Joseph Nguyen Van Duc SJ
We had an opportunity to look after Covid-19 patients at a field hospital in Ho Chi Minh City during the Tet or Lunar New Year holiday.
Knowing that I volunteered to serve at a hospital, some people asked me: “Now the number of patients has reduced substantially, why do not you return home and celebrate Tet with your family?”
It is right that people want to be with their families on the Lunar New Year and so did I. However, I think of Covid-19 patients being treated at the hospital where even only a few patients are left, and I still want to stay and celebrate the national festival with them because I hope that our presence can partially make up for their loneliness and the absence of their relatives during Tet.
Indeed, the Church always lives the spirit of synodality and leaves no one behind, even if only a few still are in makeshift hospitals. Although society seems to have overcome the utter devastation of the pandemic, many people including the elderly and lonely are in dire need of urgent attention and care.
During the festival, people are able to go home and celebrate Tet with their families, but at makeshift hospitals, patients who have not yet been cured still have to stay for further treatment.
In the isolation ward, patients become desperately lonely because they had no relatives around. They only receive the attention of medical staff and volunteers like us
Patients infected with Covid-19 are the ones in dire need of attention from their families at this time. Family is the fulcrum point and the best medicine to help them to mentally overcome this dangerous disease.
They are kept in quarantine, so their spouses, children and grandchildren cannot be around to take care of them. Every time I have an opportunity to talk to patients, they tell me of their desire to return home during Tet.
Indeed, when I entered the hospital’s isolation ward, I felt that there was a separation from the outside world. In the isolation ward, patients become desperately lonely because they had no relatives around. They only receive the attention of medical staff and volunteers like us.
Life in the quarantine ward is far from daily life. All day, the only sounds patients hear are those of heart rate monitors and other medical equipment instead of the sounds of noisy life. Outside of the visiting hours of doctors and nurses, patients rarely talk to anyone else. As a result, they are easily overwhelmed by so much worry, confusion and fear that pessimism about the disease means they barely sleep or touch their food.
During the pandemic, people are not only fighting against Covid-19 but resisting the temptation to quit and give up
At times, they feel they are abandoned, terribly lonely and completely hopeless. They urgently need someone who can support them emotionally.
During the pandemic, people are not only fighting against Covid-19 but resisting the temptation to quit and give up. Only those who have indomitable will and spirit can easily shake the danger of dying, and only those who really have the burning desire to live and see the meaning of life can come to grips with the devastating loneliness and boredom.
I also give pastoral care to patients in bed and I realise how extremely fragile but precious human life is. Through their stories or soulful eyes, I see patients always longing to live. For them, life now is indeed an extremely valuable gift. Some say: “I pray to recover from my illness so I can go back to celebrate Tet with my family.”
Indeed, God gives life and that gift is now too precious for patients. Even if they are down in the mouth and cut up, God is always with them. Even when they have to carry helpless bodies in bed, God is still in their frail and weak bodies.
Standing by their beds, I continue to pray to God for healing on behalf of the sick. In union with the healing prayers of the whole Church, I believe that God has heard and bestowed many blessings on all patients’ souls and bodies, and medical staff who serve patients.
Indeed, God gives life and that gift is now too precious for patients. Even if they are down in the mouth and cut up, God is always with them
Miracles always happen at the hospital’s two intensive care units. Every day I see positive changes in both the physical and mental health of patients I meet. They are marvels as I really experience God healing them day by day.
Many patients whom I meet for the first time seem so bad and scarcely touch their food and drink. But by the next day, they can eat a little bit, and then over the next days they eat more, sleep better and are no longer on ventilators.
It is nice to see sick people get better. By this now I have said goodbye to a few patients who have been discharged from the hospital. From now on, their lives will shift from anxiety, fear and disappointment to hope and gratitude.
I gratefully thank God for giving me an opportunity to care for patients so that I see that many people are in pressing need of attention and care. I thank God that he is always with and healing all patients.
I profusely thank God that the people I have met gained more faith and hope. May God continue to accompany the medical staff to help patients overcome this pandemic. May God of the Spring continue to bless all people.
Joseph Nguyen Van Duc is a Jesuit in Vietnam. The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official editorial position of UCAN. This article was summarised and translated by a reporter from a Vietnamese article published by tgpsaigon.net
