Report of 20 Nov '05
Hello from Chennai dusk -
My sons are playing soccer downstairs, Scott is en route to Bangalore, and I have a minute.
We did not have to look far for patients this week: Navin had a high fever on Sunday night and Monday morning, and ended up staying away from school for a week. He also had a dreadful cough, and I started him on an antibiotic which worked, but slowly. I had some kind of a virus - cough, upset stomach, malaise, and ended up staying home w/ little energy. Naren stayed healthy, thank Heavens, and almost ran the household. I could not get to the Banyan; the advantage of working gratis is that I can take off when the kids are ill or I am. I generally appreciate this.
Scott called from B'lore on Thursday w/ symptoms similar to Navin's and I prescribed a more powerful antibiotic. The phone rang right after he hung up and I answered and said, "7 days," knowing who it was. Spousal telepathy, and I heard Scott chuckling on the other end. He did make it home on Friday and we spent the weekend glued to the flat, except for a brief beach visit last evening. It was nice to have some quiet time, and we punted on Harry Potter, tho' I am very keen to see the film.
There were certainly other pts. Our cook's son has a squint and I have urged that he be evaluated by my friend, D. Ramesh, an ophthal who'll see my pts for free. God bless D, as we call him. This eval has not happened yet, as the cook's sister-in-law (my cleaning lady) has told the cook a squint is great, good fortune. We have to contend w/ beliefs like this all the time, and the cleaning lady has even treated her son's hepatitis w/ a scalding poultice applied on his arm by a local mendicant, searing the skin and making the boy cry. I used to despair about such practices, now I just say things like, "Well, you know what, do ask the ophthal when you go if the squint is good luck." It is expected that adults will use some sense, but there are of course deep-rooted cultural beliefs to contend with. My recent medical journal had the case of a Hmong girl who died because her seizures were not treated the Western way, but with Hmong spiritual practices.
The veg market had its share of patients, too, all treated over mounds of potatoes and ladies' finger (okra), and w/ the busy-ness of a Sunday morning at the market. The tomato lady's husband recently lost his sister to diabetes and kidney failure, and got his sugar tested - it was 285. So the lady and I discussed diet and exercise, and another customer nearby suggested an herbal med as well. I have heard of this med, and am not a big fan of denigrating other medical systems, so endorsed this as an additional option. The man in question sells cabbage which none of us eats w/ great relish, so I don't stop there. The 2 are devoted to each other, and I love that: she will say, "You know, when I get worn out, he always buys me a soft drink or a snack," and he will say, "I do worry about her, her arm bothers her a lot." Arranged marriages have their way of showing love. The concept of such marriages has blown the minds of our Western guests intermittently; I imagine if I explain the Western way of marriage to the locals here - date partners in succession, see if it works out enough to marry, possibly get intimate along the way - it would completely blow minds here as well.
Well, the saga w/ the American School came to a rather unnecessary head. I think I'd mentioned treating one of AS's opponents who had been slugged by an AS player and ignored by AS staff; when said staff asked me to move aside, I refused until the ice arrived and the boy stood. AS sent a msg to Abacus (my sons' school) that they were debarred due to my actions, until I apologised. I was not at all clear what I was to apologise for, and indeed, was not going to say sorry for treating the child, so sent a note to AS admin asking to meet and talk things over. They sent a note back saying I was barred from entering their school for ever, that they had certain expectations of their guests ("decorum") which I had not met; I wrote that I was happy to be barred and that we had certain expectations of our hosts as well, esp considering the goodness of folks we knew in the U.S., which AS had not met. Several of you responded straight to AS and we greatly appreciate the passion, support and backing; may we humbly request a stop to the name-calling. Thank you very much.
Tutoring continues and we were delighted to have the 2nd-grader back, which had been a huge challenge. It's nice to have the rains let up and have the kids arrive, dry and eager.
I'm off to have dinner w/ the boys, so let me wind up.
"Why shouldn't things be largely absurd, futile, and transitory? They are so, and we are so, and they and we go very well together." - George Santayana
Unw -
Renu
My sons are playing soccer downstairs, Scott is en route to Bangalore, and I have a minute.
We did not have to look far for patients this week: Navin had a high fever on Sunday night and Monday morning, and ended up staying away from school for a week. He also had a dreadful cough, and I started him on an antibiotic which worked, but slowly. I had some kind of a virus - cough, upset stomach, malaise, and ended up staying home w/ little energy. Naren stayed healthy, thank Heavens, and almost ran the household. I could not get to the Banyan; the advantage of working gratis is that I can take off when the kids are ill or I am. I generally appreciate this.
Scott called from B'lore on Thursday w/ symptoms similar to Navin's and I prescribed a more powerful antibiotic. The phone rang right after he hung up and I answered and said, "7 days," knowing who it was. Spousal telepathy, and I heard Scott chuckling on the other end. He did make it home on Friday and we spent the weekend glued to the flat, except for a brief beach visit last evening. It was nice to have some quiet time, and we punted on Harry Potter, tho' I am very keen to see the film.
There were certainly other pts. Our cook's son has a squint and I have urged that he be evaluated by my friend, D. Ramesh, an ophthal who'll see my pts for free. God bless D, as we call him. This eval has not happened yet, as the cook's sister-in-law (my cleaning lady) has told the cook a squint is great, good fortune. We have to contend w/ beliefs like this all the time, and the cleaning lady has even treated her son's hepatitis w/ a scalding poultice applied on his arm by a local mendicant, searing the skin and making the boy cry. I used to despair about such practices, now I just say things like, "Well, you know what, do ask the ophthal when you go if the squint is good luck." It is expected that adults will use some sense, but there are of course deep-rooted cultural beliefs to contend with. My recent medical journal had the case of a Hmong girl who died because her seizures were not treated the Western way, but with Hmong spiritual practices.
The veg market had its share of patients, too, all treated over mounds of potatoes and ladies' finger (okra), and w/ the busy-ness of a Sunday morning at the market. The tomato lady's husband recently lost his sister to diabetes and kidney failure, and got his sugar tested - it was 285. So the lady and I discussed diet and exercise, and another customer nearby suggested an herbal med as well. I have heard of this med, and am not a big fan of denigrating other medical systems, so endorsed this as an additional option. The man in question sells cabbage which none of us eats w/ great relish, so I don't stop there. The 2 are devoted to each other, and I love that: she will say, "You know, when I get worn out, he always buys me a soft drink or a snack," and he will say, "I do worry about her, her arm bothers her a lot." Arranged marriages have their way of showing love. The concept of such marriages has blown the minds of our Western guests intermittently; I imagine if I explain the Western way of marriage to the locals here - date partners in succession, see if it works out enough to marry, possibly get intimate along the way - it would completely blow minds here as well.
Well, the saga w/ the American School came to a rather unnecessary head. I think I'd mentioned treating one of AS's opponents who had been slugged by an AS player and ignored by AS staff; when said staff asked me to move aside, I refused until the ice arrived and the boy stood. AS sent a msg to Abacus (my sons' school) that they were debarred due to my actions, until I apologised. I was not at all clear what I was to apologise for, and indeed, was not going to say sorry for treating the child, so sent a note to AS admin asking to meet and talk things over. They sent a note back saying I was barred from entering their school for ever, that they had certain expectations of their guests ("decorum") which I had not met; I wrote that I was happy to be barred and that we had certain expectations of our hosts as well, esp considering the goodness of folks we knew in the U.S., which AS had not met. Several of you responded straight to AS and we greatly appreciate the passion, support and backing; may we humbly request a stop to the name-calling. Thank you very much.
Tutoring continues and we were delighted to have the 2nd-grader back, which had been a huge challenge. It's nice to have the rains let up and have the kids arrive, dry and eager.
I'm off to have dinner w/ the boys, so let me wind up.
"Why shouldn't things be largely absurd, futile, and transitory? They are so, and we are so, and they and we go very well together." - George Santayana
Unw -
Renu
posted by Renu Weiss at
9:06 PM
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