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When we left her place last night, Papa BaMao kept admiring aloud on the way back: “This woman is really strong. Even when she’s that sick, she still says ‘Thank you’ with a smile on her face. Really amazing! Yet, it’s heart-breaking!”
The first time we visited, the mother was paralyzed from waist down, yet her family who is also facing financial difficulties wanted their daughter to continue her studies in middle school. Now, the daughter has left her home to another place to study for almost two months already. However, the mother’s illness keeps going downhill. Looking at her diagnoses – spinal fractures, lung contusion (bruise of the lung caused by chest trauma), pleural effusion (accumulation of excess fluids in the pleura, a fluid-filled space that surrounds the lungs), paraplegia – it was a ghastly sight.
According to doctor’s advice, when the mother gets home, she needs to perform a CT scan on her lungs, an X-ray on her abdomen, acupuncture, nutritional diet, psychological therapy, recovery and regular medical check-ups. However, here in Yushu, except for psychological therapy and X-ray (occasionally), almost all of that couldn’t be realized.
We received two phone calls for us to visit the mother. A kind-hearted teacher told us that the mother’s leg has a deeply festered cut, and we didn’t imagine that it would be very bad. But when we saw it with our own eyes, we were taken by surprise. To quote Papa BaMao, “Too much, this is too much. This woman is really pitiful, a fate worse than death.”
As if losing all sensory function to her lower body is not enough, the extent of the wound’s festering is scarily unthinkable, and it has now spread to the other leg. Already the patient herself could feel nothing physically from waist down, she also couldn’t see the regeneration of muscles, instead she only sees how her flesh gradually rots day after day.
The weather turned cold. Because of that, a CT scan of the lungs couldn’t be done. Also, the mother’s coughing deteriorates as days pass, and fluid keeps accumulating in the peritoneal cavity (parts of the abdomen) [medical term: ascites].
Indeed, we are in no position to deal with the mother’s complicated situation. Still, since yesterday, I asked her husband whether they tried to do check-ups in hospitals, etc. With a tone of helplessness, the husband said that the state hospital’s reply was: “We don’t even have alcohol, nothing can be done.”
We heard that yesterday, people from the disabled association came to bring the patient to another place, “to examine whether the state of paralysis is faked”. After some poking around, they declared: “Paralysis is real”. Today (with us at the scene), those people from the disabled association brought a group of newly recruited interns to demonstrate some methods to the interns such as how to sterilize gauze, etc. After that, they left a few pairs of medical hand gloves (one-time use only) there and went on their way.
Yesterday, I initially made up my mind to take a picture of the mother’s wound carefully without invading her privacy. Today, however, I decided against it. Just by having these photos, it can spoil (overindulge) those people who can’t be trusted – who desperately find other ways to make up for their distrust only after abusing the purpose of these photos. How pitiful and despicable.
Now, I can only hope, wish and pray that this mother’s body still possess some kind of capability, so that the festering could stop, and her lung condition could become better.
*prays* *Ommanibaimeihom*
※This entry is permitted as use for reference for disaster relief purposes only. Reasons other than disaster relief purposes are strictly prohibited for use. Contents of this entry are not to be distributed without permission.
Excerpt from:
Teacher Meng’s blog entry dated 14 September 2010.
Special thanks to our translator: Lai Thin
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