The Bhutanese Leading the way.
A year has passed and Sonam’s health still remains the same
Dhan Maya takes more than an hour by bus to get to the hospital where her daughter, Sonam Tamang, remains in a state of coma. Although Dhan Maya does not know the names of the locations, however, she knows where to stop by looking at the landmarks of the buildings and bridges along the roadsides.
She has made non-stop visits to the hospital to see her daughter in the last two months, hoping that one day or another Sonam will wake up from coma.
“I wish she would open her eyes,” said Dhan Maya.
She goes to hospital at around 10 am and heads back home in evening around 5pm. She stares at Sonam all daylong and watches the nurses feeding and cleaning her daughter.
“I am thinking I will stay with her for five months or so, and if she does not recover then maybe I will take her back home. But I have heard from others that people who go into coma do wake up although it takes time. She has been the same since the day I came to Japan, and sometimes I feel I will take her back home and sometimes my hope remains that she will recover, all random thoughts go on in my mind,” said Dhan Maya.
She said although Sonam breaths through an artificial breathing machine, however, she has natural bodily functions. “She gets fever sometimes and passes stool which all the normal people do. Those signs make me believe that she can recover,” said Dhan Maya.
“My only wish is to take her back home like how she first came to Japan, like any other happy child,” said Dhan Maya.
“I will be meeting the doctor and want to know the progress about her health condition, so I have requested a few Bhutanese who understand Japanese language to help me in translation,” said Dhan Maya.
However, she said after her three-month visa expires, she will return back home and immediately do the neck surgery, and in the meantime she will process for another visa and head directly to Japan to be with Sonam.
She said she wants to take one of her sons along with her, so that he can work and support them in Japan where the living standard in is very high.
The Bhutanese youth in Japan who went to see Sonam with Dhan Maya earlier this week said 99.9 percent of Sonam’s breathing is done with the help of the life support machine, and it is exactly a year now since she was first hospitalized.
One of the nurses looking after Sonam said there is a possibility to take her back home, but with the full team of doctors from Japan.
However, the nurse said it will also be difficult since they will have to give oxygen manually, and also there are high chances of changes in her BP and heartbeat as well during the 9-hours journey, and also the expenses will be high.
She said as per the Japanese rules, a patient is not allowed to taken off the artificial breathing machine even with the family’s consent.
As for a chance of Sonam regaining her health back to normal, it is difficult by looking at her condition, said the nurse. Her nerves are alive but there is no movement in any part of her body. There are no muscles except for the skin and bones.
The nurse said even the doctors are not able to tell the future of Sonam’s condition. She said that only a miracle can save her.
“I feel sad for Sonam’s mother as she cries whenever she visits her daughter. No one can imagine her pain right now. It is so hard to see her all alone. We are also worried that she might fall sick,” the nurse said.
Even after all the odds, Dhan Maya is still hopful that Sonam will recover. Supporters in Japan donated 20,000 Yen to Dhan Maya earlier this week.
