I write this post as a tribute to a young little soul that had laid to rest in peace earlier this week.
In paediatrics, students are trained to do a quick but thorough general examination as that yields the most findings and guide our further examination. Most of the time, we like to divide the patients into 'syndromic' facies and 'non-syndromic' facies. So one fine day in Teluk Intan, I came across this boy, with a typical 'syndromic' facies. I couldn't make out what syndrome he has, but generally, he looks too small for his age. There were abnormal movements as well. He loved to do 'scratching' activities, which is purposeless from my point of view.
The main reason that he came in was due to pneumonia. He had multiple episode of similar illnesses in the pass, according to his sister. As usual, when we as student do not understand certain things, we go straight to the case note. He had what we called a mucopolysaccaride metabolism disorder, leading to what we called as Hunter Syndrome. That raised further questions to me that night, as I never heard of this illness before.
Usually, Hunter Syndrome is a progressive illness with no successful therapy so far. The victims will live up to adolescent or late teens and usually die of the complication of the disease. This is one of the rare illness that we don't want to get. Maybe that is why he succumbed this time. I talked to the mother before, she was already in the stage of acceptance before the child passed away. She said it will do both of them good, as he doesn't need to suffer any longer and the parents can concentrate on the other siblings. So she opted not for intubation in case her child fails to breath by himself and refuses any artificial ventilatory support.
When the child was gone that day, the mother cried her heart out. The whole family cried for his loss. That makes me think again. No matter what the mother opted for, I will support her decision anyway. They were the one that faced him everyday. Sometimes, there were no right or wrong answers. There is only choice. With any choice made, we sacrifice certain things. What matters is how big the price we pay. when we earn something, we will give up something. Isn't that the way of life?
I just hope that this boy found his lasting peace. Sadhu.
In paediatrics, students are trained to do a quick but thorough general examination as that yields the most findings and guide our further examination. Most of the time, we like to divide the patients into 'syndromic' facies and 'non-syndromic' facies. So one fine day in Teluk Intan, I came across this boy, with a typical 'syndromic' facies. I couldn't make out what syndrome he has, but generally, he looks too small for his age. There were abnormal movements as well. He loved to do 'scratching' activities, which is purposeless from my point of view.
The main reason that he came in was due to pneumonia. He had multiple episode of similar illnesses in the pass, according to his sister. As usual, when we as student do not understand certain things, we go straight to the case note. He had what we called a mucopolysaccaride metabolism disorder, leading to what we called as Hunter Syndrome. That raised further questions to me that night, as I never heard of this illness before.
Usually, Hunter Syndrome is a progressive illness with no successful therapy so far. The victims will live up to adolescent or late teens and usually die of the complication of the disease. This is one of the rare illness that we don't want to get. Maybe that is why he succumbed this time. I talked to the mother before, she was already in the stage of acceptance before the child passed away. She said it will do both of them good, as he doesn't need to suffer any longer and the parents can concentrate on the other siblings. So she opted not for intubation in case her child fails to breath by himself and refuses any artificial ventilatory support.
When the child was gone that day, the mother cried her heart out. The whole family cried for his loss. That makes me think again. No matter what the mother opted for, I will support her decision anyway. They were the one that faced him everyday. Sometimes, there were no right or wrong answers. There is only choice. With any choice made, we sacrifice certain things. What matters is how big the price we pay. when we earn something, we will give up something. Isn't that the way of life?
I just hope that this boy found his lasting peace. Sadhu.
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