No Bad Blood.

 

The little girl was meant to bloom like a flower bud,

But for a mutated gene in her blood,

She grew to be pale and weak,

Without the monthly transfusions her future seemed bleak. 

With this, she pushed ahead and played along

Just like the other kids, until she didn't feel so strong.

Every fortnight she came for her transfusion,

But her spleen responded with massive protrusion. 

A surgery to help alleviate her misery,

Her parents understood the urgency,

But a routine blood test revealed a depravity

Alas she had contracted seropositivity. 

With surgery still a far sight,

While being a double edged sword for her plight,

A little girl continues her fight,

All because of a transfusion which did not go right.

One of the regular patients to our Hospital, she is a case of Beta Thalassemia Major, a Haemolytic Anemia which has made her dependent on regular monthly transfusions. 

She was planned for a splenectomy since her spleen had enlarged massively as a disease consequence.

However on routine testing, she turned out to be retropositive (HIV +ve). Probably during one of  the regular transfusions she was receiving.

Sun Sand and Sea.

 The sea holds many memories for me,

The hot sands of Marina Beach as a child,

Holding my mother's hand tight as the waves encroached

As the waves retreated, further I approached. 

Riding the waves of the Arabian Sea many years later,

With my father beside me venturing further,

While the sea did not alarm me as before

It's vastness and placidity, I continued to adore. 

Many moons later on a solo journey I embarked,

The temple town of Gokarna I landmarked,

To cherish a solitary trip of my own

I ventured out of my comfort zone. 

With the little one there was another trip,

With sand castles and an adventurous dip.

Collecting seashells and colorful stones

Walking along the beach towards the unknowns. 

To the Island State with its turquoise and deep blue

Across the Bay of Bengal, we flew,

To an underwater rendezvous with the marine crew

And some magical nights at the beach under the gleaming moon. 

With friends several memories were made,

Be it Goa Gokarna or Malpe,

The Sea has always been the perfect holiday!

Watching the waves riding up the shore,

Each time inching further, a little more.

Looking at the Sun setting in an orange haze,

The blue sea mesmerizes in ripples and waves.

7th Ward.

Four walls to contain our lively chatter
In between duties we find time for endless banter,
Lunch breaks to share our meals,
To exchange stories and sometimes duty deals!

Within these four walls and dingy lights
Many a sleepless duty nights.
Sudden awakenings with a jolt
Rushing to revive the patient in a bolt.

The rushed revision prior to exams,
The frantic reading prior to rounds,
The informative discussions of a puzzling case,
All happening with the "7th room" as our base.

Light At The End Of The Tunnel

For maladies of the mind

Often neglected by their own kind

Brought from places near and far

With dearth of medical facilities on par. 

Old wrinkled men and women, once brimming with abundant energy

Now hobbling around tenderly

And plagued by dwindling memory. 

Little ones from the far east and beyond

Mothers telling me that their child does not respond,

Parents traveling for days and standing in lengthy lines

Just to hear if their child can make it out of the closeted confines. 

To the people who trust and hope in medicine

To the ones who work with passion and discipline

To understand the brain and its intricacy

Is perhaps solving mankind's greatest mystery.

One month at the Central Institute that once meant so much to me and perhaps always will hold a place in my heart. ❤

All of my heart.

 The smile that melts my heart,

I always knew you were a class apart,

Every moment with you is magical,

Conversations are honest and natural.

With your grace you never fail to mesmerize,

With your melodious voice, you always entice. 

To be loved by you is truly my pleasure

Indeed I will always love you beyond measure.

Through happiness and grief you are with me,

Together, a brighter side we will see.

To be with you is a dream come true,

Forever grateful to the day I met you.

Finding Silver Linings.

 It all began in a playful girl of six,

A disease that put her kidneys in a fix,
An rare entity with no known cure,
At every step in diagnosis, the future was obscure.

The once bubbly child was now quiet and wary;
After all, daily pricks and injections were scary.
She quietly swallowed the innumerable pills,
After all, it's a temporary solution to her ills.

But as days progressed, the kidneys only went from bad to worse,
With poverty being an additional curse,
We hoped they would find luck elsewhere,
But alas, no one else seemed to care about her welfare.

With meagre funds and slim hopes we started out,
In spite of all fears and unknown doubt,
On the unknown journey we embarked,
It is unprecedented, naysayers remarked,
Yet with no other alternative in sight,
We took the plunge into what felt right.

Childhood is meant to be free of worry and pain,
Brightened by sunshine, not dampened by rain,
The road ahead is long and tiring,
But for a little girl and her family, its a chance to keep smiling.

The price of innocence.

At an age where childlike innocence,
Meets the raw realities of adulthood
Fragile minds can spark and incense,
When forces contrive to ruin the brittle brotherhood.

In the glorious era to learn and grow,
To ignite minds with fuel to explore,
Here were deprived folks delivering a counterblow,
Neglecting education and bringing communal angles to the fore.

Could you give back the ignorant bliss,
Of living without judgement or hatred,
That once planted will struggle to be derooted,
Even as we sink deeper into a bigoted abyss!

J

Cold and Warmth.

 December was probably the coldest month of the year, literally and figuratively. The first few days were spent in Bangalore and we came back to Mysore by Amma's birthday. I had night duty but it was still a difficult night to get through.

The first 15 days in NICU breezed through without much issues while the next 15 days was something I was not looking forward to. It was emergency ward, and being just 2 people seemed more stressful so I was dreading it before it even began!

I took a couple of days to settle down and it was as hectic as I had imagined. The worst part was the lengthy "charge" given to the night duty PGs and going home quite late. Of course, the fact that we were crossing 14 hours did not count. But I think it wasn't the long hours that bothered me. I personally felt and was made to feel that I was doing a mediocre job and that left me only frustrated after the long hours.
What was particularly difficult was waking up in the morning and getting myself to work. Probably in all these 1.5years I have never had such a bad feeling while going to work. In fact, I would always look forward to going to work, no matter what. But this time, it was different.
Riding through the road parallel to the Railway track indoubtedly left me in a state of turmoil just as my day would begin. The several "rounds" during the day would only add to the pressure of having work incomplete.

But as the days progressed, I began to see things in a better perspective, I realized that the emergency ward is the best place to learn the acute management of any condition and also how it progresses. Apart from the regular bronchopneumonia and dengue cases, there were cases of Guilliane Barre Syndrome, a suspected case of Diptheria for which we administered antitoxin, a case of Kawasaki disease, a nephrotic who turned out to be CBNAAT positive for Tuberculosis, Infantile dengue, a case of Infective Endocarditis with Fallot Physiology, a 2 year old with newly diagnosed juvenile diabetes mellitus and even a case of Central Discordant Precocious Puberty in a one 1 year old secondary to a hypothalamic hamartoma.

I realized I might have done a poor job on some days, I did not write good case sheets and I made several mistakes in my course of 15 days. But I tried to pick myself up after every error and move on.

I also realized it's about time I start to read. I'll have to find time in between my schedule and read now.

In another note, despite all the cold and hostile month that December was, the Sunshine was the saving grace and never failed to bring a smile, even at the end of the hardest days.

Probably the best part of my duty hours was the time spent with little ones who never failed to bring a smile to my face. No matter how bad the day is, seeing a smile emerge on a once sick child is probably the best things about my branch.


Taking one day at a time, one step at a time and trying to make sense of this life even if it seems nonsensical on some days. 

J

Little Miracles.

 Little wonders with the brightest smiles,

Simple mind with the biggest heart,
With stars in their curious eyes,
Kids are perhaps God's greatest art.

Counting every day as a precious surprise,
With dreams of flying high in the skies,
With smiles that bring hope amidst despair
Children have only pure love to share.

To watch their cries turn to hesitant smiles
To see them emerge from pain and sickness
To better days where they overpower their illness,
Is perhaps the greatest miracle to witness. 

In and Out.

 The little girl just did as she was told,

But now her life was fading away and her hands were cold.

Her mother watched from above as the little one lay paralyzed

Even as the poison seeped through her veins undisguised. 

A life ebbing away too soon,

A father too deep in pain to see her as a precious boon,

Alcohol blinded his vision through day and night

Until he could no longer tell wrong from right. 

He fed the hungry mouth the deathly concoction,

Even as she looked at him with love and devotion,

Somewhere they would meet again he decided,

No reason or logic could explain how he was so misguided. 

In hordes they came after the tragedy,

Wailing in despair as she lay delirous,

Where were they when the chips where down?

Where were they when they knew he had a breakdown? 

Her father lost to the world,

Her mother, her guardian angel watching from above,

She lay in limbo between life and death

A pure, innocent soul battled for every breath.

A small girl was brought to the casualty in critical state. Her mother had passed away about 10 months ago. The father had given a poisonous pesticide to the child and had succumbed to the same.

Jayashree Rao