Patient sent home with intestine exposed

Patient sent home with intestine exposed

Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

For Sumaryono, 24, and his mother, Iis Iswati, 45, hospital
treatment is a luxury only for the rich.

Owing to their poverty, Sumaryono lives in pain; his intestine
has been poking out through an incision on the right-hand side of
his waist for five months since he was sent home from Jakarta
administration-run Tarakan Hospital. The sole reason was that he
could not pay the Rp 2.8 million (US$330) medical bill.

In his three-square-meter rented hut on a bank of the West
Flood Canal in Bendungan Hilir subdistrict, Central Jakarta,
Sumaryono shared his painful experience with the media, sometimes
grimacing at the suffering he has experienced since May 29.

"Whenever I eat, the pain gets me. I feel that my intestine
has a forced contraction," said the former construction worker.

The pain has left him unable to stand up straight and prevents
him from doing normal activities.

During the interview, Sumaryono showed his six-centimeter-long
swollen and throbbing intestine, "protected" from the air by a
dirty, black plastic bag. He also showed the 15-centimeter-long
stitches on his stomach.

Sumaryono said that he was supposed to undergo surgery as
recommended by a surgeon he identified as Dr. Rika.

"Dr. Rika told me that I had a problem with my appendix but
later she said that I also had a tumor in my stomach," he said.

"I told the doctor that I did not have enough money to pay for
the surgery but the doctor insisted on it. She said the fee could
be paid later on."

His mother had obtained a letter from the subdistrict office
and the City Mental and Spiritual Development and Social Welfare
Office, confirming that she could not afford to pay the bill.

Iis said that she had made a down payment of Rp 425,000 of the
total Rp 2.8 million surgery costs.

"I told the cashier that I had only Rp 80,000 to pay the huge
bill and he took all my money. But later in the day, the hospital
told me to take my son home," said his mother, who works as a
housemaid.

Iis said that she had taken Sumaryono to the hospital for a
medical check on the wound and stitches but the doctor never
showed up.

"The nurses only cleaned the wound with cotton wool. They gave
neither treatment nor medicine," she said.

The mother's and son's unfortunate circumstances moved their
neighbors, who could not stand to see Sumaryono suffering. The
neighbors reported his situation to the police, who were confused
at what to do and called on the media to cover Sumaryono's story.

City Health Agency spokeswoman Evy Zelfino said that as the
surgery had taken place some time ago it would be difficult to
check the validity of the information.

"Just take him back to the (Tarakan) hospital. They will
certainly treat him. If he can't afford the cost, he can request
assistance under a subsidized government scheme aimed at low-
income people," she said.

According to Evy, the patient might not have received
treatment at the hospital originally, as no subsidy scheme
existed at that time.

"It was launched in July," she added.

Tarakan Hospital director Dr. Soekirman Soekin said that he
had already received a report on Sumaryono's condition. He said
that the incision on the right-hand side of his waist was
intended for an artificial anus.

"If the intestine is getting larger, it's because of the
tumor," he argued, adding that the hospital should have given him
a colostomy bag.

Sumaryono's agony is likely to end soon, as a volunteer from
Jakarta Police radio station 911 emergency assistance, Nano
Suwarno, took Sumaryono later on Monday to the St. Carolus
Hospital, Central Jakarta, for medical treatment.

"I simply received an order to take him to the hospital," he
said, refusing to elaborate on who had given the order.