This is one of those rainy days, we come across so very often, in this part of the world. Winter chills seem to linger and lurk in the side-lines, quick to jump in and add their bit to the rains, grey skies, wet- sloshy lanes,, the tea bushes spouting fresh, new, wet, glistening leaves, the world looks pretty indeed, and people seem to develop a more laid-back attitude to everything. Hot fritters and steaming hot tea, a Cricket telecast on the Telly,,,,wish this lunch break went on for ever.
Today I again experienced something, that makes what we Doctors do, worthwhile, in spite of all the death, decay and illness around us, and the endless frustrations of not being able to do enough,and on time. On my first day at this new job, I met a young female patient, admitted in our TB unit, who looked very precariously close to death, and learnt that this was her third trip to the Hospital, and that she was almost abandoned by her In-laws and her mother too, rarely found time for her, she lay on her bed, all day, her eyes looking out of the window, she never spoke, and was turning weaker by the day.
My staff let me know that her family found it hard to admit, initially, that she had TB, a very common hurdle to proper diagnosis and treatment of the same, here, and that when she finally became too weak to go through any more 'broom-beating rituals', that she was endlessly subjected to, she was dumped here, where she was put on the proper medications, again, and all we could do, was to wonder if it was all too late, I didn't see what I could do next, she was getting her medicines, and we could only wait for her to respond. I tried to speak to her, to get her to go outside, sit in the warmth of the sun, to get cleaned up, she didn't even turn towards my voice. Something made me go through this seemingly futile ritual, day after day, and one day, after a week or so, I saw her sitting on her bed, and she gave me, what could be called a smile, when I spoke to her. I felt like I had achieved a lot, and doubled my efforts, spending a few minutes in her room, every day, making my nursing staff too, talk to her, I never once tried to sympathise or patronise her, in any way and tried to treat her as any other normal person, kidding, making a few jokes, and slowly her smile became a much regular feature, and she soon begun to get out of her bed, sit outside, and attempt to try and look pretty.
One day she talked,,,,,,,,,,,,, she said that she wanted some warm water to try and take a bath, and even though she was being kept clean by the staff, her statement made me so happy. I had to go to a training for a week, a few days later, and during that time she had a set-back. After I returned, our efforts continued, and by the first of this month, she was almost completely back to what she must have been like, before her nightmare began. She put on weight, acted as a chaperon for our other female TB patients,helping us take care of them, talking to them, telling them what to do, and what not to, she spent time just chatting to them, with their family members who came to visit, and finally, she went home yesterday.
Today morning she was waiting for me, when I reached work, all dressed up, alive, smiling and looking just the way a girl her age was supposed to, her husband had been given a talking-to, by 'yours truly', and seems like, he was looking after her, quite well. She smiled at me, said, that she was happy now, and that she wanted to try and have a baby,,I wanted to stand there and cry, I was so pleased (told you all earlier, I cry at the drop of a hat) and my job didn't look so bad after all, The whole turn-around took almost two whole months, but was worth every moment,,,,
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