“Prejudice is the child of ignorance.”
― William Hazlitt ―
In a diverse and informed society like Singapore, it remains not completely uncommon to hear of instances of discrimination. While it is understandable to fear or even condemn something that is strange or new to us, we should be reminded that understanding breeds tolerance and empathy.
A Gift of Life
Mr S, is a dialysis patient at the San Wang Wu Ti-KDF Centre at Kreta Ayer, and he has been dialysising there for slightly over a year. He is no stranger to dialysis as he had gone though the exact same process 23 years ago, when his original kidneys failed.
He was only 22 years old at that time and had just started working after completing his national service. The news of his kidney failure came as a shock to him and his family as there had been no family history of the illness nor was he at an age where he would pay any attention to his health.
"I couldn't believe what the doctors told me. All I knew was I was feeling giddy and nauseous, so I visited a private doctor who told me that my blood pressure was very high and referred me to the Singapore General Hospital. Next minute the hospital doctors said I had end-stage kidney failure and needed dialysis," he recounted in disbelief.
Fortunately, one year into dialysis he received a kidney from his younger sister and successfully underwent a living donor transplant – a gift of life that he is extremely thankful for.
For 19 years he led a relatively normal life until December 2013 when he was handed the news that he needed to start dialysis again.
If Looks Could Kill
Aside from kidney failure, another medical condition afflicting Mr S is gout. He suffers from a very severe form of gout in which tumors (tophi nodules) have formed on his fingers and toes.
These tumors are visibly present on both his hands and feet, some as big as a ping-pong ball. The growths on his fingers are so severe that it is technically impossible for him to grip firmly onto anything.
Mr S tells me that the tumors itself aren't painful but the sudden gout attacks are. "They come and go suddenly and can last up to 3 days. The pain will be in my knees and shoulders and only becomes slightly bearable if I take painkillers."
More than often, these tumors draw second looks and prying stares from onlookers. "Initially I felt very angry, why must they look at me like that and talk about me! But now I am used to it… Sometimes I feel hurt, but I try not to think about it," he said resignedly.
Mr S accepts that some people may feel scared when they see the tumors, but understandably, he is still affected by some of the offensive and curt reactions from others.
He recounts an incident on a crowded bus. "I was not offered a seat so I moved towards the nearest grab bar and immediately I saw the passenger who was seated there shift away from me, all the while staring with a look of disgust on his face. Throughout the journey that same passenger kept throwing back glances at me," he said.
There are however, still people who are more accommodating of those who look different. "Some will walk up to me and ask me directly, why my hands and feet look like that or what condition I have, and I try to explain it to them. In fact, I respect them for trying to understand someone different from them," he said with a smile.
Pride and Joy
A proud father of a daughter and son aged 21 and 18 respectively. Both of his children are currently studying at a local polytechnic with support from Mendaki. His daughter, formerly from ITE, aspires to get a university education.
Mr S is proud that she harbours such big dreams, but he cannot bring himself to commit to her that he will make it happen, as it would be unthinkable for him to fund her university education with their current financial situation.
Mr S has been unemployed since early last year as his previous employer had asked him to go after learning he needed dialysis. He currently lives with his two children and is completely dependent on social assistance from the Community Development Council (CDC), as their household has practically zero income.
Currently at KDF, after all the subsidies and deduction from Medisave he does not need to pay for his dialysis treatments at all.
What KDF does for patients like Mr S is to lighten their load by subsidising their dialysis fees as much as possible, so whatever money that they have or receive from social assistance can be used for day to day living.
About 28% of the patients at KDF are like Mr S and do not need to pay any out-of-pocket fees for their dialysis. Sustain our assistance to them by making a donation via www.kdf.org.sg or https://www.giving.sg/kidney-dialysis-foundation today. All donations are entitled to 2.5x tax deduction
The pic above is a stock photo but the pic below are of his tumours due to gout.
