[Chetan_Rao]

Your clarity of thought, even going through an ordeal, is reassuring. Your kid is in good, stable hands, hospital or home

Hoping she's soon back to being what 5 year olds should be!

[DrANTO]

Dear brother,

I Wish your daughter a full and speedy recovery. As a doctor and father of 4 small kids , I can relate to the pain/agony you and your family going through right now. Stay strong and positive during this hard time. Remember “this too shall pass”.

[drivf]

Dear Locusjag, thanks for sharing this with everyone. As the lockdown has almost completely been lifted, there is a probability of more such events. The number of asymptomatics are beyond comprehension. Terms like contact tracing and community spread which held relevance almost a year ago have disappeared, washed away by the wave of vaccines and the related endless FB posts.
As more parents venture out and people get more complacent we are putting children and elders at risk. Please keep your mask on and wash hands regularly/ use sanitiser!!

[Ritzvxi]

Prayers and well wishes for a complete and speedy recovery of your daughter.

Thanks for sharing your story.

[ObsessedByFIAT]

Wishing your daughter a speedy recovery! All of mine and my family's prayers are with you and the little one!

Stay strong, as you have been all this while and this time shall pass by soon!

[ariesonu]

Hi Jag,

Wishing the little angel, a speedy & healthy recovery.

My daughter of 18 months (at that time) had an accident at home on 28th September 2020 & spending that one hour outside the OT was most frightful hour of my life. As you mentioned, I also have no shame to say that I cried like a baby outside the OT.


Thanks to the compassionate approach of the doctors & hospital, they kept me posted on her ongoing surgery but at the middle of everything was the fact that I was in a hospital, right in middle of a pandemic.
Things were just starting to open up in September but I could see people being as careless as they can be, even in reception or OPD section of hospital. The nurses & staff had to continuously remind the CHIN-WEARERS about right protocol to wear mask.

Thanks almighty & looking at her progres, the doctors decided to send us home within 18 hours of surgery, only to come to to hospital every 2nd day. I still sweat out thinking about the events of that frightful day.

Once again, our prayers are always with you & the little one.

Regards.

[AZT]

Originally Posted by locusjag

Situation Update:
My daughter is on the way back to being her ebullient self, fingers crossed. We're being cautiously optimistic.

This is fantastic to hear! Thank you for posting your story, I was unaware about MIS - C. I wish your daughter a full and speedy recovery.

[sandeepmohan]

Originally Posted by locusjag

Was it selfish of us to think that we deserved a basic level comfortable hospital wait when our child was fighting for her life in there?

Absolutely not. This is where our health care (or the lack of it) system fails us. You can choose to go to the hospital down the road or go into a flash 5 star joint and still end up being in the same situation. There is almost zero accountability and it almost feels like our Government does not care. Its as if human life is dispensable.

The example you shared about running to buy medicines, I found that frustrating, as a process. I had to do the same thing nine years ago, when our son was born. No issues during his birth, just general medicines that were needed from time and over the course of 5 days that my wife stayed in the hospital as she had a C section. It sounds like nothing has changed. I had to make several trips every day for something or the other. First, go pay for the medicines and get a receipt, run to another counter to get them and go back to the ward where my family was and hand over the medicines to the nurse. A process that took no less than half an hour each time (minimum) as there would almost always be a queue at the counters. For a country that prides itself to be the Software export hub of the world, it is a shame that we cannot streamline something as basic as this. To top it of, I had to pay a bribe to get my sons birth certificate! I dread walking into any hospital these days.

I speak from a different part of the world and would like to share an example of how things can be better. This is important for a patient and a parent as any hospital trip is stressful. A 5 year old child of a family we know well fell ill. Was around the lock down period, say ~June 2020. The child was diagnosed with Guillain Barre syndrome. This is a condition in which the immune system attacks the nerves. There is no cure for this. The family was devastated. That child is probably going to be breathing and eating through a tube for the rest of his life. He can barely walk. The child had to be relocated to Auckland, as Wellington, New Zealand did not have the means to look after him. They air lifted the child and family to Starship Children's hospital. This is the best Government hospital in all of New Zealand. He has been in hospital for the last 7 months and is likely to stay there for another 6 months, or longer. Fortunately for our friend, they let him work remotely. They have provided them with an apartment. Air lifting the child, hospital treatment which I am sure has amounted to several hundred thousand dollars by now, the apartment they have, is paid by the Government. If this backing was not there, the family would have gone broke a long time ago. Our friends have yet to tap into their medical insurance for anything. I know such things are not possible in India but our hospitals can do small things that can make life a little easier.

Our 9 year old went through a phase of anxiety and depression during the lock down. This triggered something called Tourette syndrome or Tic. Its nothing too serious (One must observe) and goes on its own. He has recovered for the most part today. We were concerned when he started shaking his head from side to side. Initially we thought it was his long hair falling on his forehead, eyes that was irritating him but there was a problem that we could not understand. We took an appointment at the Government hospital. I must admit that it was a long wait to meet the doctor. A country with a small population means there are just as few hospitals as well as doctors. Hospitals prioritize critically injured patients and there were quite a few walking in on that day. It was a wait for almost 5 hours to meet the doctor. I was sitting in the car as I felt it would be safer, even though we did not have a single case of covid reported in Wellington. During this long wait, a nurse kept coming to my wife from time to time asking if she needed anything, food and water was served. They finally met the doctor and walked out. No medicines or treatment was required. All we had to do was observe him. When they got back to the car, my wife was speechless. None of us had ever experienced such care and attention. There were no bills to be paid too.

I have never heard of MIS-C. I doubt if I would have survived what you did. I panic when my son gets a temperature. I can't stand the sight of seeing him weak. It makes me fragile. I am sure most parents can relate to this feeling. It still bothers me, the amount of drugs and steroids they have pumped into your daughter. The body isn't used to such high doses and can cause all sorts of problems. If you feel confident, meet someone at Kotakkal and talk to them about your daughters case. Not that they can give you anything that can further cure your daughter. She is anyway out of danger. Its more to get all those drugs flushed out of her body so things normalize and the body can start to look after itself.

Thank you.

[Bibendum90949]

Heartfelt prayers for your little angel and wishing her a full and speedy recovery. Being the father of a similar aged kid, I can very well relate to the harrowing experience you've gone through. I read the entire post quite painfully. Truly appreciate for taking time out to pen down the ordeal for the benefit of all. I've straightaway shared this with many parents so that no one drops their guard, which is most likely off late.

Once again, strength to you and family. Like all of us here, can't wait to hear about the little one back to her frolic best.Take good care. God bless.

Cheers,
bibendum.

[knrn]

No parent should ever have to watch their kid suffer. Nothing can be more devastating than this. Breaks a man. My heart goes out to you and your family. Lots of love and wishes to the little one.
COVID is a new disease and everyday we are seeing some new thing because of it. Although I can say but without any documented evidence that by now it is being assumed that nearly 60% or even more in some areas of the Indian population has been exposed to COVID. While on one hand it is good- because we are moving towards group or herd immunity but on the other hand, there is an increase in the subset of patients developing secondary covid complications. One that you have mentioned and the other major one- it causes blood to thicken and clot. As a result we are seeing and increased number of patients coming to the hospital with heart attacks, stroke, blocked arteries of limbs and dvt. Most of them are salavageable but some cases are advanced leaving very little that could be done. MIS A And MIS C are also being noted.

All in all not a good disease this one. As time passes, we are learning new things about it. But things appear on the brighter side now.

As someone pointed out- basic health care is lacking in India. Civil hospitals are too loaded and filled up that many a times patients are not able to get the required health care. Private hospitals though well equipped and manned but then they are expensive. 8 years ago, as a part of my training when I was in Greenlane hospital in Auckland, I was taken by a surprise. Health care in Newzealand or for that matter in developed countries is much more encompassing and better. But I feel that it is also related to the population load indirectly. Look at AIIMS or G B PANT or LNJP or HALLET. thousands of patients walk in in a day. It is just not possible to cater to such a large demand. . So we cannot compare Indian healthcare system with that of the developed world. Govt is slowly moving more infrastructure into the health segment but it will probably take some time.

Sorry to go off topic but I got emotional reading and wrote all this. I pray and sincerely wish that no one has to go through such an ordeal. Take care.

[kiku007]

Hello locusjag

I'm very sorry to hear about your family's ordeal. No one should go through this. I wish your daughter has complete recovery soon and has a wonderful childhood. I hope the worst is over and it can only get better.

Huge respect to your grit and resilience.

I wasn't aware of MIS-C before this. Thanks for sharing your experience with others.

I'm glad you had access to excellent medical care.

Take care!

[Spinnerr]

Our prayers and well wishes for your daughters full recovery.

It is very noble of you to have penned down your ordeal for the benefit of others.

We too have a lill one at home; it is a lesson for us not to take fever too lightly, especially during this current covid time.

[eyeman]

Hi locusjag, even though I am a doctor and some what used to all these, I have to say that it was really distressing for me to go through your article. Some times medical emergencies can really wreck havoc on a family at the most unexpected of times. And to be honest, I was not aware of this condition before. Glad to know that your girl is well on the way to recovery.

[Jaguar]

Originally Posted by sandeepmohan

Absolutely not. This is where our health care (or the lack of it) system fails us. You can choose to go to the hospital down the road or go into a flash 5 star joint and still end up being in the same situation. There is almost zero accountability and it almost feels like our Government does not care. Its as if human life is dispensable.

The example you shared about running to buy medicines, I found that frustrating, as a process. I had to do the same thing nine years ago, when our son was born. No issues during his birth, just general medicines that were needed from time and over the course of 5 days that my wife stayed in the hospital as she had a C section. It sounds like nothing has changed. I had to make several trips every day for something or the other. First, go pay for the medicines and get a receipt, run to another counter to get them and go back to the ward where my family was and hand over the medicines to the nurse. A process that took no less than half an hour each time (minimum) as there would almost always be a queue at the counters.

Spot on. I had the exact experience in on hospital in cochin where my aunt was admitted. Running to the pharmacy multiple times of the day for a patient in ICU is simply insane. I can't understand why can't they simply give the medicines and add them to the bill? We are anyways paying for the surgery, room, doctor visit, etc, and not going to run away.

Even in a big corporate hospital in Bangalore, I had to buy the medicines and replenish their emergency inventory. They gave the medicines to the patient first but instead of charging money, wanted the medicines back
I have a feeling, more than a process standpoint, this has something to do with tax avoidance or budgeting malpractices.

Instead of major reforms, small changes can go a long way in improving the lives of people and society as a whole. But who cares?

[KrisTvpm]

It was distressing to read through your daughter's (and your) ordeal. It was as though one were going through it himself.

Warm wishes for her to recover fully and become hale & healthy, may Krishna grant her continued health & well-being.

It's scary to go through what you've gone through; it shows the precautions/alertness that most of us exercised at the beginning of this pandemic is by no measure to be discontinued, atleast yet.

Hope no little angel has to go through such ordeal anymore _/\_