A GIFT OF LOVE.
Photo credit: Martha Dominguez Gouveia.
The Quote.
While going through some old newspapers, I caught a glimpse of H.L Mencken’s enviable quote: “The cosmos is a gigantic flywheel making 10,000 revolutions per minute. Man is a sick fly taking a dizzy ride on it.” Reflecting on Mencken’s words made me conclude that the writer saw the universe and man from both extrinsic and intrinsic perspectives. In size and power, man is no greater than the supreme force that created him nor bigger than the cosmic dynamo that supplied his intelligence.
Arch-Enemies.
My play of thoughts switched off and I found myself an audience to a scene of two fighting cockerels; a hard local and a timid hybrid. A good deal of time elapsed and these two sworn enemies were still wrestling, the hybrid at the receiving end. Clots of blood formed on her comb while the ugly bald-headed local became fiercer. I intervened and rescued the hybrid which had developed a left limb fracture.
A splinted fracture.
I started a first aid treatment with a splint made from cardboard and a bandage to align and stabilize the fractured ends and i gave her stat doses of antibiotic and vitamin C. Then I set out to look for her owner. After much searching, an old lady identified the hybrid as hers. She feared the cockerel would not survive. She requested I took care of her.
Time for afternoon duty.
Soon it was 1.30pm.I had only thirty minutes left to prepare and get to work. The sun had begun to simmer hard when I got to the hospital.
“Bed 18, Zainab Inuwa. She is 21 years old and was admitted three days ago. A case of abdominal mass and diarrheal disease in retroviral infection”, the morning Nurse told me during the handing over procedure. I surveyed a small emaciated paper-white figure with protruding ribs, distended abdomen, red lips, and small piercing eyes. She must have been a belle before her illness.
The amicable connection.
I greeted with a smile. She also smirked but with a great anguish hidden under that grin just like a stoic of the middle age. The ultrasound scan revealed enlargements of the liver and spleen. Serology confirmed her HIV positive, CD4 counts was severely depressed and her packed cell volume was 5%. I also learnt she was financially constrained and couldn’t afford paying for her treatment. In those days, antiretrovirals were very expensive and only the very rich could afford them.
Rapid Deterioration.
At 6pm while I was assessing the in-patients’ vital signs, Zainab’s brother alerted me over his sister’s sudden change of condition. I left for her bedside and observed that she was breathing with difficulty. Zainab needed oxygen therapy and blood transfusion.
I assembled an oxygen cylinder and emergency tray by her bedside and commenced humidified oxygen therapy via nasal prong at 5L/Minute while the auxiliary staff ran off to call the physician. It took him some time to arrive and before he did, a volume expander was introduced to revive her hypotension and intravenous hydrocortisone administered to boost vital physiologic activities.
Their constraint.
Zainab’s relatives had financial difficulty and could not afford a blood transfusion. She needed three pints of blood. My blood group was the same as Zainab's so I volunteered to give her my blood for free.
“I wish you were here three days earlier. I am appreciative of your willingness to offer me your blood. I am accepting it as a gift of Love. Thanks”, she remarked.
“I was away for my night off”, I replied.
A gift of love that came in late.
In the laboratory, several tests were performed on me. Fifteen minutes later, I was confirmed fit. A pint of blood was taken from me and ready for use. But Zainab was never transfused. She died few minutes after I had started the blood transfusion, holding my right hand tightly for comfort while my fellow colleagues and the physicians were resuscitating her.
I stared at the defiant blood bag hanging from the drip stand and I felt empty. It was a gift of love she never had completely but which I know she had appreciated even in death.
Epilogue.
At home, the hybrid was improving. It was a case contrary to Zainab’s . The words of George Arnold: ‘the living needs charity more than the dead’ popped up within me.
Burnout is a daily occurrence in my professional role as a Nurse and writing about some of these events helps me to earth the negative energies that have accumulated over time.
Disclaimer
Names have been changed to protect the client’s identity and permission to write this piece was taken from client’s relatives. This event happened 20 years ago.
Note
If you like this story, your comments are welcome and should you like to more of such stories, subscribe to my blog. You might this story too: https://www.bulbapp.io/p/3a81876b-4f6e-4699-8b97-8f1089990f50/the-earth-will-reject-her
This story was also featured on medium and could be reached via https://medium.com/@mikhailikpoma/a-gift-of-love-ec995a38cee6
