Renu's Week

Monday, February 05, 2007

Report of 5 Feb '07

So here we are, after a Colts victory!

To those, whether in the U.S. or elsewhere, not familiar w/ American football, let me explain: the culmination of the playing season is the Superbowl. This year, the 2 teams playing in "the final" were the Chicago Bears and the Indianapolis Colts; as we lived in Indy for 3 years and I trained there, we were pretty rabidly cheering the Colts. We got up at 4.45 am, took the neighbors' housekey that they'd given us earlier and let ourselves into their flat as quietly as possible. Turned on their TV, and 3-1/2 hours later, saw the Colts win somewhat comfortably. Yes!! We like their coach, the first African-American to win the Superbowl - thus becoming a trivia question - and their quarterback: both are humble and decent, thus easy to like. It was rather nice to watch our team win without getting an Indiana-sized ulcer.

Some of our patients went back to their hometowns last week. This week, I heard that the patient I'd seen last week w/ the baby, Ms. B, had settled back in w/ the family. Her story was a bit vague, but she'd stated she'd been raped en route to us and the baby was born here. It is not her husband's baby, but ostensibly the in-laws and extended family have accepted Ms. B and the little guy - relieving all of us. It is entirely possible that they do not know (and DNA testing is not an affordable option here), but we'll take all blessings we can get.

Ms. S, the much older lady who'd had the stroke and was so debilitated I didn't think she'd survive, is holding her own and eating by herself. This is a big treat for me and I love watching her eat. The night shift had its share of challenges, w/ a surprise inspection yielding that all the residents were being marched naked to the showers in the mornings - anathema to us. So we had to get to the root of this problem, as the dignity of those who cannot speak for themselves is rather high on our agenda, and that took the better part of a day. I am doing a great many non-medical things, and find that I miss medicine quite a bit.

Tutoring was fun, and a new little girl has joined us. She is very tiny, cute and an enthusiastic learner, thus delighting all of us. The kids got M&M's at the end of their session. Navin returned from a school trip, having had an "okay" time and Naren finished his last mock exam today. My share of patients included Navin, w/a thorn in his big toe, and Scott, into whose eye a bug flew. The thorn came out w/ some effort. The bug was so clearly in Scott's left lower eyelid that it was a treat for me (often, foreign bodies that irritate our patients' eyes can't even be seen) and I removed it after a couple of dabs w/ a tissue (washing the eye had not worked); I was so flushed w/ achievement that I preserved the bug for a bit and stared at it w/ great fascination (sort of trophy-ish).

Let me wind up. I do look forward to heading stateside, and the conference of the American College of Physicians has been an extremely worthwhile annual endeavor.

Unw -

R

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