A woman from Zhoushan, Haifen Chen, came to our hospital. According to her, she had been unable to see since she was born, and this had been with her for more than 30 years. After the doctor’s diagnosis, she had a congenital small corneal exotropia, ptosis of the upper eyelid, nystagmus with spots on the top of the eye, a concurrent cataract in the left eye, and partial posterior adhesions of the iris, and an aphakic eye in the right eye. Her objective conditions were so harsh that she did not even think she could see clearly. Director Yuwen Wang accepted the patient, searched for information about the disease and discussed the surgical plan with several specialists, and solved the patient’s years of eye problems under difficult conditions.
The day before this aunt was discharged from the hospital, I talked with her for a while and learned from her story that her family situation was not very good either. She is a woman from a small rural village in Zhoushan, working in a hospital in Zhoushan, mainly recycling medical supplies waste, and her income is not significant, just 1,500 yuan. At present, the minimum monthly wage for employees in Ningbo is 1160 yuan and 1310 yuan, according to this standard, Auntie Chen’s salary is just up to standard. Her husband is a disabled person, opened a small store in the countryside, the economic resources are not very abundant. With this meager income alone, the two couples have to pay for their son’s education, so I guess the usual expenses are also very tight.
She was living a hazy life for so many years when people in the village told her that she might not be able to see because she had cataracts. So in 2007 she went to a hospital in Zhoushan and the doctor just did cataract surgery for her when she had cataracts, and the medical conditions at that time were not good, and there was no crystal implanted in her right eye. After the surgery, Auntie Chen’s vision did not improve, and she could only see things in front of her eyes in a blur. When she went to see the doctor at Zhoushan Hospital again, a doctor told her firmly that “you will never be able to see like this, and you can’t be cured”, and the doctor’s attitude was even worse. As a doctor, how can you treat patients like this, even if you can’t be cured, you shouldn’t use such a tone of voice to communicate with patients. The good thing is that Auntie Chen is optimistic by nature, and did not give up the chance to find light because of the doctor’s words. During her hospitalization, she was accompanied by her sister, who is a happy-go-lucky kind of person. She was very grateful to Director Wang for giving her back her sight, not only for the restoration of her vision, but also for the fire of hope that was kindled. On the day she was discharged from the hospital, Auntie Chen said goodbye to me, and I was very pleased to see her bright smile.