Focus on the Patient - Without Them You're Nowhere

This is a fact…the patient is your boss. You are there to serve them. If they don’t come back, neither will you. It’s that simple. And it really is simple if you accept that serving the patient is not belittling. Serving the patient is a privilege. I say this because the patient trusts you. They are laying down their defenses and believing that you care about them.

Begin focusing on the patient the minute you pick up the phone. Actually, begin even before that. Be prepared to answer by the second ring. Smile when you speak, it comes across in your voice. Listen to what the patient is saying and ask questions that show you understand what they are calling about, or at least want to. Work with the patient to give them what they need. Begin to partner with them immediately. Many times I hear dentists say they will not let the patients run the practice. While it’s good to have appointment guidelines, don’t become so rigid that patients are treated like mass produced objects. A patient who always walks in without an appointment demanding a denture adjustment is different than a patient who walks in without an appointment, but in obvious distress. Patients in pain deserve priority. At that point it should not matter if they let a diagnosed condition persist to the point of pain. At that point all that matters is alleviating the pain. Build time into the schedule so that the unexpected doesn't become a schedule breaker.

Once the patient is in the office, how are they greeted? Focusing on the patient means standing and welcoming them. It means making comments or asking questions that let them know you remember something about them or want to know them better. Use their name often; it is music to their ears. When the assistant calls the patient to the operatory for treatment she should go to the patient in the reception area rather than propping the door with her foot and blandly calling their name. When the patient enters the operatory any special items that they appreciate should be ready and waiting for them. Headphones, with music that you know they like, or a neck pillow are small touches that show the patient you want them to be comfortable. Staying and talking to the patient is preferred to plopping them in the chair and handing them a magazine. Building a rapport benefits the patient and the practice. The time between the administration of anesthetic and the beginning of treatment is a great opportunity to educate the patient about their oral health and what treatments are available. It is also a good time to listen to their concerns and fears and help them to understand and deal with them better.

During treatment be alert for signs that the patient is experiencing discomfort, needs a break or a reassuring pat on the arm. The difference between indifferently getting the job done and caring treatment is vast and keenly felt by everyone. Let the patient know the progress of treatment. “This is the end of the noisy part”, “We only have 5 minutes to go till you can have a break”, let the patient know that you haven’t forgotten about the person around the mouth. When treatment is completed for the day, make sure you help the patient become as presentable leaving as they were when they arrived. Check their face for debris and give them a mirror. Escort the patient to the front desk and let the receptionist know what they need. Leave them with a warm good-by and a smile.

There are times that patients will seem unreasonable. It may be a misunderstood fee or any other matter that they feel was not handled properly. Well-meaning staff members may make the mistake of focusing on the patient’s mood or attitude. Even though this is well intentioned, it only makes matters worse. More than likely the patient knows they are not expressing themselves calmly. They may even be taking an aggressive stance because they think they have to if they want action. That’s OK; let them express their problem however they choose to. Focus on addressing the problem. Don’t give reasons or make excuses, it will only escalate the level of frustration. Aim to gain understanding of the problem and find a solution. As the patient sees that you are determined to help, they will begin to relax and work with you. You gain nothing by being right and showing the patient they are wrong. If they are wrong, they will realize it as you work to solve the problem. The desired outcome is a satisfied patient.

Most of this can be achieved by asking yourself why you choose to do what you do. It is easy to let your focus drift or devolve into self-serving or uncaring avenues. You will get more satisfaction from your job if you see a happy patient who sends new patients to your practice as your affirmative nod. Make it your goal to make everyone’s experience better than it would be somewhere else. Aim to please and make it nothing less than a pleasure. Remember that there are other practices that will do the extra things that count. Focus on the patient and they’ll stay right there with you.

Bio for Linda V. Zdanowicz, CDA, CDPMA Linda Zdanowicz has been a dental assistant for 16 years and a practice administrator for the last 2.5 years. Linda has worked in general dentistry, periodontics, endodontics, & orthodontics. Linda earned her CDA in 2000 and her CDPMA in 2004 She has worked for Dr. Jeffery Price for 7.5 years as his primary chairside assistant, practice administrator and patient care coordinator. She has been married for 27 years to her husband Mark and they have 3 children: Kim-25, Erik-22 and Nick-16. Linda has a weblog dedicated to enhancing the practice of dentistry for dentists, auxiliaries and patients and can be viewed at this link: http://dentalpracticemanagement.typepad.com Linda's first article was published in the January 2007 issue of Contemporary Dental Assisting. She has articles pending publication in Dental Economics and Dental Office magazine. Linda recently was a lecturer at the Holiday Dental Conference in Charlotte, NC. Linda lives and works in Hendersonville, NC.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Linda_Zdanowicz

Patient Rights - Top Ten List Of Most Violated

INTRODUCTION

Patient rights are under siege, as evidenced in a recent survey conducted by the National Institute for Patient Rights (NIPR). NIPR staff compiled the results based on responses from one-thousand randomly selected, former hospital patients who took part in the study. The results of the survey show that, despite billions spent on advances in medical technology, patients daily experience an erosion of their rights “at the hospital bedside.” Ironically, it may be a consequence of the success of science in medicine.

Among those responding to essay questions, the following was a typical scenario. A hospital admits a loved one with “complications” (a medical euphemism for “we really don’t know all that’s going on here, but there are several organs involved”). While the loved one rests stable in bed, a line of doctors and nurses seems to form at the door. One after another, doctors enter the room, make a few comments, then turn around and exit. Primary care physicians refer patients to specialists who rely on subspecialists. It seems like each separate organ has its own special doctor.

In the health care industry, this is commonly referred to as “component management,” which results from a focus on the treatment of individual organ systems in isolation from others. It suffers from two shortcomings: (1) specialists and subspecialists tend to segregate organ systems at the expense of the whole patient; and (2) it is inefficient, because it inevitably leads to “episodic intervention” where if something happens, you see one specialist for a particular organ system; if something else happens, then you see another specialist or subspecialist, and so on.

Episodic intervention leads unavoidably to uncoordinated care that lacks continuity for the patient and for the patient’s family. Many individual decisions in patient treatment by numerous specialists and subspecialists entail a fragmented delivery system. According to the findings of the NIPR study, this leads to the number one problem in contemporary healthcare delivery: a failure to communicate.

PIECING TOGETHER BITS OF INFORMATION

The study suggests health care suffers from a decided lack of coordination and cooperation among diverse healthcare professionals. Participants in the survey invariably stated that, with no one to treat the entire patient and coordinate care, patients and their families are left largely on their own to integrate their own care. According to one respondent, “We had to somehow piece together bits of information from different doctors to try to get a complete picture of our mom’s progress.”

This can be very difficult to do in a hospital setting and extremely frustrating. Participants in the study frequently stated that no one seemed willing to tell them exactly what was going on with the whole patient. Doctors were more than willing to share information about their specialty, about precisely what was happening with their particular organ system, but no one seemed especially willing to say anything about how the entire patient was doing.

THE TOP TEN MOST VIOLATED PATIENT RIGHTS

This failure to communicate is responsible for the #1 spot on the top ten list of most violated patient rights. A full 63% of participants felt that healthcare providers most often violated their right to informed consent. When prompted to explain, many complained about the inadequacy of multiple diagnoses coming from multiple providers. Without a single, complete diagnosis, respondents felt unable to make an informed choice about appropriate treatment options.

The #2 violation on the list is related to the same problem. Participants often complained about the way in which doctors presented them with treatment options. The following is a representative statement, “I felt as if I was in automobile show room and the salesman was presenting me with a list of options for a new car.”

The #2 most violated of patient rights was a lack of respect for personal, spiritual, and religious values and beliefs. Participants observed that many doctors do not seem to care about personal preferences. Consequently, they often failed to acknowledge the unique nature of personal lifestyles in their presentation of treatment options. To quote one respondent, “I would have liked my doctor to have recommended a treatment option tailored to my love of the outdoors. He never even asked.”

A failure to communicate was also the cause of the #3 violation of patient rights, a lack of respect for advance directives. Participants complained vociferously about the way in which advance directives are handled by most hospitals. Stated one respondent, “The only time any one every mentioned my living will was at admissions. No one ever asked me again about my personal wishes.”

Miscommunication was the cause of violation #4. Despite HIPAA, many participants observed that providers often showed no regard for the privacy and confidentiality of their personal health information. Cell phones were often cited as the main culprit. Said one respondent, “A nurse bent over me to straighten out a line with a cell phone in her other hand, blurting out sensitive information about a patient in the next room. It was embarrassing!”

CONFLICTS ABOUND

Conflict between “team” and patient/advocate was the cause of #5 on The List. Patients and their advocates have a right to know of realistic care alternatives when hospital care is no longer appropriate. Some participants observed that no one ever approached them about realistic care alternatives in the event that hospital care was no longer appropriate.

Not only was there no discussion of alternative care options, but many respondents complained about how they were made to feel when they disagreed with providers about the continued appropriateness of hospital care. One respondent noted, “They made us feel like we were immoral when we questioned their treatment recommendations!”

Conflict was also the cause of violations #6 and #7, violations of a right to know hospital rules on charges and payment methods, and a right to review the hospital bill, have information explained, and get a copy of the bill. Said one respondent, “It was like pulling teeth to try to get an explanation of certain charges. I still don’t know why I was charged for things I know we didn’t use.”

Under violation #8, some participants complained about their inability to identify hospital personnel who could help in resolving discrepancies over billing issues or in disagreement over treatment between “team” and patient/advocate. Patients and their advocates have a right to know of hospital resources, such as patient complaints and grievance processes, patient representatives or ethics committees. It was common in the survey results that respondents express the desire to have known about the hospital ethics committees and their members in the event of conflict over treatment options.

MEDICAL MISTAKES AND RECORD KEEPING

Although listed at #9, the violation of a patient/advocate’s right to know the identity and professional status of those who care for the patient contained some of the most poignant responses in our survey results. Some of the narrative statements were truly heartbreaking.

Many participants claimed to have suffered some harm as a result of medical error. Some even noted if they had had ready access to information about the identity and professional status of their providers, they would have had second thoughts about consenting to treatment. Said one respondent, “I am permanently disabled because of what a doctor did to me. I found out only much later and through my lawyer the hospital knew the doctor caused similar problems in the past with other patients. Why didn’t they just tell me?!”

Coming in at a close #10 was the violation of a right to review medical records and receive an accounting of disclosures regarding health information. Participants observed that they have moved frequently during their life times. Consequently, they have received medical care from various providers over time. Each provider keeps his or her records detailing visits and treatments. The same is true for hospitals, clinics, laboratories, pharmacies, and so on. One participant noted, “Like most people, I’ve moved around quite a bit. Over time, it’s easy to forget when you were treated, by whom and even for what!”

Respondents noted such problems as the wide variation among providers in the amount of time they retained records, paper records were misfiled or even destroyed, electronic records were lost, stolen, damaged or vulnerable to unauthorized access, and physicians sold their practices. Stated a respondent, “I was made to feel intimated in asking one of my doctors for a copy of my medical records. He acted like my medical record was his property and his only.”

CONCLUSION

Despite billions spent on advanced medical technologies such as drugs and devices, patients daily experience an erosion of their most fundamental rights. The rights of patient self-determination and informed consent suffer the most.

Ironically, the widespread violation of patient rights in hospital-based care may be a direct consequence of the success of medicine, specifically of the application of science to medicine. The scientific method lends itself to reductionism with researchers analyzing smaller and smaller parts. Likewise in medicine, doctors become specialist who confine their focus to individual organs; sub specialist focus even more narrowly on the parts of organs.

Component management leads to episodic intervention and the fragmentation of care. The lack of coordination causes anger and frustration among patients and their families by the breakdown in communications. A failure to communicate may not just cause anger and frustration but also unnecessary conflict. Conflict is costly! Mis-communications can also cause significant harm when patients suffer underuse, overuse or misuse as a result of medical error.

Until hospitals adjust to the success of science in medicine, patients and their families are likely to continue to experience one or more of the top ten violations of patient rights.

(Editor’s note: Dr. Mark E. Meaney is President and CEO of the National Institute for Patient Rights and author of the recent best seller, 3 Secrets Hospitals Don’t Want You to Know: How to Empower Patients.)

Article Source:: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mark_Meaney

Next Source !!!

Tips For Selling eBooks And Information Products Online by Cameron Mackay

You may have read in one of my previous articles that a great way to start a Work From Home business is to sell 'eBooks' and 'Information Products' online.

That article struck a chord with a LOT of my readers and I received great feedback from people that wanted to take their home based business to the next level through selling digital media products.

If you're considering selling eBooks or other "Information Products", here are a few tips to make sure you make the most money:

1) Choose a niche where customers have a VERY strong EMOTIONAL NEED.

Most eBooks and other Information Products fail because the author selected their niche or their topic based on what they THEMSELVES were INTERESTED in, rather than what people were LOOKING FOR.

More often than not, this will leave the author with little to show in terms of profits. A lot of time gets wasted developing a product or writing an eBook that they personally love, but few others want to buy.

To make money with your eBook or Information Product, you must choose a niche that is loaded with buyers who are EMOTIONAL about their need.

Simply being "interested" doesn't get you sales. They must WANT your product.

If your prospective customer isn't feeling a strong emotional drive to either solve a problem or obtain an object of their desire, then they won't be motivated to BUY from you.

2) NARROW your niche - don't "widen" your niche.

A lot of eBooks and Information Products fail because the author or developer wasn't thinking like a CUSTOMER.

Customers don't look to buy things that will fix ALL their problems. A cure-all, silver bullet information product or eBook is likely to be reviewed with skepticism and quickly passed over.

Customers like to buy things that will fix their one BIG problem.

For example, a woman who is overweight and desperate to get in shape for her wedding in 3 months time doesn't want a book about "general health."

NO WAY!

She desperately wants a book called "The Bride's Guide To Losing Weight: How To Lose up to 30 Pounds In Under 90 Days."

When searching for a niche market to sell to, it's best to go with the philosophy that being narrow minded is actually a good idea.

3) Create a report or video that has a high 'perceived value', then GIVE IT AWAY.

The internet is fast becoming more and more crowded with users and your prospective customers have more and more options of where they will go to get their information. Whilst having a lot of options is generally considered to be a good thing, unfortunately it also creates an awful lot of confusion.

Think of yourself as being in a room full of the most interesting, articulate and intelligent speakers in the world… but they're all talking at once. You know that what they're saying is going to be useful, but you can't hear anything above the noise of everyone speaking at the same time.

Enter into a niche that is already flooded with e-Books and Information Products, and it will be like joining in with that crowd. It wont matter what you have to say, it will be extremely difficult to get yourself heard above all the noise.

…it's important to CUT THROUGH THAT NOISE.

What's the best way to be heard above the noise? To have yourself stand out from the crowd…

Create something valuable, then GIVE IT AWAY!

You heard me right, I said give it away.

And don't just go giving away any old information. No doubt you've bought eBooks yourself and after reading them, you wondered why you bothered.

This is a "Do unto others" situation. You know how annoying it is to be fed rubbish reports and eBooks, so don't try and palm them off on others. No. You're going to want to create a report, video, or other product - and make it your BEST STUFF.

Don't save your "good stuff" for last. Give it away up front!

A prospective customer that arrives at your website and is able to obtain a report that's informative and interesting, or views a video that's visually appealing and / or fun (and informative!), is more likely to say to them self; "If this is the stuff they're giving away, then the product they're selling must be GREAT."

That's why you give away your BEST stuff for free up front.

Just make sure you get your prospect to opt-in to your mailing list in order to obtain the free report. By doing this, you're on your way to building a subscriber (customer) base that's going to be receptive to your future product releases.

In my next article, we'll look at obtaining and setting up an Auto-Responder account.

GET COPY MORE GUIDANCE E-BOOK HERE

Source: http://www.goarticles.com/cgi-bin/showa.cgi?C=1588257

Zen Buddhism by Allison Ryan

Zen is a part of Mahayana Buddhism, referred to as "Chan" in Chinese. There are different forms of meditation emphasized by Zen, one being "zazen." The goal is the attainment of awakening, or becoming enlightened. It focuses less on theoretical knowledge but the actual experience through meditation and dharma practices.

The establishment of Zen is credited to Bodhidharma. The first documented school of Zen Buddhism in China was built in the 7th century. Zen spread from China to several places such as Vietnam, Korea, and Japan.

Zen emphasizes that all awoken beings have Buddha-Nature and that Buddha-Nature is nothing other than the nature of the mind. The objective of Zen practice is to become enlightened through meditation. Guided meditation is an alternative that can also relieve the symptoms of stress.

Zen is mainly known for the monk who once used to be an Indian prince, Bodhidharma. He settled in the kingdom of Wei with his two disciples Daoyu and Huike. His teachings became known as Chan not too long after he moved to China. Right before Bodhidharma passed away; and he asked Huike to take his place and continue to teach people about Zen practices.

While surviving several decades in a cave, Bodhidharma spent his time staring at the cavern walls, meditating. He took a three year trip to China and arrived in 520 C.E. The meaning of this journey was to spread Buddhism to Asia. He saw that China had already established Buddhism beliefs but they were very different.

Bodhidharma spent his time in China trying to change people's views on Buddhism because of their wrong view on the religion. While he was there he met Emperor Wu of Liang, who had a high interest in Buddhism and spent a lot of public wealth on funding Buddhist monasteries in China.

Much of Zen history comes from mythology. Scholars believe that Zen was used in yogic practices such as kammatthana and kasina. Kammatthana is the consideration of objects and kasina is the total fixation of the mind.

Buddhism was first introduced into China when Taoist faiths and Taoism in general were brought in. Buddhist scriptures were translated into Chinese using Taoism.

When Zen is explained in words it often gets misrepresented because there really aren't any words to describe it. In the beginning, Zen only applied to Mahayana and Lankavatara sutras.

There are many basic concepts of Zen that come directly from Mahayana Buddhism. Both share a grand amount of ideas coming from many different sutras, including a part of the famed Lotus Sutra.

Zen has a lot of literature pertaining to it and is used while practicing or teaching this form of Buddhist meditation. Some texts about Zen date back to the ninth century. These are mostly koans and the Shobogenzo of Dogen Zenji.

It is usual to do Zen practices at least once per day, as well as, take long periods of time and is recommended to be practiced with a group. Although there's a lot of labor involved, most find it to be worth the time spent because of the stress relief, reduction in the physical effects of stress, and the improved health and wellness after each session.

An important part of Zen practice is having a teacher or guide. Dharma following the Dharma Transmission is also very important when learning about this type of meditation. Dharma, the "guide students in meditation," should follow the notion of Dharma Transmission, which is the line of authority.

To simplify things, the basic meaning is to obey your master, teacher, or whoever's commanding the Zen practice. By following this rule, you will end up benefiting yourself by getting more out of the time you spend performing Zen meditation, mindfulness meditation, or any other form of spiritual meditation.

MORE INFORMATION, HERE CARTOON EBOOK ABOUT DHARMA.
Source: http://www.goarticles.com/cgi-bin/showa.cgi?C=1506046

Inspiration Bird

The bird has long been a universal symbol for peace and freedom. The bird has inspired poets, artists and seekers of the highest truth - It is as if man possesses that spirit, those wings which long to take flight and soar in the unbounded sky.

The dove, the swan, the falcon and the eagle - each bird has it's own special message and lesson which we humans can emulate.

Take the humble goose for example. These geese travel thousands of miles each year in search of greener pastures as the gloomy winter sets in. When flying these geese follow a model of social behavior which serves as a striking lesson for humanity. flying in a V formation reduces the resistance and allows the group to travel at greater speed , while flying the geese encourage each other by honking, share the load by taking turns at the front of the formation, and when birds are injured other birds wait with them until they are well enough to fly.

It was a sculpture of the flying snow goose that the Hoover Institute of Stanford presented to Mikhail Gorbachev as a reminder of the link between The Soviet Union and the United States, as this bird migrates between the two countries.

Birds have held mystical and powerful positions in mythology from many different cultures. From the devoted and faithful Garuda in the Hindu philosophy to the great falcon Horus who sat atop the Pharaohs head whispering messages from the Divine to the great ruler. Birds have enchanted and fascinated myriad peoples of the world.

Authors and poets have used the bird extensively in their works. Richard Bach in his extraordinary book Jonathon Livingston Seagull uses a seagull as a metaphor for human existence and striving.

Sri Chinmoy - a man of prayers, philosopher, poet and artist takes the bird as a symbol to phenomenal heights. He has chosen the bird to express the freedom of the human soul and it's striving to rise from the fetters of the material world by completing over 12 million bird drawings. As a man of prayer and meditation the bird is depicted in a spiritual light in his art and poetry. He calls his birds Dream-Freedom-Peace-Birds.

The bird is indeed a living example and powerful reminder of the pursuit of liberty, peace and satisfaction, and is aptly portrayed by the words of Sri Chinmoy:

"Above the toil of life my soul

Is a Bird of Fire winging the Infinite."

Kate Carvalho resides in beautiful Christchurch, New Zealand. She has a penchant for and regularly writes about cooking, reading, health, sports, music but most importantly spirituality and meditation. She has been studying the latter under the tutelage of New York based Indian spiritual teacher Sri Chinmoy since the year 2000. She maintains a web page at Sri Chinmoy Centre

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kate_Carvalho

BURUNG: Semangat kerja keras dan cita-cita yang tinggi

Menungsa ora usah kewatir ora bisa mangan. Manuk asal gelem mabur mesti ulih mangan. (Artinya: manusia tidak usah khawatir tidak bisa makan. Burung asal mau terbang pasti dapat makan). Begitu kata nenek saya waktu menasehati anaknya yang agak malas waktu itu. Saya –cucunya – tidak tahu maknanya. Masa anaknya yang manusia itu disamakan dengan burung. Lama setelah nasehat itu lewat ternyata beberapa orang juga menasehati hal yang sama pada anaknya yang kesulitan mencari pekerjaan. Saya pun mencermatinya. Tapi juga lewat begitu saja apalagi waktu itu bersama teman-teman asik mlintheng (ketapel) burung.

Burung memiliki makna yang tinggi. Lihat saja negara besar seperti Indonesia dan USA menggunakan burung sebagai lambang negaranya. Ada juga beberapa negara lainnya menggunakan burung sebagai simbolnya. Tidak ada yang menggunakan lambang manusia padahal manusia lebih sempurna dari burung.

Namun, manusia yang sempurna itu masih banyak belajar pada burung. Coba ingat bagaimana penciptaan pesawat terbang. Mereka belajar pada burung. Wright bersaudara belajar pada burung tentang penciptaan pesawat terbang. Leonardo Da Vinci belajar pada capung untuk membuat desain helikopter dan sebagainya. Ya…kelemahan manusia adalah tidak bisa terbang hingga harus belajar pada burung. Namun, sekarang manusia menjadi musuh para burung karena diburu atau dihalau karena mengganggu penerbangan pesawat milik manusia.

Burung sekecil atau sebesar apa pun merupakan hewan yang unik. Tidak ada hewan yang mampu menyamai kemampuan terbangnya. Dialah penguasa langit sebenarnya. Terbang bebas kemana pun dia mau. Ancaman terbesarnya adalah manusia yang merusak tempat tinggal dan mencari makan. Walaupun banyak burung bermigrasi dari satu tempat ke tempat lain dalam jumlah besar.

Sekarang, marilah kita mengambil makna yang dalam atas penciptaan burung ini yaitu:

1. Pantang putus asa. Burung memberikan simbol kerja keras dan pantang putus asa. Dia akan terbang sejauh mungkin untuk mendapatkan kehidupan yang layak untuk dirinya maupun komunitasnya. Sejauh apa pun akan ditempuhnya termasuk dengan jalan migrasi besar-besaran.
2. Berusaha mencari jalan kehidupan. Burung akan terbang tinggi untuk mencari sesuatu. Maknanya bagi kita adalah teruslah mencari rejeki dan ilmu pengetahuan untuk hidup lebih baik. Terbang tinggi diartikan sebagai meninggikan harkat, martabat dan kemampuan diri sehingga bisa memandang kehidupan secara lebih baik, arif dan bijaksana.
3. Tidak menganggu kehidupan lain. Burung adalah simbol kedamaian dan kekuatan. Dia tidak menganggu kehidupan lain sesama burung maupun sesama hewan lainnya. Tidak ada dongeng atau cerita burung mengganggu hewan lainnya. Burung makan padi karena mereka butuh makan. Makanan alaminya telah hilang karena pembukaan sawah. Hendaknya sebagai manusia juga demikian. Hiduplah dengan tenang dan sukur tanpa menganggu manusia dan makhluk lainnya.

Terbanglah yang tinggi seperti burung. Terbangkan cita-citamu setinggi burung bahkan setinggi bintang bila perlu. Jelajahilah bumi Tuhan yang luas secara fisik maupun ilmu pengetahuan. Ada banyak hal yang perlu kita ketahui dan menjadi pelajaran buat hidup kita. [ ]

GONDONGAN MENYERANG LELAKI DEWASA

Waktu kecil aku pernah sakit gondongan. Namun, dengan mudah sembuh tidak sampai satu minggu lamanya. Tidak disangka, anakku perempuan, Lintang namanya tertular gondongan dari temannya di SD. Puluhan tahun bagiku ini sudah berlalu sehingga tidak lagi memberiku arti apa-apa karena pastilah tidak parah.

Bagi Lintang ternyata parah sampai bengkak dua pipinya. Dibawa dia ke dokter untuk mendapatkan obat yang tokcer. Beberapa hari dia sembuh. Namun, tidak beberapa lama aku pun tertular dari dia. Dua pipiku bengkak dibuatnya. Ke dokter dekat rumat juga tentunya. Dokter yang terdekat untuk dapatkan obatnya.

Namun, malang tak dinyana. Bukan sembuh yang diraihnya, tapi malah menjalar itu gondong kemana-mana. Ke mulut karena tidak bisa makan. Napsunya hilang melayang begitu saja. Sampai suatu malam, aku terbangun. Sakit kurasa diperut tiada terkira. Aku pikir ini mau berak sehingga aku pun jongkok. Ah…lega memang mau berak rupanya.

Alamaaak….setelah berak berlalu sakit perut itu datang lagi bahkan kini membawa temannya si sakit pinggang. Sakit itu juga menjalar ke testisku. Rasanya seperti kena tendang selama berhari-hari lamanya. Sakit pinggang, sakit perut, sakit testis dan sakit pipi menjadi satu. Oooh…lama sekali hari-hari berlalu. Badan lemas, napsu makan tidak ada, panas dingin pula. Betul-betul sakit rombongan yang hebat.

Aku pun ke dokter lagi. Katanya, harus cepat-cepat diobati agar tidak menjadi impotent dan kemandulan. Iyalah…dok. Saya tersiksa sekali niih. Mohon segera ditolong. Lalu beberapa hari sakit seperti itu masih saja terjadi. Hingga hamper lewat satu minggu aku ke dokter lagi.

Kata dokter yang sama itu, dia menyerah melawan gondongan sendirian. Dia tidak sanggup katanya. Dia pun menulis surat pengantar ke RSD Cibinong yang dekat tempat tinggalku. Di RS itu aku pun masuk gawat darurat sementara adik ipar dan istriku bolak-balik ngurus kertas-kertas termasuk uang kertas tentunya.

Adik ipar lari-lari ke sana kemari BERBURU RUANG PERAWATAN. Ya…berburu karena berebutan ruang rawat kelas dua. Yang pasti ruang rawat kelas tiga sudah habis. Di RS itu, keluarga pasien disuruh mencari sendiri ruang rawat dengan dibekali selembar formulir. Bagus juga agar tidak terjadi fitnah bahwa RS menolak pasiennya. Akhirnya, aku dapat ruang rawat kelas dua dan itu pun satu-satunya setelah berhasil adu cepat dengan pasien lainnya. Malam itu hanya tinggal ruang rawat kelas satu dan VIP yang semalam seharga hotel bintang 4 di Bogor. Padahal ruang rawatnya biasa saja.

Aku diinvus karena memang sudah jarang makan. Bahkan makanku lebih sedikit dibanding makan anakku yang umur 2 tahun atau adiknya si Lintang. Suntikan antibiotic yang harganya 250ribu sampai 300ribu dimasukkan lewat invusan itu. Pantesan cepat sembuh wong antibiotiknya sampai seperempat juta harganya. Bandingkan dengan antibiotic oleh dokter rumah yang cuma 30ribuan.

Tiga hari lamanya aku di RS. Tidak nyaman karena sakit. Asik juga karena perawatnya cantik-cantik. Dan kenangan yang tidak bisa lupa adalah ketika tititku diperiksa sama dokter cantik, muda dan bisa jadi perawan. Dipegang-pegang pula. Pasti tidak akan lupa seumur hidup aku. Setelah tiga hari Allah SWT menyembuhkanku dan memberikan pengalamanan yang baik. Yang jelas aku gak mau balik lagi ke sana sebagai pasien. Apa pun sakitnya. []