanya all mothers would feel the same. Tapi, supermom? Too much for me kot.. Insyaallah.. one day... :) thanks ye..

DBI said...

cantik lah spital dia...

Ummi said...

Neeza, memang siksa duduk hospital..i have 4 kids yang asthmatic, so you can imagine how the hospital became a second home to me. Alhamdulillah they all have grown up and outgrew the asthma..

Glad that coan is getting better. You too please take care of yourself.

Neeza Shahril said...

dbi,

cantik? memang cantik tapi service kureeennggg sikit :)

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kak Ummi,

kalau asthma, memang la selalu kena nebuliser kan. Coan baru ni pun, batuk, doctor kasi nebuliser gak. dia paling tak suka tu.. Coan dah pergi sekolah today. thanks ye Kak Ummi... :)