Column - 164

The Story of a Cancer Patient - Part 7

More about Dr. Dayasiri
 

I would like to recall the first time we met Prof. Dayasiri Fernando.
My wife was the patient on that occasion.
We had got chit No.2 or
3 and we were called in. There he sat concentrating on something on his writing pad. Subsequently he started writing out details of the patient....
M. Jayasena..... Age..
And your problem?
He still had not raised
his head from the pad...
A pain in the lower abdomen... Any specific time..? Mostly in the
nights, Doctor... Manel
was saying in a low voice. He looked up, saw the
two of us and beamed.

"So, it's you...? I have been waiting to meet you for a long time.... I have so many things to ask you..." So we had a rather long chat. About theatre, films and the latest teledramas etc. We found that he was an avid teledrama watcher.

The popular "Doo Daruvo" tele series was running at that time. He had so many questions to ask about Dulcie Akka, Samson Malli, Deepthi, Dias Maama, Nandani, Punsiri etc. I reminded him that there were patients waiting outside. "Don't worry." Said he. "I take only 12 patients a day. They don't have to wait long..."

From that day onwards we have been in constant contact, not only as patients, but as friends.

When I went to see him on a casual visit that night at Navaloka Hospital, if he had not asked that vital question - "And how is your stomach problem now?" which even I had forgotten by that time, we would have been in the dark about my condition, perhaps until it was too late... Again, when I replied "Doctor, it's okay now" why did he have to say - "No, that does not satisfy me. Come and see me at St. Michael's tomorrow evening." If he had not made that decision at that time, perhaps I may not have lived to chronicle this tale.

Much later, when all this was over, I asked Prof. Dayasiri why he made that request of me that night. "Frankly Henry, I don't know myself... Normally when a patient with something as simple as a temporary stomach upset says he is okay, we don't go after it too much... But that night I don't know myself what made me ask you to come and see me the next day... It simply could have been providence..."

There were no doctor's charges for any of his services at private hospitals where he examined me or did tests such as endoscopy, colonoscopy etc.

Dr. Dayasiri was with us through thick and thin during my long illness. Many were the times when he consoled me when I complained about the difficulty in continuing with chemo treatment etc. He would say - "Take as much as you can..." and smile. And I knew only too well what he was asking me was to go through with it!

Many people are unaware that Dr. Dayasiri is a good actor on stage. He has once appeared on screen too together with Geetha Kumarasinghe.

In the year 2000 he played a very important role in my new production of the very much discussed 'Apata Puthe - Magak Nethe'. He even travelled all the way for an outstation performance in Matale on World Theatre Day, 2001.

I think he loves the stage as much as his operating theatre. Anyway we are happier that somebody directed him to Medical College and not the grimy stage! A hospital is not all moans and pain. Not all screams and drugs and bandage.

There is also much light-hearted banter and humour. There were several such moments in ward 23 too, while I was there. One particular incident is worth recording: "Mahattaya... Mahattaya... Mahattaya..." I was awakened by a pleading voice. I tried to focus my eye in the dim light and discern a man standing by the side of an empty bed in the far corner of the ward.

"Mahattaya... Mahattaya... Mahattaya..." I hear the plaintive voice once again. The patient adjoining the empty bed has obviously been disturbed and is angry.

"What is it Ooooooy?"

"Mahattaya, can I sleep for a wee bit in this empty bed...?" Says the plaintive voice. "Why, Ooooy, how many times do I have to tell you...? These beds are not mine!" The woken patient is obviously annoyed. "You go and ask the Nurse Mahattaya in charge of the ward..." "Aiyo, sir, that Mahattaya is not there no..."

And so the man shuffles away mumbling. And there is quiet for a little while. I am falling asleep and I hear the voice again.

"Mahattaya... Mahattaya... Mahattaya..." This time he is standing near another empty bed and is addressing the patient nearby.

"Go away oooooy! This is a hell of a nuisance... Go away for heaven's sake..." Shouts the patient.

"Please, Mahattaya, can I lie down on this bed...? I am so tired, Mahattaya..."

"Why ooooy. This not my boodal property. Sleep if you want. But don't say that I gave you permission when you are hauled away by the police!"

Meanwhile the male nurse on night shift enters the ward and chides the intruder.

"Why man, didn't I tell you more than once that these beds are prepared for the patients to be operated on tomorrow morning? Now if you lie on them with all your dirt, the doctors will eat my head in the morning... Please go now and find some other ward or some bench to sleep on..." The nurse is clearly annoyed.

"Aiyo, all the other wards are full up, Mahattaya.." The man pleads.

"What can I do about that? Didn't I tell you that I will give you a mat and that you can take it and sleep somewhere outside our ward...?"

"My body is so sore, sir. That's why I can't sleep on the floor...!"

The nurse quietly takes him out of the ward. "Look man, look how many patients you have disturbed already...? Now, they'll be scolding me...!"

And the voice fades into the distance. I too must have fallen asleep amidst all this rumpus. It is only the next morning that we came to know the full story of the 'Pleading Man'.

"That man is a bit of a nut, Mr. Jayasena." Explained Athula, the male nurse in charge of the ward that night. "Last evening there had been some fight in the man's neighbourhood."

"So...?" Quite a few of us chorused in one voice.

"Later the fight had become quite serious. Even swords and clubs and such things had been brought in..."

"Soooo...?"

"So, some chaps had been hurt and it was this fellow that brought them to hospital.." And in the melee our intruder too must have received some blows. He had realised his condition only after he had completed his good Samaritan work, that is, after getting all the others admitted to hospital.

It was only then he had realised how sore his body was. It was past midnight by then and he was reluctant to go home fearing a good round of scolding from his wife. He realised that he had no money either and he tried to sleep on a bench in the O.P.D. but it was too painful.

Then he decided to look for an empty bed in some ward so he could get some sleep for the night. He was scolded and turned away from most wards - in any case they were already over crowded.

Then he had come upon our ward with a couple of empty beds. He was a good chap and asked for the night nurse's permission before he would use a bed.

It was after that the drama of the intruder took place. At one point the nurse had lost his patience and asked the intruder thus: "I say, man, if you were so sore, why is it that you did not get yourself also admitted?" And the poor man's reply was something like this: "Aiyo sir, it completely missed my attention until I was all alone after getting all those fellows admitted... Aiyo, sir, I am in great pain. Is it possible that I too have a broken rib or something...?"

The nurse had examined him and assured him that his ribs were okay. In fact he had given the man a painkiller and asked him to go and rest somewhere and had offered him a mat. But the man, like Caesar rejecting the crown, had rejected the mat thrice. But at last realising that there was nothing else he could do, he had accepted the mat and disappeared down the stairway.

"So, did he return in the morning?" Someone raised a query.

"No, he must have gone back home by first light."

"What about the mat? He must have taken it home!"

"I don't think so." Rejoined Athula the nurse dryly. "It was not a mat worth taking home...!"

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