Report of 29 March 2010
Hello from Chennai -
Go Butler! The Indianapolis college has made it into the Final Four of the National Collegiate Athletic Association basketball tournament in the U.S. We do not have a TV, but hope to watch the games next weekend, if someone televises them internationally, at a friend's house.
The Banyan goes along swimmingly. There is a young assistant, a patient now employed at the B, in the sick room. Ms. M.u. cleans and helps out, and generally makes herself useful. Our residents' files are very thick and full of papers, and require considerable skill to open them. After I have finished writing in the file, I hand it over to Ms. M.u., and she flips all the pages back and closes the file. At the completion of each file-closing, she draws my attention to it like a child, and I then rave about her efforts. Her smile then is a picture of accomplishment and self-satisfaction; a job well-done does give the doer a lot of confidence, doesn't it. This job is simple - close files - but the amount of Booster Hormones it gives Ms. M.u. is a treat to see.
How fortunate are we, eh, that we can so charge a young lady's self-esteem with the simplest of means.
There is a young woman at our administrative office who is contracted to clean. She had asked me for my sons' outgrown clothes, as she has 4 children (3 boys); this number of children prompted a discussion between her and me, as I push for smaller families *especially for those who cannot afford large ones.* She has variously seen me "curb-side" for rashes, or fatigue, or cough. Today, she told me that she could not catch her breath all night, and coughed when she lay down. I examined her, detected a faint wheeze, and told her she needed an inhaler for such times. She shuddered, said she could not afford an inhaler, and asked for some "pills," instead. Her colleague told her not to think of the cost but of her health, and educated her about the benefits of an inhaler. Sometimes, my best allies are those affiliated with the patient; I can drone on about the medical benefits of the treatment I prescribe, but a few choice words from a lay person often help much more to convince the patient.
The 3 Weiss men are well. Naren has exams this week; non-professional courses in India are very easy, and exams are generally not difficult. Navin has gone out of town with his school, and they will visit some villages with economic hardship, so that young minds can see challenges that our fellow citizens face and perhaps come up with some solutions for them. I like such trips. Scott is well, and losing weight in this high heat; there was not a whole lot of weight to start with, and now much of that is going as well, so he looks emaciated. One of my mother's goals used to be to get Scott to gain weight, and she acknowledged his high metabolic rate as a challenge there.
Nice to get along with one's in-laws, isn't it.
Happy Easter to all of you!
Unw -
R
Go Butler! The Indianapolis college has made it into the Final Four of the National Collegiate Athletic Association basketball tournament in the U.S. We do not have a TV, but hope to watch the games next weekend, if someone televises them internationally, at a friend's house.
The Banyan goes along swimmingly. There is a young assistant, a patient now employed at the B, in the sick room. Ms. M.u. cleans and helps out, and generally makes herself useful. Our residents' files are very thick and full of papers, and require considerable skill to open them. After I have finished writing in the file, I hand it over to Ms. M.u., and she flips all the pages back and closes the file. At the completion of each file-closing, she draws my attention to it like a child, and I then rave about her efforts. Her smile then is a picture of accomplishment and self-satisfaction; a job well-done does give the doer a lot of confidence, doesn't it. This job is simple - close files - but the amount of Booster Hormones it gives Ms. M.u. is a treat to see.
How fortunate are we, eh, that we can so charge a young lady's self-esteem with the simplest of means.
There is a young woman at our administrative office who is contracted to clean. She had asked me for my sons' outgrown clothes, as she has 4 children (3 boys); this number of children prompted a discussion between her and me, as I push for smaller families *especially for those who cannot afford large ones.* She has variously seen me "curb-side" for rashes, or fatigue, or cough. Today, she told me that she could not catch her breath all night, and coughed when she lay down. I examined her, detected a faint wheeze, and told her she needed an inhaler for such times. She shuddered, said she could not afford an inhaler, and asked for some "pills," instead. Her colleague told her not to think of the cost but of her health, and educated her about the benefits of an inhaler. Sometimes, my best allies are those affiliated with the patient; I can drone on about the medical benefits of the treatment I prescribe, but a few choice words from a lay person often help much more to convince the patient.
The 3 Weiss men are well. Naren has exams this week; non-professional courses in India are very easy, and exams are generally not difficult. Navin has gone out of town with his school, and they will visit some villages with economic hardship, so that young minds can see challenges that our fellow citizens face and perhaps come up with some solutions for them. I like such trips. Scott is well, and losing weight in this high heat; there was not a whole lot of weight to start with, and now much of that is going as well, so he looks emaciated. One of my mother's goals used to be to get Scott to gain weight, and she acknowledged his high metabolic rate as a challenge there.
Nice to get along with one's in-laws, isn't it.
Happy Easter to all of you!
Unw -
R
posted by Renu Weiss at
8:38 PM
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