Case Studies

The case studies below provide glimpses into the lives of some of our patients.

Sadly, their stories are by no means unique, they are repeated daily in villages throughout Nepal.

 

 

Bal Kumari Thapa is in her 70s... no-one quite knows quite where in the 70s.... and lives in Sukumbasi village, Mahottari District. She has had leprosy for over 16 years, and used to be visited in her village by Krishna and Dambar in the days before the hospital was established. She is now completely blind as a result of leprosy, her hands and fingers are still intact although somewhat anaesthetic, and she has lost some of her toes on her right foot. Because of her loss of feeling in her hands and feet she frequently gets burnt on her arms and body because of her getting too close to the fire. She has had many admissions to hospital because she gets into a run-down state because of her inability to see and care for herself properly.  She has no family to look after her or take an interest in her. She had a son, but says the Maoists took him away and killed him several years ago. As you know a proportion of the Sukumbasi residents are Christian, and a nice Christian neighbour, Ganesh Maya, cooks for Bal Kumari and keeps an eye on her. Nevertheless she not really able to care for herself properly and her eyes and burns and other sores get infected and fly-blown, and she gets run down and often needs a month or so in hospital every now and again to recover and eat nicely and experience that love and compassionate care that Lalgadh Hospital is famous for. She is longing for the completion of the Care Haven (“Will it ever happen before I die?” she often asks).  The building is well on the way to being finished so Bal Kumari Thapa does not have long to wait.

 

Phulchan Yadav is 75 years old and comes from Aurahi VDC in Mahottari District. He got leprosy about 10 years ago and was first admitted as an inpatient at Lalgadh Hospital in 2060 Nepali time (6 years ago). He has been an inpatient several times since then. He has no toes his right foot, his left hand is anaesthetic and his eyes are OK except for cataracts. He is old and although he gets a pension from LLSC, he basically needs someone to look after him... he has no-one, not family or friends who can care for him. He came into hospital today (March 10) seriously ill with diarrhoeal disease, very dehydrated, almost no pulse and an almost unreadable blood pressure.

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