Roars To Silence.

A formidable figure in the past,
Among others he stood tall and strong,
With a commanding presence that would last
He marched to the tune of his own song.

Against odds he rose to a eminent stature,
For years he was at the coveted pinnacle
A man revered and feared for formidable nature
His baritone created ripples along the rural folk.

But Fate moved the dice one fine day,
For none can forever keep illness at bay,
And thus began the decline towards doomsday
Ravaged by the insidious tumour, he would sway.

Alas it was a cruel trick upon him,
As his deep voice hollowed into a ghostly whisper
And his frame melted Into bony nothingness,
His dignity was shredded forever.

His spirit battled against his frail frame,
As he accepted his inelegant mortality,
His lost glory he could not reclaim
Yet with stoic grace he walked to his finality.




To the 80+ old man with a Carcinoma Larynx. He can't talk. The tumour has invaded his pharynx as well. So he can't swallow either so he needs a jejunostomy. He is shrunken and shrivelled up and his eyes are hollow. More than that it's the feeling of helplessness that he can't control the drooling and cant express anything verbally. You begin to wonder that when someone says they are 'alive' there are different degrees of being alive and this is also one kind of living.

On further interaction with the patient's attenders, I gathered that he worked as a revenue officer across the state and that he was a well read man. I saw for myself when I received a note in English from the patient for a complaint he had. :)

The month of Electives at HIMS

After a month of Orthopaedics began my stint as the CMO. The CMO chair is definitely the "hot seat" as he/she has the overall responsibilities of MLCs as well as to look into every case and start initial treatment and ensure the concerned intern attends to the case. Along with this, the CMO has to look into the brought dead cases and handle them as required.

It was during my CMO duty that I realized how ruthless people can be towards the doctor community. All though a one off event, the temperament of the people definitely put me off at that point. Often it is on those days when you are already loaded with work, barely have a moment to sit down and are dealing with hunger (and hormonal) issues that a patient attenders goes ballistic on you for not giving them enough attention. It's at these moments when there's someone filming your polite request on the phone and threatening to send it to the media (in case something happens to the patient, if not? Well you were just doing what you were supposed to do, what's the big deal in that? ) that you wonder if this is the pathetic respect that doctors get in the society.

But apart from such odd incidents, the CMO duty was one of a kind, it brought me closer to the raw realities in the rural hinterlands; OP poisoning after debts, tablet consumption over broken relationships, assaults in drunken brawls, injuries by factory machineries, teenage pregnancies and RTAs of all sorts (Bike Vs Dog was one among them). The CMO duty might have been hectic but it was indeed a memorable experience to work with the friendly staff and cooperative co interns!

After a week long break, I reported in the Department of Pulmonary Medicine with a lot of trepidation; I had forgotten about COPD and my knowledge of TB required some recollection! But eventually it turned out to be one of the least hectic Departments in the hospital with no emergency calls after 4. The OPD hours were spent prescribing bronchodilators and nebulization or sometimes in conversation and tutoring Deepthi ma'am with her written Kannada.

The patients largely consisted of aged men whose addiction for the nicotine and Bheedis had gotten the better of them. Many of them would clearly come to us with complaints of breathlessness when it was evident they had had their last puff moments before setting foot in the hospital. They would flash a cheeky toothless grin when told to quit smoking, ask for their regular dose of medication and walk away with the satisfaction of doing something about their health. Then there were those who had discontinued their ATT regimen and had now come with worsening symptoms, there were pleural effusions to be drained, pneumonia cases which had to be referred for the loculated effusion, TB +HIV cases with ongoing infection, lung cancer which had been diagnosed but neglected (because the patient looked fine so the attenders didn't consider it worth their time to get him treated at Kidwai) and also a significant fraction of patients walking in asking for Surgery/ Dental/ Medicine/ Dermat departments since the Pulmo department was situated strategically at the centre.

I also realized how the Pulmo was at best equipped to give the patients a 'temporary fix' and not give a long term solution since these were chronic conditions that we were dealing with. Nevertheless it was a fairly free week in Pulmo giving us plenty of time to interact with the cheerful and elegant Dr Deepti, read for a while in the OPD and of course; sleep blissfully at night!

My stint in Radiology was extremely short-lived to actually share any glimpses but in the 2 out of 3 days that I attended Radiology, I got to "see" a lot of CTs and several USGs even though I didn't really follow a lot about it's interpretation.

What began with a lot of preconceived notions were rapidly dispersed once I set foot in the Department of Dermatology.
With a busy OPD and plenty of PGs to learn from, Dermatology has been an interesting, educational experience. From the common Taenias, Ptyriasis, asteatotic eczemas, impetigos, folliculitis, furuncles, psoriasis, vitiligos, lichen planus and herpetic lesions to the filiform warts, erythema multiforme, ingrown toe nails, sebaceous cysts, neurofibromatosis, DLE and more, its been an interesting journey that I never expected to enjoy.

The fact that there were PGs was a huge bonus since they were extremely friendly and had a clear understanding of every condition, procedure and also the logic behind why we do what we do. I'm so glad I got to interact with these PGs who, in the short period of our interaction, taught me a lot both within and beyond the scope of the subject.