This is my appreciation message as posted on my Facebook account:
First and foremost, I would like to convey my gratitude towards people around me who text me with words of encouragement, people who came to the wake service to provide us the moral support that we need, people who sent us flowers and gave white gold. We truly appreciate it.
Everyone was telling me that we should be thankful that she was able to live for more than 80 years, a little longer than most of the Silent Generation these days. But did you know she suffers before she leaves this world? She was an ordinary old woman with health problem but able to take care of herself. Eating, sleeping, going to the bathroom was not an issue to her. She took care of herself when my aunt who is single goes to work every day.
It all started about months ago when she fell down and fractured her legs. She was admitted to the ICU in one of the private hospitals in Penang. Besides having her diabetes problem, she was advised to undergo a surgery on her legs. According to the doctor, if we were to say no to the surgery, she will be bedridden forever. If yes, she will need months to recover besides needing to go for physiotherapy sessions. At the end of the day, we decided to let her undergo the surgery with her consent as well. So, the surgery went smoothly. All she needs was plenty of rest on the bed. With that being said, she then suffered from the bed sore. We sent her to a nursing home near the Penang Turf Club during the recovery period as all my relatives are working.
Little did we know that this is the most regretful decision we made. During the first week there, she was being well treated. The next two weeks, she was being ill-treated to the stage where the caretakers (the maid) did not feed her with food. Before I jump into any conclusion to make my readers misunderstand, my grandma did mistreat them by scolding them vulgar words and dirty the room. But does an old lady like her deserve to be left on the bed all the time with no food? When the nursing home representative followed my grandma to the private hospital for her check-up, she couldn’t give a definite answer on her condition when the doctor asked. Even the bed sore condition was getting worse. Come on, we paid the home around RM3, 000 per month without including additional charges for her necessities and her medical needs.
On the third week at the nursing home, her condition was getting worse.We had to re-admit her to the private hospital as she was lack of blood and lose a lot of water in her body. We were shocked to see how much weight she lose during that time frame. My uncles confronted the owner of the nursing home and she apologized. She is in-charge of the main branch near the General Hospital while her son is taking care of the second branch where my grandma used to stay.
On the third week at the nursing home, her condition was getting worse.We had to re-admit her to the private hospital as she was lack of blood and lose a lot of water in her body. We were shocked to see how much weight she lose during that time frame. My uncles confronted the owner of the nursing home and she apologized. She is in-charge of the main branch near the General Hospital while her son is taking care of the second branch where my grandma used to stay.
You think an apology can make up to the damaged you’ve done to my family?
If you think is so difficult to take care of her, you can tell us straight to the face and we will look for another nursing home for her. My aunt even wants to resign from her job to take care of my grandma. Bear in mind she was a bed-ridden old lady who needs medical attention especially her diabetes and bed sore. How much damage can she do to your maids?
…………….. to be continued
