Lazy Sunday afternoon

It’s a quiet Sunday today, the sun is warm here and there is enough breeze to wave the palm trees lazily. In contrast to the week that I have had (it’s been a busy one) everything seems very calm. 

On Tuesday I went on a mobile clinic visit. I clambered in to a huge white hospital truck with a driver and two jolly tribal matriarchs in brightly coloured saris and off we went careering around the extremely treacherous mountain roads. We were stopping on route near the tribal villages to see patients, a serious test for my rather ropey Tamil! Luckily with some very inventive sign language I managed to work out the problems they wanted me to fix (or at least I think I figured it out). It seemed to me that most of them had minor coughs and colds. Therefore they mainly got a prescription for paracetamol and the advice that if it didn’t get better in a few days that they should make the trip to the hospital. It was great to be out in the rural countryside and to get a change of scene from the hospital.

My life here has settled into a bit of a routine already with ward rounds followed by busy outpatient clinics followed by lunch. The afternoons are spent helping out with cleaning wounds and changing dressings, more ward rounds and sporadic opportunistic Tamil classes. Fitted around this general frame are the flurries of excitement brought by acute admissions and obstetric cases. We also regularly have visiting specialists from all over the country and indeed the world.

On Friday again I escaped from the hospital, this time to go to a busy clinic in one of the area centres. It was quite a distance from the hospital and we made the journey in a jeep which as far as I could ascertain had next to no suspension. By the end of a day including jeep travel too and from the area centre and a house call thrown in for good measure I felt very much like my behind had been turned into tenderised steak.

A recent addition to my routine here is that I have started to go running a couple of times a week. This is mainly on the suggestion of the two very sweet American research students who are working here. We go out at dusk and run along the country roads, trying not to get flattened by the passing rickshaws, bitten by the angry dogs (who seem to take our running very personally indeed) or teased too badly by the local children, who quite rightly think that we must be utterly insane. The Americans are both much fitter than I am as you might imagine but I like to humour myself that I go at a slower pace to better enjoy the scenery of the Indian evening with the sun setting and the big honey tinted moon rising over the fields of banana trees.

Although I enjoy writing to let you know how things are here I must admit I find it very difficult to know what to put in and what to leave out. As you can imagine I can’t write about it everything because it would be very boring for you to read. However there is one thing that has really made my week and I felt that it would be a good note to end this on. A little less than two weeks ago a little tribal boy was admitted here. About 18 months old he was already suffering from his second episode of pneumonia. He had been to another hospital nearer to where he lived and had not been making any progress so his mother had brought him here. A chest Xray showed severe infection in his right lung and he looked tired, like every breath was hard work. Whenever we saw him on the ward round he would look so upset, you could tell that he wanted to cry but he was so dry and hoarse that nothing came but a pitiful squeak. So this week on the ward round, after treatment with intravenous fluid and antibiotics you can imagine how ecstatic I was when this gorgeous little guy looked up at us and gave the biggest gummiest smile ever. His lungs are clear and he has made a full recovery. Just thought you might like that, it has certainly made me happy.

I will be in contact soon but for now its time for me to go. Hoping you are happy and well. All of my love,

Ax