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在线翻译:
szdaily -> Opinion -> 
Letters From Readers
    2012-01-09  08:53    Shenzhen Daily

    I ARRIVED at Beijing University Shenzhen Hospital in March 2011 with two main problems, an ankle that had been broken in three places, and a muscle disorder that caused severe pains which shot through my legs like an electrical current. I had had several falls early the same year, including slipping on a mopped floor and being accused by my landlord of being drunk. During the first week, two appointments for surgery to fix the ankle were not honored and it was explained to me that the schedule for surgery was necessarily loose. After complaining, I was finally given the operation.

    During my four weeks at the hospital, doctors frequently told me that the pain and weakness in my legs were caused by nutritional deficiency. Their suggestions included eating more, exercising by swinging my feet from the side of the bed, and rolling from side to side in bed. The bed was the size of a coffin and on one occasion I fell off.

    The disease that attacked my legs began to enter my brain and my state of mind deteriorated to the point of delirium. My memory of much of my experience became increasingly fuzzy.

    But some things I do remember. I was skeptical about the diagnosis of nutritional deficiency because I am a big man, some 9 kg overweight. I checked the symptoms on the Internet, and suggested to my doctor that I might have Guillain-Barre Syndrome. The doctor was livid that I would try to diagnose myself when I was not a trained medical professional. He compared my behavior to a guest telling a host how to manage their household. There seemed to be an unwavering dedication to hierarchy but a lack of devotion to genuine medical science or empathy.

    Speaking of being a guest, I felt us patients were at the bottom of the hospital hierarchy. I remember being told upon leaving “good luck,” instead of being given any informed medical advice.

    When I returned to America in April, my pain and weakness were found to be caused by arsenic poisoning. After my body was flushed of as much of the poison as possible, I entered physical therapy where my muscles and nerves began to regenerate. Even though I have had six months to think about it, I still don’t know how I could have ingested the arsenic because nobody close to me has suffered from the illness.

    The entire hospital bill in China came to approximately US$4,800. When I arrived in the United States, I was taken to the emergency room in the hospital closest to the airport. The cost of that night, including transportation, was about US$5,400. Then I was taken to the Veterans Administration hospital where I stayed for 3.5 months. Because I am a disabled veteran of the U.S. army, my care was free.

    If it weren’t for the saintly patience of my girlfriend who stayed at my bedside almost the entire time, my ordeal in China would have been even worse. As for the doctor who dismissed my suggestion, and the landlord who accused me of being drunk in exchange for being a flawlessly behaved tenant for two years, humility and open-mindedness are admirable traits in a person, and also in an entire city.

    Charles Kirtley via e-mail

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