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Dead
machines amidst cancer agony It is difficult
to grade suffering and pain, but the most heart-rending kind tinged
with despair can be seen in the faces of the hundreds of men, women
and children who seek solace and treatment here. They come not only
from around Colombo but also from far flung areas of the country. The staff seem
concerned and helpful, but on a visit to the hospital last week,
the state of some of the important equipment left much to be desired. Take the plight
of 51-year-old K. Jayasena who has come all the way from Ratnapura.
Running a boutique in a small town close to Ratnapura he didn't
know anything was wrong with his lungs until he entered the hospital
there for a major urine infection. A gamut of tests and X-rays revealed
a growth in his lungs and he was referred to the Cancer Hospital. "Current
allanda awa" (Came to hold current), he tells us, lifting his
shirt to indicate a chest area on the right with a large square
demarcated by small pieces of white plaster and purple ink. He,
of course, is referring to radiotherapy. This is his tenth day of
therapy and he has 10 more days to go. For the duration
of the radiotherapy he roughs it out with a relative who is in Colombo,
while his wife and children struggle with their routine back home
in Ratnapura. What Jayasena
is ignorant of is that he has been manually marked for radiotherapy
and the accuracy is questionable. For, the simulator (an X-ray like
machine) which should be doing the job and would be more accurate
in marking the area where the radiotherapy should destroy the malignant
or cancerous cells, has not been working since mid-April. The one and
only simulator in the whole of Sri Lanka has been out of order for
three months, maybe a short time for many, but a very, very long
time for men, women and children who are battling life and death.
The simulator
marks the exact spot where radiotherapy should be directed. When
the same is done manually "the accuracy is less and there is
a margin of error", conceded hospital authorities. "The simulator
helps in accurate diagnosis and planning of therapy," the authorities
state, adding however that in Kandy and Galle Hospitals manual marking
is being done because there are no other simulators in the country. Usually, the
simulator marks about 30 patients every-day. "It went
out of order in mid-April and we've attended to the procedure to
get it repaired. The funds too have been allocated. We are awaiting
the company's action and reminding them often, to repair it,"
say the hospital authorities. (See box for company explanation) His whole neck
black after radiotherapy, retired Postmaster Justin Silva, 72, struggles
to talk to us in a hoarse whisper. He has undergone 22 days of therapy
and has another eight more to go. "I couldn't talk and they
found the tumour in the throat," he says, while his wife hands
him a glass of water. He can take only liquids, because his mouth
is also sore.
I dare not let
my thoughts wander whether manual marking is leading to the radiotherapy
covering other healthy areas too. This is not
the only problem at the Cancer Hospital. The Sunday Times learns
that even the CT Scanner which is used for detection of cancers
and diagnostic planning is also malfunctioning. And some patients
have to wait two, three years for certain essential drugs, such
as radioactive iodine, for the treatment of their tumours. A 59-year-old
woman who was detected with thyroid cancer underwent the operation
to remove her thyroid as far back as early 1999. Later she was put
on thyroxin, and also told by the doctors that she would need to
get radioactive iodine. Her card was marked in 1999 for such treatment. It is only
now, July 2002, that she is finally due to get the radioactive iodine
to destroy any secondaries that may have been left behind, causing
the threat of cancer once again. She is worried,
because after the radioactive iodine is administered she would have
to stay away from her little grand- daughter for a while. "I
looked after her until now, but the doctors tell me that I will
have to be away from her because radioactive stuff is not good for
her. My daughter has moved out of our house with the grand-daughter.
It's for the best. Even if we die, the little ones must live,"
she says with a tremor in her voice. No, they must
live too, as long as the doctors can treat them and as long as there
is breath in their bodies. They must not give up hope and we, as
a society, must not allow it to happen. The government must focus on the needs of the state health sector now and step in quickly to assess and provide the facilities and the equipment, the humble folk of this country depend on. It is a basic right of the people who seek succour from state hospitals. |
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