Report of 30 March 2013
Hello from Chennai -
It is hot. Summer is here. About 93 degrees outside, 95% humidity and no airconditioning. On the plus side, the mosquitoes have taken off and the mangoes are here. Both joys.
Kovalam was less hectic than usual. The high school student was with us again and cheerfully taking all of it in. One of the regular customers brought her mentally ill daughter to be seen - with a chain around her leg hooked to her waist. I don't mean one of them delicate ankle bracelets either. It was quite horrifying and I made a heck of a scene, asking that it be removed, otherwise I would not treat the patient. My declining treatment did not help the patient any, and I told the nurses privately what to do later; I hoped that my insistence on the removal of the chain migh help some. As we negotiated back and forth, with the mother stating she'd take the chain off the minute they got home after my treatment and I wanting it removed as a precondition to my treatment, I noticed the patient's brother (also a regular patient of mine) sitting outside and exhorted him to treat his sister with a modicum of dignity. Otherwise I'd decline treatment to him, too. None of it worked and the family went home. My other colleagues later told me that they'd told the mother to leave the patient with us, we'd give the mother a monthly stipend, and she had refused; ostensibly, she takes the chained daughter around and begs, hoping to elicit sympathy with the chain.
You feel grateful for mothers that don't do this, do you not.
Adaikalam was a bit of a mess, with my orders not being carried out, etc. Intense fatigue set in, because any number of excuses are offered. I had to rope Vandana in, and she looked over the files, sat with the other employees and an action plan has been formulated. Thank you, Vandana. I walked up to our auditorium in some ire, and started to teach the class on ovarian cancer - an important topic because this cancer has usually spread by the time it is initially diagnosed. The health care workers were so interested and interactive and curious that my ire dissipated and all of us were soon laughing at some notion or the other. I have a bit of a fascination for the actor Suriya and nearly all my examples involve him somehow: "So, if you notice that your belly is starting to bulge and you have some vague discomfort, are you going to continue watching that Suriya movie on TV?" By the end of the half-hour, I continued to be impressed at the health care workers' easy uptake of what I teach.
The men are at my mother-in-law's farm for this Easter weekend and we will Skype tomorrow.
My friend, Pushkala, and I went to see a Hindi movie and it was fun. I had a little shopping to do before that, and Pushkala kindly indulged me; shopping is so much more bearable when done with someone. My aunt, Indira, was in town and she took me out for lunch yesterday. That was a blast. My aunts (mother's sisters) are fiery individuals of high intellect and intense opinion and powerful senses of humor. It was a very fun lunch, and we lingered and lingered. I got updates on the rest of my relatives, and that was very nice.
Nice to see family, isn't it. What do people who fight with their relatives get???
Unw -
R
It is hot. Summer is here. About 93 degrees outside, 95% humidity and no airconditioning. On the plus side, the mosquitoes have taken off and the mangoes are here. Both joys.
Kovalam was less hectic than usual. The high school student was with us again and cheerfully taking all of it in. One of the regular customers brought her mentally ill daughter to be seen - with a chain around her leg hooked to her waist. I don't mean one of them delicate ankle bracelets either. It was quite horrifying and I made a heck of a scene, asking that it be removed, otherwise I would not treat the patient. My declining treatment did not help the patient any, and I told the nurses privately what to do later; I hoped that my insistence on the removal of the chain migh help some. As we negotiated back and forth, with the mother stating she'd take the chain off the minute they got home after my treatment and I wanting it removed as a precondition to my treatment, I noticed the patient's brother (also a regular patient of mine) sitting outside and exhorted him to treat his sister with a modicum of dignity. Otherwise I'd decline treatment to him, too. None of it worked and the family went home. My other colleagues later told me that they'd told the mother to leave the patient with us, we'd give the mother a monthly stipend, and she had refused; ostensibly, she takes the chained daughter around and begs, hoping to elicit sympathy with the chain.
You feel grateful for mothers that don't do this, do you not.
Adaikalam was a bit of a mess, with my orders not being carried out, etc. Intense fatigue set in, because any number of excuses are offered. I had to rope Vandana in, and she looked over the files, sat with the other employees and an action plan has been formulated. Thank you, Vandana. I walked up to our auditorium in some ire, and started to teach the class on ovarian cancer - an important topic because this cancer has usually spread by the time it is initially diagnosed. The health care workers were so interested and interactive and curious that my ire dissipated and all of us were soon laughing at some notion or the other. I have a bit of a fascination for the actor Suriya and nearly all my examples involve him somehow: "So, if you notice that your belly is starting to bulge and you have some vague discomfort, are you going to continue watching that Suriya movie on TV?" By the end of the half-hour, I continued to be impressed at the health care workers' easy uptake of what I teach.
The men are at my mother-in-law's farm for this Easter weekend and we will Skype tomorrow.
My friend, Pushkala, and I went to see a Hindi movie and it was fun. I had a little shopping to do before that, and Pushkala kindly indulged me; shopping is so much more bearable when done with someone. My aunt, Indira, was in town and she took me out for lunch yesterday. That was a blast. My aunts (mother's sisters) are fiery individuals of high intellect and intense opinion and powerful senses of humor. It was a very fun lunch, and we lingered and lingered. I got updates on the rest of my relatives, and that was very nice.
Nice to see family, isn't it. What do people who fight with their relatives get???
Unw -
R
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posted by Renu Weiss at
5:03 AM
1 Comments:
Doc,
I don’t know if I ever told you, but reading your blogs give me a sense of piece I don’t get anywhere else. Working as much as I do, I look to your blogs to ground me. One day I hope to be in a situation where I can make a difference in humanity. I am so touched to have met you. What you do is remarkable. I am in awww how selfless you are. I want to thank you for blogging. I hope to see you soon!
ps. I had the pleasure of seeing your young man yesterday and it was WONDERFUL!
Rekha
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Anonymous, at 30/3/13 6:35 AM
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