A trip to an off-island medical center

Had to leave for Honolulu last week as a medical referee (patient). There were seven others who came along, some destined for Guam while the rest came to Honolulu, the diamond of the Pacific.

About 30 patients are here (Honolulu) with serious long-term illnesses. And medical referees are those who need special medical attention that could not be provided at CHC. Illnesses include, among others, cancer, renal, liver, heart and catastrophic illnesses.

One of the people who disembarked on Guam was a cancer patient who’s already lost an arm as she battles fast spreading cancer cells. She had to undergo another round of chemo-therapy.

I was tempted to tell her to stay home and enjoy her time with loved-ones. The treatment would be hard to endure but then the patient really wanted to prolong her own life so she could spend them with siblings. Rather than venture being told mind your own business (MYB), I decided to keep my trap shut. I could tell she’s determined to fight on.

About an hour out of Guam, a serious heart patient was sobbing as she ponders whether she’d go through another round of open-heart surgery or simply call it quits and return home. She confided that if her chances are fifty-fifty, then she’d just tell the doctor “it’s time to go home”. I can understand where she’s coming from. I was again ready to tell her to go through the surgery, but I suppose that decision is best at her disposal. It’s a decision that can only be seen through the lenses of the one who’s critically ill.

I had the opportunity to meet others who are here. Some have been here since six months ago. The treatment involved several complex procedures that can’t be administered all at once. Thus, the length of their stay right as we head into the final days of the Yuletide Season. I saw their eyes turn watery as they think of loved ones back home at a time when local tradition calls for family gatherings. The treatment won’t be done until mid January.

“How true the saying: ‘There’s no place like home’,” related the patient. I could feel goose bumps crawling up my spine having gone through the same experience several years ago. Yes, it was cold and lonely in that waiting area at UCLA medical center.

Perhaps the one good thing that has kept most of the patients’ spirits high is the company of others similarly situated. The sense of compassion and camaraderie has eased homesickness, boredom and places to see between medical appointments. The Daie grocery store about 10 minutes from Pagoda Hotel or the Ala Moana shopping mall is good exercise under the cool whippy breeze of the trade winds.

Between a walk to Daie and the Ala Moana mall, there are brief visits where patients and escorts engage in what da kine Hawaiian call “time for talk stories”. And a lot of those stories have indeed become fodder for me.

Others would require a little research and interview to confirm their authenticity. At any rate, I’m quite happy to see their smiling faces however very serious some of their long-term illnesses may be. Imagine the millions around the world who really never had access to modern medicine, yeah?