Report of July 3rd, 2005
Hello from Indy!
To those in the U.S., Happy Fourth of July! I rather like the fireworks here.
The week has been ok. Started off w/ a Vicodin (strong pain med) seeker. She stated she could not understand why another pain med would simply not be called in when the prescribed meds did not work (she has been quite a demanding patient here, and not very nice) and why she had to come in to be seen. As I explained why it's good to re-evaluate pts, she stated that when her Medicaid (Government-sponsored health plan for the poor) kicked in, she would find another doctor. As it was not quite feasible for me to turn cartwheels in the room or jump for joy, and downright sadistic towards my colleagues to offer to find her another doctor, I simply stated that every pt should have a good relationship w/ his/her doctor and she was welcome to find someone who met her needs.
In the midst of the steady stream of STD checks was a patient whom the front desk called us about. She was dubbed crazy there and everyone assisting me dreaded her visit. As it turns out, she was a 21 yo w/ a history of panic attacks whose fiance had recently died due to a heroin overdose. Psychiatry is not a discipline I easily understand, and I respect the professionals in it. The pt was very teary, frequently bursting into tears as she talked; I let her talk and talk, at one point throwing in that it did not look like her fiance had made good choices. (As soon as I said it, I considered it inappropriate to say to someone grieving, but thankfully, she concurred.) I told her I thought she needed to see a mental health professional, and I spoke of how much a counsellor had helped me in the 3rd year of med school, when a string of deaths hit my family. I told her speaking to someone trained in diseases of the mind was as vital for her, as seeing someone specialising in diseases of the body. Then I gave her our special "sandpaper Kleenex" (paper towels) to dry her eyes. She was not as freaky as had been described to me - except for the green eye shadow from her eyelashes to her eyebrows, which did not quite match her blue outfit.
The 3 Weiss men appear to have had some chaos. Naren and Navin were sent home from school as their uniforms did not pass inspection; as I experienced trans-Atlantic angst and mild guilt at this ("oooh, what sort of mother is she"), Naren told me that 15 of 18 kids in his class had been sent home. Made me feel better. Though I don't agree w/ all the strategies the school employs, I had to agree w/ this one - it now becomes a collective family endeavor to ensure that the uniforms pass. Naren also brought home a 60 on a test, and proceeded to justify it w/ a "Well, you can never get higher than 85 in English and I was just 15 off." Yes, the child said 15. So I asked him how his math grades were. Then I decided their father could handle this, told Naren he just had to ground himself when his grade was less than 70 and mentioned that we really did not want him to spend all his teen years looking at the 4 walls of his room. Scott sent me a stream of rather nice emails, including one anticipating my return - 31st July from here.
I was privileged to get together this week w/ Dr. Malcolm Herring, a senior vascular surgeon at St. V. I told him he probably had some other grandiose title - VP, Exalted Poobah, Vascular Vishnu - but to me he is a mentor and good friend. We spoke of his work and my work, and issues of faith, which Malcolm is a strong believer in. It was a lovely, serene conversation, concluding in a most therapeutic hug. I also got to walk w/ Cindy and Colleen, great friends, and that was curative also. Yesterday, I went down to a little carnival here and listened to a very good band belting out oldies. It was nice to run into a former residency colleague, Karrie Adkins, there and see her 2 kids who were babies during my internship and her 2nd year. I also got to watch a couple of movies, and Live 8 on TV. When they showed the picture of the child who had almost died of starvation and told us what she had since become, then producing the beautiful young woman for all of us to see and rejoice in, Bob Geldof said, "One person can make a difference." Amen, brother Bob, amen.
Have a good week -
To those in the U.S., Happy Fourth of July! I rather like the fireworks here.
The week has been ok. Started off w/ a Vicodin (strong pain med) seeker. She stated she could not understand why another pain med would simply not be called in when the prescribed meds did not work (she has been quite a demanding patient here, and not very nice) and why she had to come in to be seen. As I explained why it's good to re-evaluate pts, she stated that when her Medicaid (Government-sponsored health plan for the poor) kicked in, she would find another doctor. As it was not quite feasible for me to turn cartwheels in the room or jump for joy, and downright sadistic towards my colleagues to offer to find her another doctor, I simply stated that every pt should have a good relationship w/ his/her doctor and she was welcome to find someone who met her needs.
In the midst of the steady stream of STD checks was a patient whom the front desk called us about. She was dubbed crazy there and everyone assisting me dreaded her visit. As it turns out, she was a 21 yo w/ a history of panic attacks whose fiance had recently died due to a heroin overdose. Psychiatry is not a discipline I easily understand, and I respect the professionals in it. The pt was very teary, frequently bursting into tears as she talked; I let her talk and talk, at one point throwing in that it did not look like her fiance had made good choices. (As soon as I said it, I considered it inappropriate to say to someone grieving, but thankfully, she concurred.) I told her I thought she needed to see a mental health professional, and I spoke of how much a counsellor had helped me in the 3rd year of med school, when a string of deaths hit my family. I told her speaking to someone trained in diseases of the mind was as vital for her, as seeing someone specialising in diseases of the body. Then I gave her our special "sandpaper Kleenex" (paper towels) to dry her eyes. She was not as freaky as had been described to me - except for the green eye shadow from her eyelashes to her eyebrows, which did not quite match her blue outfit.
The 3 Weiss men appear to have had some chaos. Naren and Navin were sent home from school as their uniforms did not pass inspection; as I experienced trans-Atlantic angst and mild guilt at this ("oooh, what sort of mother is she"), Naren told me that 15 of 18 kids in his class had been sent home. Made me feel better. Though I don't agree w/ all the strategies the school employs, I had to agree w/ this one - it now becomes a collective family endeavor to ensure that the uniforms pass. Naren also brought home a 60 on a test, and proceeded to justify it w/ a "Well, you can never get higher than 85 in English and I was just 15 off." Yes, the child said 15. So I asked him how his math grades were. Then I decided their father could handle this, told Naren he just had to ground himself when his grade was less than 70 and mentioned that we really did not want him to spend all his teen years looking at the 4 walls of his room. Scott sent me a stream of rather nice emails, including one anticipating my return - 31st July from here.
I was privileged to get together this week w/ Dr. Malcolm Herring, a senior vascular surgeon at St. V. I told him he probably had some other grandiose title - VP, Exalted Poobah, Vascular Vishnu - but to me he is a mentor and good friend. We spoke of his work and my work, and issues of faith, which Malcolm is a strong believer in. It was a lovely, serene conversation, concluding in a most therapeutic hug. I also got to walk w/ Cindy and Colleen, great friends, and that was curative also. Yesterday, I went down to a little carnival here and listened to a very good band belting out oldies. It was nice to run into a former residency colleague, Karrie Adkins, there and see her 2 kids who were babies during my internship and her 2nd year. I also got to watch a couple of movies, and Live 8 on TV. When they showed the picture of the child who had almost died of starvation and told us what she had since become, then producing the beautiful young woman for all of us to see and rejoice in, Bob Geldof said, "One person can make a difference." Amen, brother Bob, amen.
Have a good week -
posted by Renu Weiss at
1:01 PM
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