Hong Kong Nursing Home (2006-01-24)
Of the four full days we spent in Hong Kong, half of it was spent for taking care of "business".
We had gone to the bank to collect my two-year overdue ATM card, had
visited KL's ailing mother in the nursing home with his sister twice,
visited the cemetery for KL's father, and gone to the Immigration
branch to activate our HK Smart ID cards.
The nursing home where KL's mom is staying is one of a number of
two-story buildings in a large compound in New Territories. All
of the buildings are arranged in a neat and spacious fashion throughout
the complex.
KL's mom is in a room shared by two other residents who, like her,
require round-the-clock nursing care. Communication with my
mother-in-law is non-existent. Due to the numerous stroke she
suffered, she has lost most of the voluntary functions in her
body. I
doubt if she has any thought process left, she cannot follow
commands or maintain eye contact.
If you think death is the ultimate downfall of a human being, try
looking at a person who is fed through a tube, loses every excretion
function, has no cognitive and mobility capability, and wasting away in
bed. It will change your mind. It is a scourge inflicted
upon the patient, and more so on
the family members who care about them.
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