Report of 22 Oct 2019
Good evening!
It is the end of a work day. It is nightfall and the traffic on the Muttukadu bridge has lights. The buses are particularly brightly lit and make a nice sight.
We are well. I was finally back at Kovalam yesterday after 3 weeks away - the clinic schedule. It is a half-day's clinic and there were about 60 patients for me yesterday. There were already several waiting when I got there; these folks know each other and spend the time catching up until they are seen. There is a very nice bench that runs the length of the clinic and that has place for everyone, so they sit and talk and get caught up on each other's lives until it is time for them to go into the doctor's room.
I was in a sari yesterday - shock value. One of our occasionally-unappreciative patients pronounced that it was the best outfit for me. I think the surprise and novelty of seeing me in it, when I wear the salwar-kameez or pants at other times, produced this sentiment. It is our traditional attire, and takes a while to get on - drape, pleat, pin, adjust. I rather like wearing it and can do so when it is not hot outside.
So the patients kept a-coming. We got everyone seen and then there was a straggler at 2.45 PM, after I had finally broken for lunch. This woman, I think, can afford meds but it is easier to get them for free, I suppose. She mentions that her husband has lost his job, they have lost a son, she battles depression and her daughter is now estranged from her husband. I gave up the buy-your-own-meds request - as she had not - last clinic day and we gave her the meds. Yesterday, she showed up at the tail end of my 60-patient clinic and wanted to be seen; she'd had an allergic reaction to a few of the meds and so I told her to stop the lot and return in 2 weeks.
It is a tough call to figure out who can and who cannot afford the meds. The latter category is sometimes easy; however, with everyone having been offered free care since the B's inception, suddenly expecting them to go to the Government clinic is not easy. That there is a Government clinic, with all the meds that the patients need, is a very fine state of affairs. Trying to get the patients to go there is another matter.
Last week, the monsoon set in and getting to Adaikalam was fraught with suspense. Scott drove for 2 hours, we were nowhere near Adaikalam at the end of negotiating very slow traffic and we turned back. We did get some Diwali shopping done. I managed to get to Adaikalam today - a 50-minute trip took 2 hours and 15 minutes, and I had a disco CD playing in my car the entire way. It was good to be there. The patients are okay. Our floridly diabetic older patient, Ms. X, tends to run around grabbing everyone else's food - especially the sugared stuff - and quickly downing it before any of us can confiscate it. I have mentioned it to Leela, our head nurse, and she will handle it. One of the joys of the B, this teamwork. Ms. X had critically high blood sugar last year and was hospitalised; I'd rather not have a repeat. We have to find a way to satisfy Ms. X's hunger with less sugary foods.
We toodled down to Madurai over the weekend. Naren is in the country and was to pay a visit to his grandfather, so off we went. Flight schedules are uncertain, usually, but Naren did make it down and all of us had a splendid time. The food was good - Naren ate about 6 dosais at breakfast time and did not have room for lunch. My father and Naren sat talking for a long time, and exchanged gifts: a veshti that used to belong to my grandfather was handed over to Naren. Really. Where were these gifts during all our umpteen visits :) ? Only kidding - I am glad grandfather and grandson had a lot to talk about.
Diwali, our festival of lights, is on Sunday. May the festival of lights bring joy, peace and prosperity to you - happy Diwali!
Unw -
R
It is the end of a work day. It is nightfall and the traffic on the Muttukadu bridge has lights. The buses are particularly brightly lit and make a nice sight.
We are well. I was finally back at Kovalam yesterday after 3 weeks away - the clinic schedule. It is a half-day's clinic and there were about 60 patients for me yesterday. There were already several waiting when I got there; these folks know each other and spend the time catching up until they are seen. There is a very nice bench that runs the length of the clinic and that has place for everyone, so they sit and talk and get caught up on each other's lives until it is time for them to go into the doctor's room.
I was in a sari yesterday - shock value. One of our occasionally-unappreciative patients pronounced that it was the best outfit for me. I think the surprise and novelty of seeing me in it, when I wear the salwar-kameez or pants at other times, produced this sentiment. It is our traditional attire, and takes a while to get on - drape, pleat, pin, adjust. I rather like wearing it and can do so when it is not hot outside.
So the patients kept a-coming. We got everyone seen and then there was a straggler at 2.45 PM, after I had finally broken for lunch. This woman, I think, can afford meds but it is easier to get them for free, I suppose. She mentions that her husband has lost his job, they have lost a son, she battles depression and her daughter is now estranged from her husband. I gave up the buy-your-own-meds request - as she had not - last clinic day and we gave her the meds. Yesterday, she showed up at the tail end of my 60-patient clinic and wanted to be seen; she'd had an allergic reaction to a few of the meds and so I told her to stop the lot and return in 2 weeks.
It is a tough call to figure out who can and who cannot afford the meds. The latter category is sometimes easy; however, with everyone having been offered free care since the B's inception, suddenly expecting them to go to the Government clinic is not easy. That there is a Government clinic, with all the meds that the patients need, is a very fine state of affairs. Trying to get the patients to go there is another matter.
Last week, the monsoon set in and getting to Adaikalam was fraught with suspense. Scott drove for 2 hours, we were nowhere near Adaikalam at the end of negotiating very slow traffic and we turned back. We did get some Diwali shopping done. I managed to get to Adaikalam today - a 50-minute trip took 2 hours and 15 minutes, and I had a disco CD playing in my car the entire way. It was good to be there. The patients are okay. Our floridly diabetic older patient, Ms. X, tends to run around grabbing everyone else's food - especially the sugared stuff - and quickly downing it before any of us can confiscate it. I have mentioned it to Leela, our head nurse, and she will handle it. One of the joys of the B, this teamwork. Ms. X had critically high blood sugar last year and was hospitalised; I'd rather not have a repeat. We have to find a way to satisfy Ms. X's hunger with less sugary foods.
We toodled down to Madurai over the weekend. Naren is in the country and was to pay a visit to his grandfather, so off we went. Flight schedules are uncertain, usually, but Naren did make it down and all of us had a splendid time. The food was good - Naren ate about 6 dosais at breakfast time and did not have room for lunch. My father and Naren sat talking for a long time, and exchanged gifts: a veshti that used to belong to my grandfather was handed over to Naren. Really. Where were these gifts during all our umpteen visits :) ? Only kidding - I am glad grandfather and grandson had a lot to talk about.
Diwali, our festival of lights, is on Sunday. May the festival of lights bring joy, peace and prosperity to you - happy Diwali!
Unw -
R
posted by Renu at
6:48 AM
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