Report of 12 March 2019
Good morning!
Summer is on us. Last week was particularly hot and it can get this way in March. In Madurai, my hometown, the temperature last week was apparently 41 deg Celsius, 105.8 deg Fahrenheit. My father does not like using airconditioning and the fans in the living quarters were likely in full use.
We are well. Family Day happened at the Banyan the last 2 Sundays, thus my blogging time was appropriated. They were fun days. Friends donate magnanimously to make this happen, and the full sense of their generosity and regard for us adds to the happiness of the day. Families of staff come on a Sunday, we have games and mehendi (henna for the hands), popcorn and cotton candy; for lunch, biryani, and for tea, cake donated by Adyar bakery. All unusual fare for many of us, and we wallop. Then we dance. There is a stage and performers from among the staff stage a "variety entertainment." It is fun to see otherwise very professional colleagues shake a leg in perfect rhythm to some Tamil song, or sing a song of their choice.
The Banyan is good. Clinic was fine. A long-time patient came by last Monday; his wife, also a patient, has died and we were thunderstruck when told. Being an outpatient facility, we are not the first hospital the community accesses when a patient is ill outside clinic hours; we are also a free facility, and that brings with it its own set of perceptions - "free" = "not always good" or "limited." The lady had been appropriately taken to a hospital and I am not clear yet about the cause of death. She had apparently mentioned to the treating doctor that she was on a diabetic med, and she was not diabetic; the man stated that we were the only facility to have treated her and that she got the med from us. Certainly, ingesting wrong medication can go so far as to be fatal; we investigated, turning our clinic notes and the pharmacy register upside down, and found that we had absolutely not prescribed or given the med. The man talked to our senior coordinator and assured her he was not blaming us; that was fine, we still needed to do a review of our procedures and remind ourselves to be 10,000 times careful.
I can tell you, it was a tremendous relief to look over the late patient's notebook (our patient record, which I write in, and which remains with the patient) and find that I had not prescribed the diabetic med. Any of us can make mistakes.
We were in Madurai about 10 days ago and my father, on the Governing board of my alma mater, Lady Doak College, was very busy with meetings there. We saw him for about 3 hours that weekend and had a merry time talking. He continues to be busy, which is good. I discussed my work situation with him and he had excellent advice. My sister and brother-in-law were in Chennai en route Australia, and my brother's family, Scott and I met them for tea, on our return from Madurai. That was fun - lots of laughter and eating and chatter, my definition of a good time.
My private practice is on hiatus a bit due to my upcoming travels. It was wonderful to see patients and get good histories from them. Medicine in India remains joyous for now.
I have painted fingernails on 1 hand. At Kovalam's Family Day, a colleague's daughter worked a "nail art" stall and I got my fingernails painted. Not having daughters (but loving my sons no less), I revel in female attention of this kind. The young ladies are growing up fearless - their father has abandoned them and no one is poorer for it - and both Scott and I are happy to see this.
Last weekend, we went to a craft show, a photo exhibit and then saw 2 Tamil movies called "Thadam" and "To Let." They were good. We ate at our favorite Writers' Cafe, where women with burn injuries work and get marvellously rehabilitiated, and were fortunate to get a chat with the managerial staff, all of whom are altruistic and magnificent folks. It was a very fun meal.
We got to talk to the boys both weekends and they are well. Opinions were freely expressed and I am grateful.
Unw -
R
Summer is on us. Last week was particularly hot and it can get this way in March. In Madurai, my hometown, the temperature last week was apparently 41 deg Celsius, 105.8 deg Fahrenheit. My father does not like using airconditioning and the fans in the living quarters were likely in full use.
We are well. Family Day happened at the Banyan the last 2 Sundays, thus my blogging time was appropriated. They were fun days. Friends donate magnanimously to make this happen, and the full sense of their generosity and regard for us adds to the happiness of the day. Families of staff come on a Sunday, we have games and mehendi (henna for the hands), popcorn and cotton candy; for lunch, biryani, and for tea, cake donated by Adyar bakery. All unusual fare for many of us, and we wallop. Then we dance. There is a stage and performers from among the staff stage a "variety entertainment." It is fun to see otherwise very professional colleagues shake a leg in perfect rhythm to some Tamil song, or sing a song of their choice.
The Banyan is good. Clinic was fine. A long-time patient came by last Monday; his wife, also a patient, has died and we were thunderstruck when told. Being an outpatient facility, we are not the first hospital the community accesses when a patient is ill outside clinic hours; we are also a free facility, and that brings with it its own set of perceptions - "free" = "not always good" or "limited." The lady had been appropriately taken to a hospital and I am not clear yet about the cause of death. She had apparently mentioned to the treating doctor that she was on a diabetic med, and she was not diabetic; the man stated that we were the only facility to have treated her and that she got the med from us. Certainly, ingesting wrong medication can go so far as to be fatal; we investigated, turning our clinic notes and the pharmacy register upside down, and found that we had absolutely not prescribed or given the med. The man talked to our senior coordinator and assured her he was not blaming us; that was fine, we still needed to do a review of our procedures and remind ourselves to be 10,000 times careful.
I can tell you, it was a tremendous relief to look over the late patient's notebook (our patient record, which I write in, and which remains with the patient) and find that I had not prescribed the diabetic med. Any of us can make mistakes.
We were in Madurai about 10 days ago and my father, on the Governing board of my alma mater, Lady Doak College, was very busy with meetings there. We saw him for about 3 hours that weekend and had a merry time talking. He continues to be busy, which is good. I discussed my work situation with him and he had excellent advice. My sister and brother-in-law were in Chennai en route Australia, and my brother's family, Scott and I met them for tea, on our return from Madurai. That was fun - lots of laughter and eating and chatter, my definition of a good time.
My private practice is on hiatus a bit due to my upcoming travels. It was wonderful to see patients and get good histories from them. Medicine in India remains joyous for now.
I have painted fingernails on 1 hand. At Kovalam's Family Day, a colleague's daughter worked a "nail art" stall and I got my fingernails painted. Not having daughters (but loving my sons no less), I revel in female attention of this kind. The young ladies are growing up fearless - their father has abandoned them and no one is poorer for it - and both Scott and I are happy to see this.
Last weekend, we went to a craft show, a photo exhibit and then saw 2 Tamil movies called "Thadam" and "To Let." They were good. We ate at our favorite Writers' Cafe, where women with burn injuries work and get marvellously rehabilitiated, and were fortunate to get a chat with the managerial staff, all of whom are altruistic and magnificent folks. It was a very fun meal.
We got to talk to the boys both weekends and they are well. Opinions were freely expressed and I am grateful.
Unw -
R
posted by Renu at
11:10 PM
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