3 stones but no relief at hospital

THE EDITOR: On Tuesday I attended the urology clinic at the San Fernando General Hospital, but left very disappointed and distressed over the outcome.

Despite my concerted efforts over several years and numerous medical interventions, it seems that my body is now predisposed with the formation of (uric acid) kidney stones.

This is my third visit to the clinic since September 2022. As usual, there are hordes of people waiting for service.

After two hours plus (clinic started after 11 am), I entered the cubicle where a young male doctor greeted me. My latest C-Scan showed three stones at the base of my right kidney measuring 5-9 mm.

I anxiously needed to know what the hospital could do for me to get rid of the stones in the event they are released from the kidneys into the ureter. If a stone gets stuck in the ureter, this can become serious, causing what is called hydronephrosis (kidney can become swollen and septic as a result of build-up or back-up of urine inside the kidney due to the blockage.)

One feasible option available to me is a treatment called ESWL, or (non-invasive) extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy. I anxiously asked the doctor about this treatment and, to my consternation, he told me "the machine is down, but some time this year it may become operational."

When further questioned, the doctor could not say what specific month but he disclosed only one machine was available to perform ESWL. However, he belatedly assured me that if I began to experience (severe) pain, I could be treated via the emergency route.

Many years ago, I received the ESWL treatment at the same hospital.

Here I am now, almost two years into retirement after exerting close to 20 successful years of blood, sweat and tears to the teaching service, after paying close to half-a-million dollars to the state coffers in personal income tax and national insurance contributions, and I am told that the one machine that could bring almost immediate relief to me "was down and it was not (precisely) known when it would become operational."

What else is new in the public health sector?

Surely the head of the Urology Department would have informed the hospital administration of this aberration weeks or months ago. There is no doubt in my mind that this one critical urological equipment can effectively bring welcome relief to hundreds of patients like myself.

Why is the machine down? Who services it?

So now I am like the proverbial sailor, shipwrecked in the middle of the ocean, where I now have to seek expensive private medical treatment to urgently deal with my situation.

I lost my co-insurance (government medical plan) when I retired from the teaching service in May 2021.

In June 2021, at the height of the covid19 pandemic, I e-mailed a letter to the print media expressing my deep appreciation for the service rendered by the staff at the Morvant Health Centre.

About two or three weeks later, I received a call from a young woman from the communications department of the Ministry of Health. She told me the head of the clinic and her staff were grateful for the public acknowledgement of their valued efforts in the middle of the pandemic.

I don't expect to receive any calls from the urology clinic of the San Fernando General Hospital this time around and certainly not the Minister of Health.

My next appointment is scheduled for August 22.

REZA ABASALI

El Socorro