Report of 8 Sept 2019
Good afternoon from our living room!
The smell of mangoes and cold air hits me as Scott opens the fridge to get milk - "tea time" for our acclimatised friend. I eat dinner at 4 PM or so, and have acclimatised to American meal times. Scott likes tea and a sweet treat at 3-ish/4-ish. I find tea a useless meal. We had cold mangoes for breakfast and with lunch - manna!
We are well. The Banyan is also good. One of our patients ingested a cleaning fluid in an intentional attempt to self-harm and was whisked off to the hospital. She is okay, thank goodness. During med school, one of the surgeons told us that if a patient drank lye in a self-harm attempt, we were to procure a gun, show the person where to point it for successful results and leave her/him alone. I found that supremely callous and harsh, then the surgeon explained that the lye so corrodes the esophagus that the rest of the patient's existence was miserable: cannot eat, cannot get the esophagus repaired successfully, and suffering henceforth. So, essentially a humane option?
The Banyan patient mentioned above came to see me on her discharge from the hospital. Able, wonderful and compassionate staff members (the usual kind at the Banyan, I am happy to say) had already alerted me that she was sad because her son had not come to visit. I held this patient's hands in both of mine, said that I was also a mother, that I too craved seeing my sons and that I understood. I told her that her son would visit when he could (Dang, I really hope so). She is a dear sort, this lady, and takes wonderful care of the dogs, often referring to them as her buddies. I am hopeful that she is overcoming her melancholy.
Kovalam, with its new reduced schedule for me, was not in my plans last week. Clinic is every other week and last week, I did not miss it as Scott was on holiday for Vinayakar Chathurthi and both of us hung out at home. It was nice to have an extra day of no work. Scott does not get paid for holidays, but who cares - the time was nice.
I had dental surgery last week and it surprisingly wiped me out. The assistant dentist had told me I had to take all the anti-inflammatories and pain killers, and I did; they surely helped.
We went to a talk on environment and sustainability and it was good. The venue - Amethyst - is popular: in the heart of town, it has spectacular greenery and an outdoor cafe. We ate at the cafe after the talk and the food was excellent.
I swam this morning. The security man likes to gawk when I get into the pool, which is irksome. I have plenty of menopausal and other cellulite and wear a swimsuit with quasi shorts, but that too is unusual for India. I like exercising alone and have to contend with gawking now. After a few laps, the security man went about his business until it was time for me to get out. Sheesh. Anyway, it was great to get a workout in, the spectator sport notwithstanding.
We heard from our sons and they are well, thank goodness. I will speak to my father later this evening. My sister is visiting India from the U.K. and will see him tomorrow, which I am happy about.
Unw -
R
The smell of mangoes and cold air hits me as Scott opens the fridge to get milk - "tea time" for our acclimatised friend. I eat dinner at 4 PM or so, and have acclimatised to American meal times. Scott likes tea and a sweet treat at 3-ish/4-ish. I find tea a useless meal. We had cold mangoes for breakfast and with lunch - manna!
We are well. The Banyan is also good. One of our patients ingested a cleaning fluid in an intentional attempt to self-harm and was whisked off to the hospital. She is okay, thank goodness. During med school, one of the surgeons told us that if a patient drank lye in a self-harm attempt, we were to procure a gun, show the person where to point it for successful results and leave her/him alone. I found that supremely callous and harsh, then the surgeon explained that the lye so corrodes the esophagus that the rest of the patient's existence was miserable: cannot eat, cannot get the esophagus repaired successfully, and suffering henceforth. So, essentially a humane option?
The Banyan patient mentioned above came to see me on her discharge from the hospital. Able, wonderful and compassionate staff members (the usual kind at the Banyan, I am happy to say) had already alerted me that she was sad because her son had not come to visit. I held this patient's hands in both of mine, said that I was also a mother, that I too craved seeing my sons and that I understood. I told her that her son would visit when he could (Dang, I really hope so). She is a dear sort, this lady, and takes wonderful care of the dogs, often referring to them as her buddies. I am hopeful that she is overcoming her melancholy.
Kovalam, with its new reduced schedule for me, was not in my plans last week. Clinic is every other week and last week, I did not miss it as Scott was on holiday for Vinayakar Chathurthi and both of us hung out at home. It was nice to have an extra day of no work. Scott does not get paid for holidays, but who cares - the time was nice.
I had dental surgery last week and it surprisingly wiped me out. The assistant dentist had told me I had to take all the anti-inflammatories and pain killers, and I did; they surely helped.
We went to a talk on environment and sustainability and it was good. The venue - Amethyst - is popular: in the heart of town, it has spectacular greenery and an outdoor cafe. We ate at the cafe after the talk and the food was excellent.
I swam this morning. The security man likes to gawk when I get into the pool, which is irksome. I have plenty of menopausal and other cellulite and wear a swimsuit with quasi shorts, but that too is unusual for India. I like exercising alone and have to contend with gawking now. After a few laps, the security man went about his business until it was time for me to get out. Sheesh. Anyway, it was great to get a workout in, the spectator sport notwithstanding.
We heard from our sons and they are well, thank goodness. I will speak to my father later this evening. My sister is visiting India from the U.K. and will see him tomorrow, which I am happy about.
Unw -
R
posted by Renu at
3:09 AM
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