The forgotten nine...
A casual conversation with the husband and the curt reply revealed many things. The issue was around can the patient stay for a few days more in the hospital. The immediate response was, sorry we have run out of money, we must take her home. I called the husband aside and told that, whatever the hospital expenses we will take care of, take care of only the drugs. He was not keen. The patient was his wife. She had a Cardiac illness – a valve narrowed, which she did not know about. She was brought with a stroke and in the hospital, the underlying heart disease was diagnosed. They never had any check-up prior to this though she was symptomatic. Subsequently, she went into severe cardiac failure, and had to be on ventilator for few days. Back in the ward, she developed pneumonia and had to go back to intensive care for another few days. Throughout all these ups and downs, the husband was with her. At one point of time, some of us discussed and thought of explaining to the husband, the