Renu's Week

Tuesday, June 20, 2006

Report of 18 June '06

Happy Father's Day to all the great fathers on this list (and there are many) -

Hope y'all are doing well. I am fine and enjoying some productive medical time in this country. The new intern class is about to enter St. V, and I took one of them out on Saturday. Shilpa is from India and relatively new to this country. I remember w/ great appreciation how a couple of lovely folks in Dayton, Ohio, ensured that I adjusted well to the U.S. and that I did not miss home food too much. I remain in touch w/ them and consider it a great privilege, so was merely passing on the good turn.

The patients at Citizens have been great, too. One of them, WH, a favorite from last year, returned to see one of the other docs and I saw his wife sitting in the hallway and stopped to hug and chat. She told me her husband was in one of the exam rooms, and I stepped in. It was hard to figure out who hugged longer - he or I. He has spent some time in prison, is determined to make a life for himself and his family, he and his ex-wife have remarried, and his current plans include educating himself. How fabulous!! - I told him I'd done all my premed work at a community college, loved it, Scott taught at one in Indy, and that if WH needed a letter of introduction, I'd be happy to write it. His back pain is on the mend, and we had a good chat. He offered last year to do my airconditioning for me, and since I was the Tabers' houseguest then, I passed on the good word to them.

We had a 69 yo lady from Jamaica come in, and she has multiple health issues, many dormant, some ignored w/ the hope that they'd go away on their own. We addressed the whole lot, and when it came to the fact that she might have diabetes, her daughter burst into tears. We reassured both of them that it was a very manageable condition, roped in the Health Educator to speak to them, and the pharmacist enrolled the pt in a low-charge-for-meds plan. All of us were merely doing our jobs, but these 2 ladies seemed so grateful one would have thought we were weaving a gossamery, shimmery, welcome web of miracles.

And then this am, I came in to find out our cook in India was away visiting her ailing father, so our fine young men were eating toast ad infinitum in Chennai (very happily, mind you, because the local bakery sells excellent, fresh bread, and Scott recently invested in a toaster) while Scott does some work in Bangalore. It's amazing how one little piece of news about one's offspring having their routine (like balanced diets) out of whack can sort of fill up one's whole mind. I emailed the neighbors, as the young people were going to be bashful about it, and Scott told them to take some groceries across to them for them to cook. So a balanced diet reigned again. As much as it is great to be here, soaking up medical knowledge and making a few bucks, a piece of news from home can cause me to rethink my mission. Scott told me not to pack my bags just yet.

Saw "Take the Lead" w/ Shilpa, and "The Lake House." You know, drippy love stories can only work if they have a decent premise and a solid supporting cast, not to mention good lead actors: "The Lake House" had none of this. Christopher Plummer railed around a bit as a grumpy old man, but poor Keanu could not act. I watched the Mavs lose 3 in a row to the Heat, and caught some friendly heat of my own from our fine podiatrist - who supports the Heat. I'll watch again tonight, and hope that the Mavs can recover; I really like their coach, who is an ex-Spur.

Unw -

Renu

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