Renu's Week

Sunday, September 30, 2018

Report of 30 Sept 2018

Good evening!

There is a nice breeze about, the blue Bay of Bengal has boats on it and I have a theory that the recent rains might have settled the ambient dust, as the picture in front of me is crystal clear, with vivid greens and bright blues.  Like someone painted it.

I swam this morning at a nearby hotel, as our apartment's pool was being cleaned.  The hotel normally charges a heap for this privilege, but our young neighbors upstairs work there and granted us a favor.  It's a lot more difficult for folks in the U.S. to use a hotel's pool if they are not guests - liability, and all that.  After my exercise and shower and breakfast, we Skyped with the boys and I was in a simply splendid mood; Scott enlightened all - "Amma just swam."

It's nice to start the day with a workout, especially a fun one.  It's also nice to sleep in, and that happens on a Saturday.  Fun workouts include zumba, which I don't get to do very much here, swim, and any form of dance.  "Don't give me people who want to dance, give me people who have to dance," said a sign once.

Work is fabulous.  Kovalam remains busy.  We have a cadre of workers called Nalam ("Health") workers, recruited from the community for various purposes, such as accompany a fellow citizen to a Government office, and help them traverse the maze that is the standard Government office here, etc.  One of them, who actually assists at our clinic, came to me with belly pain and stated that her mother had died of uterine cancer.  That was enough; I referred her to the Cancer Hospital, and she was very quick to agree to go.  I will find out tomorrow what transpired.

Adaikalam is also nice.  One of our patients, Ms. X, was admitted in the ICU; she is a beloved person, alternately cranky and quiet, and I went to see her in the hospital + talk to the ICU doctor.  It was a good visit, with the doc tolerating all my questions.  Ms. X has recovered, but has a urine infection that is resistant to most antibiotics.  That is the bane of our existence here: resistant bugs which wreak havoc on all bodies, frail and not-so-frail.  I am hopeful that Ms. X will continue her course of recovery.

The young lady whom my nephew married 2 years ago regretfully lost her father last week.  We went for the funeral, condoling with extended family.  Many of my extended family met for lunch yesterday.  That was nice; all enjoyed the get-together and it was fun to see family.  Indian custom actually demands a period of mourning, but our niece and nephew joined us for lunch and we were grateful.  They are very sweet people, and I simply love getting together with the next generation.  A good time was had by all, talking and eating and healing.

Today, we Skyped with the boys and there was a lot of talking and laughing there, too.  The call lasted 1.5 hours and that was grand fun.  After that, Scott and I were industry incarnate: there has been an ant infestation in our chest of drawers (as you'll see, no pun intended), where "inner wear" is stored, and we had to de-ant (you can well imagine the complications of ants in one's pants - ooooh); then I washed all my non-color-fast clothes by hand; we washed bed linen in the machine; Scott cleaned; I cooked, which I absolutely enjoy, making my red and yellow pepper and cucumber salad, and fish; then Scott took a nap and that was incentive to me to stop and read the paper.  I have not yet finished the paper, but it is a fine piece of journalistic excellence and I enjoy it.  We went to a cotton fabrics show held by rural personnel yesterday and it was great: some non-profits help these folks design and produce fine clothing, beautifully designed and nicely tailored, and I bought some clothes plus linen.  It is a nice feeling to directly benefit the artisan, not the middleman.

Hope you have a good week!

Unw -

R

Sunday, September 23, 2018

Report of 23 Sept 2018

Good evening on a sunny day -

The sea is picture-perfect, traffic is rolling along on the Muttukadu bridge, heading homewards maybe.  It is a trifle hot, so our living room fan is on full blast.  I have eaten a delicious chicken roll from Scott's favorite Crescent Bakery (Crescent usually = Muslim) and a nice salad - red and yellow bell peppers (or capsicum, as we say here) + cucumbers and salt, oregano (brought here from the U.S.) and lemon juice.  Our refrigeration techniques are poor, so our produce is usually fresh and this was.

The newspaper today had a lengthy article on pests from the Americas decimating our crops.  Customs in the U.S. is unfailingly stern about checking incoming travellers' luggage for fruit, etc.  One year, I had some cut apple for our young sons and had forgotten about it; as the sniffy dog came up to my backpack, I opened it and there was the fruit.  The agent was kind - she said, "Yes, I usually carry fruit for my children, also," waited while I threw it, and did not make it sound like I was a common criminal.  Our newspaper today stated that we had to be similarly vigilant about fruit/veges/flowers coming in here from overseas.

Work is good.  As I told my colleagues at my U.S. workplace this year, never feels like work.  Monday mornings have our hugely busy clinic at our seaside village, Kovalam.  Last week, a mentally ill lady was referred to me by our psychiatrist for weakness and fatigue.  As I checked her over, I asked who the young girl was with her; she mentioned it was her daughter, who had stopped studying on her brothers' edict to care for her mother.  I was livid; I truly cannot tolerate this stop-studying-to-care-for-a-relative business when education is the only way out of poverty.  Our community workers are excellent at making our patients understand such concepts and I left this matter in the capable hands of one of them.  The young lady was also recently engaged to a relative and I cannot stand this business, either; beyond stating that one should not marry a relative, we had to drop the matter as the engagement had been finalised and any breakage would reflect extremely poorly on the girl.  The family did hasten to add that the fiance was not a close relative and we are grateful for small mercies.

Adaikalam - our residential facility in Mogappair - is also fine.  We have a patient from the U.S. who is reeling from mental and physical illness; as she questioned the management here, stating that she was in the care of doctors from the U.S., I mentioned that my credentials were from the U.S., too.  That appeared to mollify her and we talked a lot.  I feel for those who are family-less due to their illness; I know I would be less than whole if I could not talk or email or Whatsapp the fam.

Scott turned a year older yesterday.  He cut a scrumptious cake the Banyan had made, we went out  to lunch and then got to hang out with the boys today.  A low-key day; as Scott told our sons when one wished him an eventful or relaxed day (whichever he chose), he tends toward 1 speed now - "Parked."

Today, we attended the wedding of a former nurse colleague and that was fun.  We like surprising the populace by showing up.  Weddings here involve large numbers of guests, usually no RSVP's, and we try to go to as many as we are invited to.  I missed many a cousin's wedding when we lived in the U.S.

We saw a bunch of good movies - 2 Tamil and the English "Searching."  Mr. Cho has certainly developed some dramatic chops after "Harold and Kumar ..." and it was good viewing.  The premise - of a lost child - was, of course, unsettling.  The movie was well-done and that is always good.

Have a very good week!

Unw -

R

Sunday, September 16, 2018

Report of 16 Sept 2018

Hello from amidst the rumblings of thunder:

Grey clouds are gathering, the sea is no longer a clear blue.  An idol of Pillaiyar/Vinayaka/Ganesha has been immersed in the pond behind our apartment.  Thursday was Ganesh Chathurthi, a time to venerate the Lord Ganesha, which ends with the idol being immersed in water.  This year, there has been some tension with Muslims not wanting the procession to go through their neighborhoods and heavy police presence has accompanied the processions.  Not our little procession here, but bigger ones, where the idol is huge and so is the procession.

I am better, thanks to all who asked.  I even swam this morning and enjoyed every minute.  There was a lot of rain water in our pool and it was clean and warm.  That was the first exercise in quite a while.

The Banyan is fabulous.  I did not go at all 2 weeks ago but for Kovalam, our seaside village where the clinic gets very busy.  Scott drove me to work last week at Adaikalam, our distant branch and that was nice.  The nurses mentioned that they were going to surreptitiously show up at my house to see how I was - sweet thought.  I got IV fluids at Kovalam and Adaikalam and felt better.  I also got a commemorative book and a sari for our 25th anniversary, i.e., the B's 25th anniv. 

The patients are on the increase at Kovalam.  One of them was brought by her daughter-in-law, who mentioned that when the patient took this turn (gesturing to her forehead with her forefinger in a swirly motion), she and her husband brought her from her other son's place.  I requested that the lady not use the gesture, that the phrase was "mentally ill" and we proceeded to speak of the lady's condition.  At the end of the visit, I thanked the daughter-in-law for taking care of her mother-in-law and got a big smile in return; the d-i-l's whole face lit up.

We spoke to the boys today and that was fun.  Lots of chatter and laughter.  I also spoke to my father just now and that was also laughter and chatter.  It's a nice state of affairs. 

Last night, a bunch of school friends and we met for dinner: a schoolmate was visiting from the U.S. and all of us got together.  It was a nice evening - reminiscing about the high jinks at school and other things. 

Well, let me wind up.  Hope you have lots of good in your life.

Unw -

Sunday, September 09, 2018

Report of 9 Sept 2018

Good evening from our balcony -

The day is clear and bright, the sea is visible almost at hand and it is a relaxed Sunday evening.

We are okay.  The Banyan is fabulous.  I resumed at Kovalam last week and had all my favorite patients there.  One of them, a fairly cantankerous older lady, stated to me, "Well, sat around for 5 months getting good rest, did you?"  I mentioned I had gone to see my mother-in-law, which instantly shuts down patient ire.  We saw many, many patients and tried to do what we could with what we have. 

While the trust from the patients is bolstering, it is a mixed blessing: when I tell them to go see a specialist, many do not.  One of the patients died earlier in the summer due to delay in getting to a specialist and I was sorry.  Until they realise the importance of seeing a heart doctor or an eye doctor when we suggest it, there is no way we can force them to go.  An older lady actually told me to operate on her eye at our clinic.  That I am not an ophthalmologist, that we do not have an operating room, that we are just a rudimentary clinic - all that was lost on her. 

We have attended 3 weddings since my return.  The last one featured guests from Qatar.  I think the flu doing the rounds at the Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca, and which has since gone with travellers to other parts of the world, made it here.  My sister's entire family and I came down with fever and flu-like symptoms after the event.  It has been spectacularly horrible; 6 days of fever, malaise, weakness and a disinclination to do anything other than lie on the sofa.  One night, Scott acually moved well away from me in bed as my body temperature was so high :) - and then I moved to spend the night also on the sofa.  I already spend the days there.  Tomorrow, I am going to ask for IV fluids when I go to Kovalam; let us see if that would help. 

So, that has been my life.  The Banyan and a most annoying sickness.  We did manage to hang out with Naren and talked to my Dad; both conversations were nice.  We hope to catch Navin in a day or 2.

Unw -

R

Sunday, September 02, 2018

Report of 2 Sept 2018

Good evening!

I am home!  I tried to do the sea-from-the-balcony thing and poured sweat out there, so I am under the fan.  My very Caucasian husband is bravely withstanding the heat; he does truly love Christmases here, where he does not have to scrape ice off the windshield or struggle to hold his footing when venturing out.

The flight back was uneventful - the best quality in a flight, the 3 Weiss men and I decided.  Scott was at the airport and Naren asleep; we saw Naren later at his friend's wedding.  In Indian culture - and in others, I imagine - the children's friends are also our "family" and we (parents) attend their joyous weddings, also.  Ujwal, Naren's friend, is a first-rate playwright and actor, and we enjoyed meeting his new wife, Indou.  The venue was lovely and Scott and I lingered. 

The next day, we bolted to Madurai and saw my father.  He is well and appreciated seeing Naren.  My sister's son, Aditya, was also there, my Dad was happy to see him, too, and it was a merry gathering.  We drove back the same day and my jet lag caught up with me, leading me to understand full well why experts suggest driving non-sleeping babies around.  On Sunday, we veged out, gabbing and eating and laughing.  It was nice to cook here again, with 2 ravenous men wolfing down my fare.  And I have eaten mangoes - bliss.   

The 25th anniversary celebrations of the Banyan had to be postponed for a variety of reasons, including devastating floods in our neighboring state, Kerala.  So, I did not go to the B in Mogappair on Monday, 27/8, the actual day of the anniversary.  Naren and I read lines (i.e., for a play), then I dropped him at the airport; he is back in Brooklyn now.  Scott and I went to Kovalam with some dates (the dried fruit) in the evening, just to wish everyone there and to revel privately in the momentous occasion of 25 years of this magnificent organisation.

Before I left the U.S., I had some fine times with Shilpa Mallur, Diane Healey, Robert Love and Olivia Fondoble.  All doctors, I just realised.  We got to talk and laugh, and share experiences.  Olivia is kind enough to store my things, for which I am grateful.  I was back at the hotel that I really like - the Residence Inn on Meridian - and got to gab with the familiar staff there, too.  I drove to O'hare, being a recent convert to driving being a tad more reliable and pleasant than domestic flying, and got on the plane; the flight home was fine.

I went to Adaikalam, the Banyan's facility in Mogappair, on Tuesday.  That was grand.  All the staff and patients to see.  It was nice to practice medicine in that setting again - you know, the one where everyone does for someone else, no one gives a rat's patoot about how little money each one earns, how no one is trying to document just so to satisfy billing requirements for massive reimbursement.  There were blood tests to see, patients to examine, and mentally ill women to take care of - their own families are not doing this, and it is our privilege to do so.

We "hung out" with Navin earlier in the week and that was grand: lots of chatter and laughter.  The boys can unfailingly make each other laugh - such a gift, to themselves and to us. 

The rest of the week was spent doing other things.  There was a death in the Banyan family and I went to condole with the colleague who lost her father.  Then we had 2 weddings to attend, both of which were enjoyable.  We took a colleague with us to one of the weddings, that of a health care worker, and had fun on the drive and at the event itself.  At the last wedding, I got to see my sister and her family, and that was nice: the nephews are affectionate, fun, genial folks and we enjoyed hanging out with all. 

Unw -

R