Report of 9 Dec 2012
Good evening from Chennai!
It has been a good week. The Banyan has been busy. Kovalam continues to attract a ton of impoverished people and last week, I had to limit the number to 40; at 15 minutes per patient (typical Western scenario), that would have taken me 10 hours, but I had 5. So we had to clip along. One of our patients has thankfully been evaluated in the free Government hospital (GH) for his chest pain and has been advised surgery; sometimes when I say things like "Please go to GH and see the specialist," the response is variable. But this patient went, got evaluated and came back to see me - Halleluia. Have I saved his life? I do not know, but I know that I have eased mine - I would not have rested comfortably until this man saw a specialist.
My colleague's grandmother brought fish and shrimp again and we ate well. Our cook is a whiz with food and she produced tasty fare with this raw material. I overpaid my patient again, and know that I likely paid less than I would have paid at the market. And the stuff was fresh, too, hauled in that morning.
Adaikalam has been busy also. There were rains earlier this week and I could not go to work. When I did go, there were a few things to catch up on. One of our patients who is quite disabled had left the Banyan and is now back with us; she is not permitted to chew tobacco or snort snuff and consequently, wants to leave. I told my colleagues she could certainly leave. This is the difference in my approach: even in the U.S., when a patient wanted to leave AMA (Against Medical Advice), I asked the staff to pull up the paperwork, explained risks to the patient, and left. A lot of colleagues would sit down and coax the patient into changing his/her mind, and that is certainly an approach. It's not mine. Same in India; when I said this lady could leave, there were questions about "Where would she go?" I know not; if she has a viable plan, let's have at it. If she is safer with us, we can certainly discuss it.
A neighbor's daughter, our sons' childhood friend, got married and we were at the festivities yesterday and today. It was wonderful and felt like a family wedding. The bride's mother and I studied at the same college, and the bride's grandmother is a lovely person. I am a huge fan of friends' parents and have often felt delighted to meet them. Naren joined us last night and that was fun. Scott and I were at the wedding today, too, and felt completely welcomed and included. We caught Navin on Skype today and that was fun, also. We are blessed in our family and friends.
I phoned my Dad today and he was heading to a carol service, so the call was short. We were at a play on Friday, benefiting Aids charities, and there were carols sung before the start. As "Oh, Holy Night" was belted out, needless to say, I started crying: it is such a beautiful song. Thankfully, no one saw.
We attended my friend Joan's mother-in-law's memorial service and there, too, we felt like family.
We are privileged in our friends and relatives. We hope you have similar joys.
Unw -
R
It has been a good week. The Banyan has been busy. Kovalam continues to attract a ton of impoverished people and last week, I had to limit the number to 40; at 15 minutes per patient (typical Western scenario), that would have taken me 10 hours, but I had 5. So we had to clip along. One of our patients has thankfully been evaluated in the free Government hospital (GH) for his chest pain and has been advised surgery; sometimes when I say things like "Please go to GH and see the specialist," the response is variable. But this patient went, got evaluated and came back to see me - Halleluia. Have I saved his life? I do not know, but I know that I have eased mine - I would not have rested comfortably until this man saw a specialist.
My colleague's grandmother brought fish and shrimp again and we ate well. Our cook is a whiz with food and she produced tasty fare with this raw material. I overpaid my patient again, and know that I likely paid less than I would have paid at the market. And the stuff was fresh, too, hauled in that morning.
Adaikalam has been busy also. There were rains earlier this week and I could not go to work. When I did go, there were a few things to catch up on. One of our patients who is quite disabled had left the Banyan and is now back with us; she is not permitted to chew tobacco or snort snuff and consequently, wants to leave. I told my colleagues she could certainly leave. This is the difference in my approach: even in the U.S., when a patient wanted to leave AMA (Against Medical Advice), I asked the staff to pull up the paperwork, explained risks to the patient, and left. A lot of colleagues would sit down and coax the patient into changing his/her mind, and that is certainly an approach. It's not mine. Same in India; when I said this lady could leave, there were questions about "Where would she go?" I know not; if she has a viable plan, let's have at it. If she is safer with us, we can certainly discuss it.
A neighbor's daughter, our sons' childhood friend, got married and we were at the festivities yesterday and today. It was wonderful and felt like a family wedding. The bride's mother and I studied at the same college, and the bride's grandmother is a lovely person. I am a huge fan of friends' parents and have often felt delighted to meet them. Naren joined us last night and that was fun. Scott and I were at the wedding today, too, and felt completely welcomed and included. We caught Navin on Skype today and that was fun, also. We are blessed in our family and friends.
I phoned my Dad today and he was heading to a carol service, so the call was short. We were at a play on Friday, benefiting Aids charities, and there were carols sung before the start. As "Oh, Holy Night" was belted out, needless to say, I started crying: it is such a beautiful song. Thankfully, no one saw.
We attended my friend Joan's mother-in-law's memorial service and there, too, we felt like family.
We are privileged in our friends and relatives. We hope you have similar joys.
Unw -
R
posted by Renu Weiss at
5:45 AM
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