The importance of empathy; doctor-patient relationship in healthcare.

Ah,you see this doctor, Dr. Okoro (not his original name). The man who almost sent my spirit packing, this man almost send me to the great beyond while still alive.You see, in Nigeria, doctors are gods, sincerely, we treat them as one, we commit lives to there hands as if, smiles ,as if their words are gospel, and that whatever they say or pronounced becomes a law their. So when Dr. Okoro, with his big deep voice, declared my ailment, I was terrified, scared, it was as if a death sentence was pronounced on me.

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He spoke in a language that sounded foreign, he should speak to me in a language or terms that I would understand and grab easily, but no, he delved into all those medical jargon, and maybe some Latin names, this, all put together with those big words sent shivers down my spine. I, who am I ,even if I am educated, am I meant to understand this, I can't really comprehend what his actual point was, then I thought since he's a consultant, he might be trying to impress the medical students that were around as at then with us, my health is failing, I need to know what's wrong with me, and you are here trying to impress. He spoke of "compromised hepatic function" and some other terms as if I was supposed to nod knowingly, as if these were words that are in everyday Nigerian conversations.

Where were those stories, the well explained and detailed conversations, where are those human touch, where are those empathy, where did it all go? Well have been left to wonder and just look, I can't fathom a single thing, he wrote on a pirve of paper and directed me to an office for test,well I understood that, but what's the test for, what's the hepatic function, what's the ileostomy, colostomy and all, are they all related, I even thought at a time that he's discussing something else with the student doctors, he tends to look at them much more than me the patient. Well I did the test, gave him the result, and he booked another appointment for me.

The hospital, that was once a sanctuary, felt like a sterile prison. The air has now become thickwmer with the scent of antiseptic and the various whispers of the sick, which kept on reminding me of my own mortality, and fear gripped me the more, as I am still lost, I wished my doctor could be switched. I need someone who we can understand each other, someone I can ask questions freely and not Dr. Okoro, with his godlike pronouncements and his intense dislike for anything resembling bedside manner, he erased my trust in him totally, if not that I could see other patients and there doctors,the way they smile and discuss, I would have lost trust in the entire medical system.

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From the way he talks, I can deduce I will be getting operated on, but what is wrong, will anything be removed, will I be fine, what's the surgery for, will I sleep, what should I expect after the surgery, my doctor Okoro never told me that, he's too straightforward and it would have been better if those words are even understandable to me, but they aren't.

I felt like a guinea fowl, i felt like some mere statistic in his own grand medical experiment. I yearned more for a connection, for a touch, for a doctor who would listen, who would understand the fear that grips my soul. Instead, I was here, left to comprehend the medical jargon. It was a difficult lesson to learn, that even in the sacred halls of medicine, compassion can be a scarce commodity. But I rose from that experience stronger, wiser and more determined to take charge of my own health, to seek out healers who understood that healing the body is related with healing the spirit.

There are various entries organized by @leogrowth.
This post is in collaboration with the @cleanplanet community and an entry to day 23 of #decemberinleo in #inleo,I am inviting you to also check it out,so as to partake in various interesting writing prompts.

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