Quality of mercy

Serious illness in the family is always disturbing, and when you are in a foreign country with a totally unfamiliar healthcare system, it can get downright traumatic - especially when the treatment and diagnosis seem to be based on factors other than the Hippocratic Oath of doing what is best for the patient.

Two months ago, I was called back from an overseas assignment. My father had suffered a coronary and had been hospitalized.

The journey back was a test and a race against time, but even that did not prepare me for the ordeal that was yet to come.