Is He The Fred Hollows of Sabah?

My Mum’s helper requested to have her eyes checked in early December last year. I was about to head off to a splendid job in KL when my Mum booked me in to see Dr Peter Kong as well. I didn’t expect any bad news even though the last time I had my eyes checked was a few years ago. All I had wanted was a pair of new glasses and/or a pair of blue contacts for Christmas. It was not to be. I was sent by the ophthalmologist to a GP (General Practitioner) with the same surname because my blood pressure was through the roof!

We found out soon enough that I was in real bad shape. Dr Kong – GP from Damai told me that I was a flight risk and I ended up kissing that new job goodbye. Once my blood pressure came down quite a bit, I returned to Dr Peter Kong who then told me that I needed laser surgery (PRP) to save my sight. I didn’t take him seriously because I really didn’t believe that there was anything seriously wrong with me. My Mum, on the other hand, took the news almost too seriously. She had many sleepless nights afterwards. At one stage during the second consultation, Dr Peter Kong took out his stethoscope to listen to my heart. That was quite funny because I have never seen an ophthalmologist using a stethoscope. I told him, “I am pretty sure that the ticker is still ticking.” Before I walked out, he asked me to prepare myself psychologically for the procedure.

Not knowing what PRP was, I began to imagine all sorts of horrible scenarios. I even thought that it had something to do with Karma because I once said something quite mean to a Paralympian with vision impairment. I was pretty scared that something might go wrong and I ended up blind in Sabah! Imagine being disabled in Malaysia! I ended up googling PRP to learn a bit more and prayed nightly. We even went to the Carmelite sisters to ask them to pray for me. I was calm and ready on the eve of the first treatment.

Originally, I was expected to undergo the procedure three times because I am a squeamish patient. The doctor changed his mind after the first treatment because I was super. I was able to see clearer two days later but I also noticed that I had become a little ‘slow’. I was quite sensitive to changes to light. Two weeks after the first procedure, I was back at the little ‘torture chamber’ and sat on the same little stool for my last session. I rest my chin on the machine. The doctor secured my head with straps, placed that eye piece thingy into one eye before blasting me with strong beams from his side of the ‘machine gun’. It did get a little unpleasant at times but I was OK. After a little while, my mind wandered off. I was wondering if anyone could make the whole process more interesting by turning it into some kind of video game when the Doctor asked me to open my eye. I truly thought that my left eye was open but it wasn’t! Did I fall asleep? Is it possible? LOL

During the first procedure, Dr Kong asked me, “Do you like living in Sabah?” I replied flatly, “No!” It was a childish response. Yes, there are many things that I do not like right now but I think that I will accept the differences in time to come. I just need time to love my ‘new’ life. It is so different to over there. Altruism was one principle that I thought was dead because everyone is just so busy trying to make a living but Dr Kong showed me that altruism is still alive! A week after my final procedure, a receptionist from his clinic called to ask us to cancel the check. She was speaking in Malay and I got quite confused. My Mum later confirmed that we didn’t need to pay. The whole thing was FREE. I felt weird receiving such a gift. I wondered whether my Mum secretly told him about what happened to me and he pitied me. I wondered for many weeks as to why I was the recipient of such an expensive gift.

Dr Peter Kong is the ophthalmologist to many members of my extended family. My father was his patient. My Mum is too. My Mum’s cousin in Melbourne even flies here to see him even though he has access to Aussie doctors. When you wait at his waiting room, you will hear that many of his patients are from Sandakan. Sometimes they come straight from the airport with luggage in tow.

Fred Hollows was a famous ophthalmologist who restored the sight of countless people. There is something that Fred said in the ads for The Fred Hollows Foundation that I really like. “Every eye is an eye, when you are doing the surgery there that is just as important as if you were doing eye surgery on the prime minister or the king.”

Update: I recently went to see Doctor Kong for a follow up. He was extremely busy that day. He gave me the good news because my eyes have healed. My next appointment will be in October.