Report of 22 Oct '06
Hello from breezy Chennai -
This keyboard tended to hang, so I thought the blog was doomed, but here I am. I do so miss good technology.
Life is fine. We have just had a week of family visiting. My parents' 50th anniversary was on 18 Oct, and we had a party for them and their friends. My widowed sister-in-law came from Bangalore, my sister came from Vellore, and my brother and I organised the show here. My mother is disabled w/ a non-functional left knee and tends to shun the outdoors as she is embarrassed to be seen w/ a walker. But she came here w/ my father and we were all together in various permutations and combinations, and it was a blast. The hosting was that much easier due to my husband's good nature and easy presence, plus his great love for his in-laws; such a peach, that man.
Belated Happy Diwali - the festival of lights! All of us celebrated it yesterday, i.e., the entire Bose family. It was a fun time w/ non-stop eating, and it looks like a good time was had by all. My sons want to host the whole family again soon; it is awfully nice to get along w/ one's fam. I gave my parents an enlargement of a professional photograph taken of the 6 of us - Sam, Saroja, Manu, Anu, Renu and Vinu. Certainly, it'd have been nice to throw in pics of the children-in-law and grandkids, but that required massive coordinating and I figured I'd do that another time. This enlargement was from a precious picture - the last professional one taken before Manu died. My parents wept when they opened the gift in private.
The B is fine. Our patient who was rehab'd enough to accompany me on rounds and use her medical assistant training, JJ, had psychiatrically relapsed when I was away. She had had to be restrained and sedated, and stopped going on doctors' rounds. I was very sorry when I saw this, as her clinical skills are thunderously good. Shortly after my return, I noticed that she was tailing me - offering a magazine or the newspaper - and asked the therapists if she might work w/ me on rounds. They agreed, and JJ comes on rounds. Flashes of her original brilliance show, as do the effects of her psych meds (she is pretty groggy sometimes), and we are continuing to work w/ her. Working on rounds had done JJ, and the patients, a world of good. It was only when I saw her at work much earlier, and saw her robust sense of self and self-esteem, that I realised the importance of successful psych rehab and income-earning for a woman. JJ was a delight, and she is showing signs of her old self, and I am hopeful.
Ms. K's son, the child w/ cancer in his eyes, is undergoing treatment. Stand by for more. We have to be realistic here, though it breaks our hearts to do so.
My father, Sam, lectured to the healthcare workers at the B on wound care. Our head nurse, Leela, found the talk excellent and very useful. Sam found the B depressing, esp the mass of women being herded, and couldn't wait to leave. Scott suggested I cut the man some slack, as the sight of a psychiatric facility does depress; perhaps our success stories aren't as glaringly evident as the work that's ongoing. Anyhoo, I found the talk arrogant and elitist: Sam works at a purely for-profit institution (even though he ain't purely for-profit), and is used to that mindset. His treatment for bedsores: vacuum-assisted closure; my treatment: turn the patient regularly. Sam had also forgotten some of his Tamil, and so the talk got even more uppity as it was partly in English. Quite a hoot, overall. Scott felt I was being a bit harsh.
We tutored last week and gave the students this week off for Diwali. After last week's studies, the kids played Uno and had a whale of a time. I really like the tutors and the "outcastes" sitting together at a game. The veg market is also fine, w/ all my patients holding up, knock on wood. My mother noticed that the veges served at meals in our house were fresh and lovely; I mentioned that it was nice to have patients in high places, like veg-vending.
"When choosing places at the table, important persons don't care and those who care aren't important." - English proverb
Unw -
Renu
This keyboard tended to hang, so I thought the blog was doomed, but here I am. I do so miss good technology.
Life is fine. We have just had a week of family visiting. My parents' 50th anniversary was on 18 Oct, and we had a party for them and their friends. My widowed sister-in-law came from Bangalore, my sister came from Vellore, and my brother and I organised the show here. My mother is disabled w/ a non-functional left knee and tends to shun the outdoors as she is embarrassed to be seen w/ a walker. But she came here w/ my father and we were all together in various permutations and combinations, and it was a blast. The hosting was that much easier due to my husband's good nature and easy presence, plus his great love for his in-laws; such a peach, that man.
Belated Happy Diwali - the festival of lights! All of us celebrated it yesterday, i.e., the entire Bose family. It was a fun time w/ non-stop eating, and it looks like a good time was had by all. My sons want to host the whole family again soon; it is awfully nice to get along w/ one's fam. I gave my parents an enlargement of a professional photograph taken of the 6 of us - Sam, Saroja, Manu, Anu, Renu and Vinu. Certainly, it'd have been nice to throw in pics of the children-in-law and grandkids, but that required massive coordinating and I figured I'd do that another time. This enlargement was from a precious picture - the last professional one taken before Manu died. My parents wept when they opened the gift in private.
The B is fine. Our patient who was rehab'd enough to accompany me on rounds and use her medical assistant training, JJ, had psychiatrically relapsed when I was away. She had had to be restrained and sedated, and stopped going on doctors' rounds. I was very sorry when I saw this, as her clinical skills are thunderously good. Shortly after my return, I noticed that she was tailing me - offering a magazine or the newspaper - and asked the therapists if she might work w/ me on rounds. They agreed, and JJ comes on rounds. Flashes of her original brilliance show, as do the effects of her psych meds (she is pretty groggy sometimes), and we are continuing to work w/ her. Working on rounds had done JJ, and the patients, a world of good. It was only when I saw her at work much earlier, and saw her robust sense of self and self-esteem, that I realised the importance of successful psych rehab and income-earning for a woman. JJ was a delight, and she is showing signs of her old self, and I am hopeful.
Ms. K's son, the child w/ cancer in his eyes, is undergoing treatment. Stand by for more. We have to be realistic here, though it breaks our hearts to do so.
My father, Sam, lectured to the healthcare workers at the B on wound care. Our head nurse, Leela, found the talk excellent and very useful. Sam found the B depressing, esp the mass of women being herded, and couldn't wait to leave. Scott suggested I cut the man some slack, as the sight of a psychiatric facility does depress; perhaps our success stories aren't as glaringly evident as the work that's ongoing. Anyhoo, I found the talk arrogant and elitist: Sam works at a purely for-profit institution (even though he ain't purely for-profit), and is used to that mindset. His treatment for bedsores: vacuum-assisted closure; my treatment: turn the patient regularly. Sam had also forgotten some of his Tamil, and so the talk got even more uppity as it was partly in English. Quite a hoot, overall. Scott felt I was being a bit harsh.
We tutored last week and gave the students this week off for Diwali. After last week's studies, the kids played Uno and had a whale of a time. I really like the tutors and the "outcastes" sitting together at a game. The veg market is also fine, w/ all my patients holding up, knock on wood. My mother noticed that the veges served at meals in our house were fresh and lovely; I mentioned that it was nice to have patients in high places, like veg-vending.
"When choosing places at the table, important persons don't care and those who care aren't important." - English proverb
Unw -
Renu
posted by Renu Weiss at
9:20 AM
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