A Family Doctor's Tale - MY FIRST PATIENT

MY FIRST PATIENT


My first patient came on my first day of the opening of my clinic. I was alone in the clinic at that time doing some arrangement of medicines. 

She was an old lady staying nearby in a four room housing apartment registered in her name and her 2 children.
She happened to be walking around the estate after moving in and requested for a complete examination and some joint pain medicines.
She had a history of asthma and gastric problem.
On that day she appeared to be in good condition except for some knee joint swelling. 
Her lungs were clear, blood pressure and heart normal. 
No gastric problem was detected. 
Her brain and nervous system were normal. 
In fact her mind was so very sharp for her age of 65 years old. 
I gave her some medicine for her joint pain.

I refused payment as she was my very first patient. 
I told her that she was the number one patient in the clinic so I cannot take money from her.

1 hour later she was back to the clinic with a red packet containing some money for good luck. 

It was a satisfying moment for me -my first patient and a red packet for good luck to boot.

She was to come back to the clinic on and off for the next fifteen years always reminding the clinic assistant that she was the number one patient. 

We had a good laugh about that and soon got know each other very well. 
I used to give her injections for her asthma( A Simple Guide to Asthma) and gastric pain (A Simple Guide to Gastritis) and vitamins to strengthen her up.

She would call me for house calls at night because of her attacks of asthma and gastric pain.

She was very well educated and although she dressed plainly, she was actually quite rich.

She confided in me that she had a few large properties in Indonesia which were rented out. 
Once in a while she would go to Indonesia to handle her business for a few months and returned back to Singapore.

She was actually quite rich although she stayed in a public housing estate.
Her son and daughter were adopted but did not know about their adoption or about her wealth.
Her son and daughter used to see me for the usual cold, cough and diarrhea.

Her son as he grew older began to give her financial problems with his get quick schemes which always failed.


After he married, she had even more problems with her daughter-in-law. 
Every time she had stressful problems , her asthma attacks and gastric problems become worse.

She was happier with her daughter. 
However after her daughter got married, she had problems with her son-in-law. 
With each problem her attacks of asthma and gastric problem became more frequent.

I advised her not to get so upset because it was affecting her health. 
Also as she grew older, she had other problems like joint pains( A Simple Guide to Osteoarthritis)  and difficulty in sleeping.

Eventually her daughter and husband moved to Australia to stay and work.
After a few months she decided to join them. She would come back two times a year to Singapore as a vacation from her daughter.

Each time she returned she would visit me for some vitamin injections and medicines for asthma. Slowly the visits become less frequent.

One day I heard from her neighbor that her apartment had been sold to another family.