Battered Young Miss

Sheng Yu shouted at the nurses and doctor that came to the private pediatric room of her son.

"I"m sorry, but the lab result is consistent that has that type of disorder."

"It can"t be! My baby was born healthy, there is no way that the doctor that saw me during my pregnancy wouldn"t have told me if there was something wrong with my child!"

"I"m sorry Ms Sheng, but your son has lupus. He may have to be on pain meds, steroids, H-C, mabs and some suppressants."

"Lupus? What does that mean?! My son does not have what you said!"

Sheng Yu kept shaking her head in denial, she didn"t want to accept that a baby that she just gave birth to less than three months ago was very sick.

"Our hospital has one of the best medical care, we would do all we can to make sure your son has childhood that is as normal as possible."

"No! You are lying! My son is not coming back to this hospital!"

Sheng Jinzhe kept staring into s.p.a.ce when he saw the lab result of his child, the moment his eyes read through the numbers on the result especially the red and white blood cell count and antibody, they were flagged red, his heart sank because it meant that his son was not in a good place. The yellow mark on some of the other readings indicated that it was fair. His hands kept shaking as he held the lab paper, while looking out of the window.

"When does his treatment start?"

Sheng Jinzhe had to swallow the fear that had taken over his mind, he just couldn"t lose his son, whatever it took, he made up his mind to spare no expenses in bringing his son the best care that his money could buy.

"What are you talking about? My son is not going through with any of this! If he was sick, why didn"t the doctor let us know that our son needed immediate treatment! Why!"

"I"m sorry that you had to find out about your son"s sickness this way, at time lupus diagnosis may be missed by the presiding doctor, I"m not trying to make excuse for my colleague, but right now your son needs you to be there for him in every way possible."

"Dr Sun, I really appreciate the effort you have taken in explaining to my wife. Pa.s.sing the bucket is not going to get my son anywhere, even if a part of me wants to sue the hospital for not spotting it on time, I would rather focus my energy on caring for Xiaobo."

"Ha! You don"t know what you people have done to me...."

Sheng Yue did not get to finish what she was saying, before collapsing on the floor.

"Mama!"

The little girl began to cry when she saw her mom was lying on the floor, she threw away colorful stack of wood blocks she was playing with to rush to where her mother laid. Right there the doctor and nursed rushed to check on her, while placing a call to have her moved to a different room. After completing their a.s.sessment, they realized only fainted with minor bruises to where she landed.

"Mr Sheng, your wife would need time to process what is going on with the baby, I may need to schedule her for a psychiatric consult, that is if you are both open to exploring that route, since it would help in dealing with her current state of denial regarding the health of her child."

"Dr Sun, don"t you think it is too early to have her see a psychiatrist? Do you have other options for us to look at apart from seeing a psychiatrist?"

When Sheng Jizhe heard the doctor"s suggestion for his wife to see a mental health provider, his eyes widened in shock.

"She could also find behavioral therapy to be beneficial, does she have friends that have children like her?"

"My wife doesn"t socialize much and I haven"t seen any of her friends since our wedding of three years ago."

The door soon opened as three nurses wheeled a bed in for Sheng Yu to be transported out of her son"s room to a private room.

"We would continue this conversation some other time, but first I need to see that your wife is settled into a room and given proper care."

"It"s okay doctor, just do what you have to do."

It was already three in the morning, the doctor at the emergency room handed them off to their current doctor, not long after the blood was drawn, the baby had to be taken to the radiology unit to have an MRI scan to determine if there was any underlying abnormalities.

Sheng Yu was wheeled out together, leaving her husband and children behind. The doctor and nurses left the Shengs to take care of her, while her son in an hospital gown and new diaper was sleeping under the influence of a sedative.

"I want my mama!"

Sheng Jinzhe stopped to pick up his daughter, who kept struggling in his arms, crying for her mother.

"If you don"t stop crying, you wouldn"t see her anymore!"

Tears trickled down the little girl"s rosy cheek, but when she heard her father tell her that she would only see her mother if she wasn"t crying, that made her cease crying as her arms wrapped around her father almost as though she was scared he was going to leave her behind just like her mom.

"That"s a good girl."

Sheng Jinzhe kept patting her on the back, it went on for a while, until the girl finally fell asleep on her father"s arm.

-----------------------

"Mrs Sheng, do you know where you are?"

"Huh?"

Sheng Yu looked around at the unfamiliar room, as she wondered what she was doing being in a place like this, it took but a few seconds as the thought from the night before flooding her memory.

"The hospital."

"Can you tell me your name, today"s date and Who the President of the country is?"

Sheng Yu told the doctor her full name, what the date was and the name of the country"s president and his party.

"Doctor she"s alert and oriented X 4."

What Nurse Liu meant to say was that Sheng Yu was able to answer questions regarding where she was (place), who she was (person), what date ( time interval) and who is president was (situation)
This was a way to determine if a person had some neurological problem or issues with their brain, anyone that was able to answer those questions correctly will have the doctor rule out any problem with their cognitive function such as memory is most likely intact.

"Ms Sheng you seem quite distressed. Would you mind talking to us about what could be the cause?"

Still in her pajamas, Sheng Yu looked at the faces of the five nurses and doctor, not knowing where to start unburdening her heart to them. Finally she summoned the courage to open up to them.

"My Husband and I haven"t been that close after Liena"s birth. I did all I could to get him to see him as a woman, maybe it is the stress from work, I don"t know why, but we have grown apart after she was born. He hardly spent time with her, until the day I told him that I was pregnant with Xiaobo and that"s when everything changed, he became more warm towards me and it was as if I was back to the time we used to date."

"Did you and your husband go for counselling?"

"I didn"t think of looking for a marriage counselor, what if someone that knew my husband saw me going in to see a marriage counselor?"

"I understand the dilemma you must have felt, not wanting to expose your husband to gossip. Apart from childbirth, what else must have triggered his lack of interest in you?"

"Maybe my weight gain in recent years? I admit I haven"t been in the best shape. My focus has been on taking care of our daughter and making sure that she has a parent that she can always run to should the need arise."

"Now you mentioned adding weight. Anything else?"

Doctor Sun was a general pract.i.tioner, but he had his stint of psychiatry in med school and residency at the psych unit of an hospital, therefore he knew some of the questions that the psychiatrist may end up asking his patient later during her stay at the hospital.

The thirty five year old doctor looked at his patient with empathy, while she opened up to him about her marital woes, almost crying as she spoke to him.

"I haven"t changed my wardrobe in so long, everything I have now is out of fas.h.i.+on. I know my husband has told me countless times to go out and shop, but how can I? When my daughter has homework, needs to be ready for school, has to see a tutor and I also have to supervise the maintenance of my home, if not my mother-in-law would nag all day long. I never know when she would show up, there have been a few times that I was caught off guard by her unplanned visit. I spoke to my husband when it first began and he would dismiss it as if it was nothing, telling me that it was not unusual for a mother-in-law to visit her daughter-in-law."

"How do you feel? What are your feeling relating to the current situation at home?"

"I"m angry! I feel like I don"t have a purpose, my husband talks down to me, his mother is not any better. Father-in-law sits on one side while his wife is belittling me. It drives me mad when I don"t have any respect in my home! The maid was brought our house by my mother-in-law, I can"t say anything to her, because it will get to the ears of my mother-in-law that same day. I feel so lost and empty, the only thing that is keeping me together is my son and daughter, if anything happens to either of them, I don"t know what I"ll do!"

"Your mother-in-law makes you feel powerless?"

"Yes, she says mean things to me in front of my parents and that what pains me the most! Why do they have to listen to people that feel that they are bigger than what they really are?! My parents are learned people, who are well educated! Just because of my dumb choice! They now have to listen to insults from in-laws that have no bearing in comparison to them."

"Have you spoken to your parents to let them know how you feel about your marriage?"

"I didn"t tell them all the things my mother-in-law and husband was doing to me. Left to them, they want me to divorce my husband and move in with them, but I have to considered little Xi and Liena. I can"t have them grow without their father, can I?"

"You don"t want to divulge what is going on inside your marriage to your parents?"

"It"s difficult for me to tell my mom and dad that this is what I face everyday at home, they pretty much know what is going on, both are Judges and if they want to find out anything, it is a piece of cake to them. They know what is going on, but they are waiting for me to decide whether or not I want to continue with the marriage."

"Your son is an important part of your life, you do know that he is sick. What are your plans for him moving forward?"

Sheng Yu"s lips was set in a stubborn line, her eyes moved from one face to the other, she saw they were waiting on her to discuss with them her son.

"Is little Xi really sick?"

The doctor looked at the nurses, at a loss for words on what to say to the woman that was on the bed, who was finding it hard to come to terms that her child was diagnosed with a chronic disease!