Puzzles to Decipher!

It's been almost 6 months in Mysore and every month has brought about changes. From the first 3 months in a PG and working in NICU and SBW to the transition to living at home with my parents and sister and working in General Paediatrics, every month has had new stories, new lessons to be learnt and new patients to bring a smile.

When in the Newborn side, the hours were long and there was a lot of procedural work like cannulation, blood draws and UVCs along with intubations. There was also the need to monitor much more closely since these little ones often deteriorated rapidly if not recognised at the right moment.

The night duties allowed for some breathing space in the day but either way, I would be pretty drained out towards the end of my shift.

While in General Paediatrics, the variety of cases was baffling, the uncommon presentation of common cases was intriguing and sometimes, some scenarios had most of us scratching our heads for a diagnosis. General Paediatrics involved a lot more interaction with the staff and required us to read up more for the rounds.

Emergency ward was where we get the maximum exposure of immediate management of a case and requires prompt initiation of treatment of every case after taking relevant history and doing a proper examination. Case sheet writing would often take upto midnight for slowpokes like me and December was a particularly busy month given the absence of colleagues.

But the best part was not rushing back home at 11.30 PM racing against the chilly wind; it was the simple joy of watching a once sick child recuperating, or the wave of relief wash across the parents after the critical phase had passed or the subtle satisfaction after learning a procedure.

General Paediatrics made us more acutely aware of how a child was actually "feeling" rather than just the investigations and values. It also sensitised us to the other factors contributing to a child's physical, mental and emotional well being such as the environmental socioeconomic factors.

In the midst of all this, we've had to look into statistics for the wards we are posted in, present a few cases and attend online seminars as and when time permitted. Although the pandemic has largely affected the way we learn in a classroom, these sessions provided an orientation to the kind of reading expected.

While most children made a slow but steady recovery, there were always some, who presented late or deteriorated faster than the resources could handle here.  It is always painful to deal with loss, more so when it is of little ones. We could only offer words of comfort and advice on seeking medical care sooner in future.

On the whole, every day has taught a new way to look at the cases, interact better with patients and their attenders and learn a bit more of the concerned diseases. 

Here's to a new year with lot more challenges and uncertainty ahead and memories to cherish.