Start blogging again ....... The usual Kelantanese stuff !

A 43 year old 'well-educated' gentleman presented to me last July with symptomatic anemia i.e. he complained of tiredness and breathlessness. On examination, he was pale (Hb 4.0 gm/dL), his blood pressure was normal but his heart rate was a bit faster than it should be. His lungs, heart and the abdomen were essentially normal.

On enquiry as what could be the source of his chronic blood loss, he admitted to have some bleeding piles for many years. On examination, this is what it looked like: a bleeding and prolapsed piles.

"Picture DELETED"

Piles or hemorrhoids (for treatment purposes) are classified as first, second, third or forth degree, in term of severity. First degree piles are those situated in the anal canal and they stay there. Second degree piles come out when you strain but goes back inside spontaneously when you stand up. A third degree piles needs to be pushed inside, and a forth degree could not be reduced at all.

What he need was blood transfusion to correct the anemia and a hemorrhoidectomy surgery to treat the third degree piles. He accepted the blood but refused the surgery. Fair. Many people are scared of surgical proceedures. So he was transfused with several pints of blood, given medications to treat the piles and was discharged from the hospital.

Last night, he came back(after 5 months). Again with breathlessness and severe anemia. His Hb was 4.3 gm/dL. The piles were still the same; bleeding and prolapsed. And he still refused definitive treatment. The reason is : "ada orang kata kita boleh mati ketika buat operation". I gave him a lecture on risk-management: what ever we do, there are risks involved. The important thing is how we face and manage the risks. Tak faham juga. So I told him; nanti keluar hospital jangan guna lift, kalau lift terjatuh boleh mati. Balik rumah jangan naik kereta atau motor, nanti accident, boleh mati. Jangan jalan tepi jalanraya (pedestrian), kena langgar kereta terus mati.

"Doktor, you bagi I darah cukuplah, I tak mau dengar itu semua" So he got it. But before I transfuse him with the blood, I asked him to sign the 'Blood Transfusion Consent Form'. For your information, the MOH has implemented this policy after facing few cases of medical litigation following complications of blood transfusion, mainly transfusion of HIV-infected blood.

"Masuk darah pun kena sain ke?" I told him: The chance of you dying from the blood transfusion is higher than that of dying from a hemorrhoidectomy surgery.

Itulah orang kita......to be exact....oghe kelate kito !