My thought is silent, there is so much to be done and so little I can do. I hear myself scream but no one else can hear me. We need to emancipate ourselves from mental slavery.
I am not speechless, I am full of speeches with lack of better words to express it. I will start by saying being a medical doctor in Nigeria is not easy.
There is a lot of waking up to be done by individuals.
My fancy attempt at drawing a broken heart.
Everyone is so quick to blame the doctor, it is so easy to see how the doctor refused to do this or that, how the death of a patient was instantly the doctor's fault but nothing is the fault of the patient or patient's relative. The medical system in my country is wrecked up by uneducated patients who seem to talk and know more than the doctor and the height of illiteracy and vain grandoise is what brought me here tonight.
Let me start by saying that it is not only the duty of the doctor to take care of your health, it is your body, your responsibility, your life, your miracle, your being and should be your utmost priority.
We should emancipate ourselves from religious and cultural slavery. Why do I say this?
A pregnant woman walks in with a breech baby and you take your time to educate her about breech presentation(abnormal lie of the fetus), she gives you her full time and attention, you think she is listening, you get to the stage where you have to educate her on reasons why she will need a caesarian section, again you think she is listening, she thanks you and leaves. The same patient will come back to tell you, my pastor said I will put to birth like the hebrew woman or she goes "everybody in my family gave birth like the hebrew women, my case cannot be different". Madam, I never said your case is different or you will not give birth to an healthy child, I only said you will NEED to do a caesarian section for the safety of you and your child.
Do not get me started on patients who come in with serious trauma cases and need blood transfusion. A dying person will have the guts to say this, "Doctor in my church, blood transfusion is not allowed o".
Should I talk about the patient whose scan result clearly shows massive fibroid but she claims her pastor told her she is pregnant with twins and she is going to wait for God's special intervention. Pregnancy is 9 months and she has been carrying that thing for the past 2 years, who can free her from this but herself. I am tired.
Photo by [Jonathan Borba] from (https://pexels.com/)
It is funny how I am just ranting about this here and a message about the same thing just came in from a friend. Here:(
Sometimes, I wish I could help but there is only so much I can do, I am not a robot, I am human too.
Let me not get started at the incessant visit of critically sick patients to prayer houses and herbal homes, after taking all sorts of poisons in the name of concoctions, they finally find their way to the hospital. The worst is when asked if they have taken anything before coming to the hospital, maybe there is still a little miracle left for the doctor to perform, they look at you straight in the eye and lie blatantly. WHY?
Why have we decided to die of this foolishness?
My people need to wake up, my people need to learn please!
Sometimes I wish I could do better but there is only so much I can do... Help doctors to help you please.
This post was clearly triggered by poverty, illiteracy, lack of proper education and awareness dribbled with pride.