Report of 1 Oct '06
Hello from Chennai -
Well, I lost this blog once when my computer's power conked (it happens frequently now, though the computer is plugged in), so let me hasten. Happy Saraswathi Pooja (worship of the goddess of learning) and Happy Ayudha Pooja; the latter is where we worship instruments (like stethoscopes) and books. The books are then set aside and unopened until the following am, thus students don't study today and the poor overworked things welcome this holiday big time. Tomorrow's Gandhi's b'day and also a holiday to honor a great man.
The Banyan is fine. Very busy, and now I'm expected to do Medical Director kind of things like discipline other doctors. Yikes. Not yet, I told Vandana, let me concentrate on setting right some systems first. Our patient, Ms. V, who had been so debilitated earlier is now better: her ear infection has been treated, a different physiotherapist has worked w/ her and now she's up, walking and dancing! Oh, halleluia - it was such a welcome sight to see her rear end swaying in perfect rhythm to the filmi music and then she bopped her head and made little clicking sounds and was totally in her groove. Sometimes, patients will heal due to non-medical interventions (physical therapy, Bollywood music!) quite nicely.
I met the brother and sister-in-law of the burns patient, Ms. U. They are indeed loving, kind and concerned, and a priceless lesson to us not to jump to conclusions about events that might seem otherwise than actual. Ms. U is now a giant paint in the neck - obsessive, demanding, childish; we have a great appreciation of how much her family, whom she lived with, had to endure. As soon as she has healed, she goes to an old age home, which all feel is the best place for her. She weighs 26 kgs, 57 lbs and is about my height (5'3"); I am concerned about tuberculosis in this lady and we are going to start treatment for it though the tests have come back negative.
We were phenomenally privileged to have my sister Anu and her family visit us yesterday and today. Anu is an eminent researcher w/ all kinds of collaborations w/ Johns Hopkins and UK medical personnel, and is usually very busy; we were glad she had time to unwind. I like her husband and kids a lot, too, so we had a whale of a time. It is wonderful to get along w/ one's family. We watched the excellent movies "Collateral" and "Hitch." My brilliant scientist aunt, Indira, asked us to go visit today, and we did, and had a wonderful time, sitting out on her porch after a glass of mango juice, speaking of all things family-ish and not-so-familyish. We are very privileged in our relatives (well, these ones at any rate).
Naren and Navin are typical teenagers, but at least they talk to us. I would very much welcome emails to Naren (narenweiss@hotmail.com) that are confidence-boosting; along w/ this lack of confidence is a perverse denial that his preparation for the exams was inadequate. Well, the boy will figure it out, we hope. Navin, too, has been shoddy w/ exam prep. Talk of dating is on the wane; now Naren wants to invite some young woman and her entire family over so that we can meet them and get to know them - ostensibly he and the lady are just friends. Again, I am happy that he thought to go this route instead of the one adopted by quite a few of his friends: to slink around w/the romantic interest, cut class and go to movies, and lie to the parents. I was very happy to get advice from Ann Bagley, a friend and also the mother of a friend, who has raised 2 fine young men, one of whom I love very dearly; we are extremely blessed in our friends.
Unw -
R
Well, I lost this blog once when my computer's power conked (it happens frequently now, though the computer is plugged in), so let me hasten. Happy Saraswathi Pooja (worship of the goddess of learning) and Happy Ayudha Pooja; the latter is where we worship instruments (like stethoscopes) and books. The books are then set aside and unopened until the following am, thus students don't study today and the poor overworked things welcome this holiday big time. Tomorrow's Gandhi's b'day and also a holiday to honor a great man.
The Banyan is fine. Very busy, and now I'm expected to do Medical Director kind of things like discipline other doctors. Yikes. Not yet, I told Vandana, let me concentrate on setting right some systems first. Our patient, Ms. V, who had been so debilitated earlier is now better: her ear infection has been treated, a different physiotherapist has worked w/ her and now she's up, walking and dancing! Oh, halleluia - it was such a welcome sight to see her rear end swaying in perfect rhythm to the filmi music and then she bopped her head and made little clicking sounds and was totally in her groove. Sometimes, patients will heal due to non-medical interventions (physical therapy, Bollywood music!) quite nicely.
I met the brother and sister-in-law of the burns patient, Ms. U. They are indeed loving, kind and concerned, and a priceless lesson to us not to jump to conclusions about events that might seem otherwise than actual. Ms. U is now a giant paint in the neck - obsessive, demanding, childish; we have a great appreciation of how much her family, whom she lived with, had to endure. As soon as she has healed, she goes to an old age home, which all feel is the best place for her. She weighs 26 kgs, 57 lbs and is about my height (5'3"); I am concerned about tuberculosis in this lady and we are going to start treatment for it though the tests have come back negative.
We were phenomenally privileged to have my sister Anu and her family visit us yesterday and today. Anu is an eminent researcher w/ all kinds of collaborations w/ Johns Hopkins and UK medical personnel, and is usually very busy; we were glad she had time to unwind. I like her husband and kids a lot, too, so we had a whale of a time. It is wonderful to get along w/ one's family. We watched the excellent movies "Collateral" and "Hitch." My brilliant scientist aunt, Indira, asked us to go visit today, and we did, and had a wonderful time, sitting out on her porch after a glass of mango juice, speaking of all things family-ish and not-so-familyish. We are very privileged in our relatives (well, these ones at any rate).
Naren and Navin are typical teenagers, but at least they talk to us. I would very much welcome emails to Naren (narenweiss@hotmail.com) that are confidence-boosting; along w/ this lack of confidence is a perverse denial that his preparation for the exams was inadequate. Well, the boy will figure it out, we hope. Navin, too, has been shoddy w/ exam prep. Talk of dating is on the wane; now Naren wants to invite some young woman and her entire family over so that we can meet them and get to know them - ostensibly he and the lady are just friends. Again, I am happy that he thought to go this route instead of the one adopted by quite a few of his friends: to slink around w/the romantic interest, cut class and go to movies, and lie to the parents. I was very happy to get advice from Ann Bagley, a friend and also the mother of a friend, who has raised 2 fine young men, one of whom I love very dearly; we are extremely blessed in our friends.
Unw -
R
posted by Renu Weiss at
8:57 AM
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