Report of 12 Feb 2006
Hello from Chennai!
We are back from Bangalore, where my sister-in-law, Susan, had her housewarming. Real estate is very expensive in big cities in India, prompting many of us to rent, and we are glad my sister-in-law and her family are somewhat settled. A housewarming (ceremony performed when one enters their own house for the first time) takes many forms here, depending on the religion of the owners. Susan is Christian, and the pastor of her church, plus many of her fellow parishioners, came to the flat. The pastor gave a nice sermon and prayed, and we are happy that Susan gets such solace from her faith. She mentioned that it had been a struggle soon after my brother died, but that her faith sustains her considerably now, which I am happy about.
Work was fine, if shortened. Dengue cut short a work-day for me, and since I work gratis, I felt not-too-bad about that. The patients at the Banyan are healing nicely. One of my favorites there, Ms. K, had been found on the streets and had her right arm hanging uselessly at her side. On X-ray, we saw that the upper arm bone was broken and she had surgery to fix it. (I think I've mentioned before that several of our mentally ill, destitute patients are often found to have badly-healed fractures from before the time we found them. This saddens me enormously, because it takes considerable force to break a human bone, and I am distressed at the extent of violence these ladies have been subject to.) She is recovering well, and is a placid, easygoing sort. Our able physiotherapist has worked w/ her, and she is getting more strength in her right hand. The other day, she pinched my cheek (a gesture of great affection here) w/ her left hand and I asked her to repeat the action w/ her right, which she did. I was thrilled. Ms. K has asked to go home, and the Banyan's expert rehab team is on the case; if the patient is able to recall an address, or even landmarks, the team goes, scopes out the scene, assures that the family is willing to take the pt back, and then starts work to send the pt home. If the family does not want the pt back, we make medical excuses for as long as we can, as we cannot have the pt know her kinfolk are rejecting her. If that fails, we take the pt back so that she can see the situation for herself, and then make subsequent plans accordingly.
We have had our fair share of patients around the flat, too, which happens as the folks know that there is a doctor that treats the folks for free. One of my earliest pts said she could not afford her meds and I nearly opened my wallet to hand her some bucks, then my very pragmatic husband dissuaded me. We decided I should not be known as the free doctor and the moron who hands her pts money to buy meds.
Tutoring went well. As always, we had tons of kids and last week, we were short of tutors. A couple of us had to double up and we did. A young woman in 9th grade who wants to become a doctor is normally tutored by Naren. As he was not available, I tutored. She had to memorise a passage on Stephen Hawking, and as usual, did it w/o understanding a word. I translated for her, could not find the Tamil word for "Sclerosis" and we did the best we could. This girl is one of 5 kids, the family has been abandoned by the father, and she does not let too much of that worry her on Friday afternoons: she and her sibs show up to be tutored, they ask for help where they need it, and study hard. They then color, get their candy, thank all of us very nicely and unfailingly(which is so, so gracious) and go home.
Naren was invited to the birthday party of a girl from another school, whose parents we do not know. As the location was close to a friend's place, I permitted him to go for a short while and he was pleased. Gotta pick your battles. Navin has also started getting phone calls from girls in his class (7th grade). Lest anyone think this is testimony to the fact that both our sons are irresistible to the opposite sex, let me assure you that part of this calling is completely due to the fact that the girls are bored and badly want someone to irritate (which the 7th grade boys also choose to do regularly).
On this warm note, let me wish all of you a Happy Valentine's Day and lots of love.
"Once love is purged of vanity, it resembles a feeble convalescent, hardly able to drag itself about." - Nicolas Chamfort
Unw -
Renu
We are back from Bangalore, where my sister-in-law, Susan, had her housewarming. Real estate is very expensive in big cities in India, prompting many of us to rent, and we are glad my sister-in-law and her family are somewhat settled. A housewarming (ceremony performed when one enters their own house for the first time) takes many forms here, depending on the religion of the owners. Susan is Christian, and the pastor of her church, plus many of her fellow parishioners, came to the flat. The pastor gave a nice sermon and prayed, and we are happy that Susan gets such solace from her faith. She mentioned that it had been a struggle soon after my brother died, but that her faith sustains her considerably now, which I am happy about.
Work was fine, if shortened. Dengue cut short a work-day for me, and since I work gratis, I felt not-too-bad about that. The patients at the Banyan are healing nicely. One of my favorites there, Ms. K, had been found on the streets and had her right arm hanging uselessly at her side. On X-ray, we saw that the upper arm bone was broken and she had surgery to fix it. (I think I've mentioned before that several of our mentally ill, destitute patients are often found to have badly-healed fractures from before the time we found them. This saddens me enormously, because it takes considerable force to break a human bone, and I am distressed at the extent of violence these ladies have been subject to.) She is recovering well, and is a placid, easygoing sort. Our able physiotherapist has worked w/ her, and she is getting more strength in her right hand. The other day, she pinched my cheek (a gesture of great affection here) w/ her left hand and I asked her to repeat the action w/ her right, which she did. I was thrilled. Ms. K has asked to go home, and the Banyan's expert rehab team is on the case; if the patient is able to recall an address, or even landmarks, the team goes, scopes out the scene, assures that the family is willing to take the pt back, and then starts work to send the pt home. If the family does not want the pt back, we make medical excuses for as long as we can, as we cannot have the pt know her kinfolk are rejecting her. If that fails, we take the pt back so that she can see the situation for herself, and then make subsequent plans accordingly.
We have had our fair share of patients around the flat, too, which happens as the folks know that there is a doctor that treats the folks for free. One of my earliest pts said she could not afford her meds and I nearly opened my wallet to hand her some bucks, then my very pragmatic husband dissuaded me. We decided I should not be known as the free doctor and the moron who hands her pts money to buy meds.
Tutoring went well. As always, we had tons of kids and last week, we were short of tutors. A couple of us had to double up and we did. A young woman in 9th grade who wants to become a doctor is normally tutored by Naren. As he was not available, I tutored. She had to memorise a passage on Stephen Hawking, and as usual, did it w/o understanding a word. I translated for her, could not find the Tamil word for "Sclerosis" and we did the best we could. This girl is one of 5 kids, the family has been abandoned by the father, and she does not let too much of that worry her on Friday afternoons: she and her sibs show up to be tutored, they ask for help where they need it, and study hard. They then color, get their candy, thank all of us very nicely and unfailingly(which is so, so gracious) and go home.
Naren was invited to the birthday party of a girl from another school, whose parents we do not know. As the location was close to a friend's place, I permitted him to go for a short while and he was pleased. Gotta pick your battles. Navin has also started getting phone calls from girls in his class (7th grade). Lest anyone think this is testimony to the fact that both our sons are irresistible to the opposite sex, let me assure you that part of this calling is completely due to the fact that the girls are bored and badly want someone to irritate (which the 7th grade boys also choose to do regularly).
On this warm note, let me wish all of you a Happy Valentine's Day and lots of love.
"Once love is purged of vanity, it resembles a feeble convalescent, hardly able to drag itself about." - Nicolas Chamfort
Unw -
Renu
posted by Renu Weiss at
3:10 AM
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