Doctoring my resolutions!

I start every year with resolutions  of  being a more considerate and kinder  doctor,.. and  usually, by march am parroting the line …  "resolutions and promises are made to be broken !!",because patients never seem to listen, don`t come for follow up and just don`t seem to care.. and hippocrates,[ if the poor man crossed my path], could be happily strangled!.it makes me wonder,..where are we going wrong… both as doctors and patients????

Doctor`s dogmatism!

1] we are unrealistic…. We tell a working women with two small brats that she should be eating two servings of salads… milk, timely meals and exercise and blah blah … as doctors do we realize the impossibility of the cutting /cooking/balancing and managing that every person endures??

2] we come on too strong …medicine dictates that certain conditions need certain restrictions, so we go  happily advising people to stop smoking,…alcohol.. late nights , so whether they lose the habit or not.. we definitely lose a patient and any  chance of making a difference!.. 

3] we never practice what we preach… like parents .. patients watch what we do .. not just what we say .. so when a doctor is puffy and unhealthy  over weight and listless, they find it hard to believe that we know what we are talking about!

4] we get too much into the body of the illness… the fault lies both ways,.. the connect that used to be there with patients seems to be lacking.. maybe due to lack of time on the part of the doctor, and trust on the the patient’s part… thus .. the patient becomes a condition,.. and treatments become protocols. 

5]we are not ready to accept alternative therapies,.. we seem to think allopathy has all the answers , and are very skeptical of any other treatments patients want to pursue.. maybe we need to understand patients have their own thoughts and expectations, and allowing someone to exercise a decision[ unless life threatening!] is not an insult to our training!

Patients need to know!..

 1]Prescriptions are not family property!..but usually once patients have the list of medicines in the bag,[ especially in india!] for anything like a cough and cold, sinusitis,… it will be re-used, passed around, misused until every known organism is resistant. …with no respect or fear of any reactions, side effects, contra indications.sometimes saving a few rupees could become very expensive later!

 2]timely investigations actually help us in diagnosis.. the media has badmouthed doctors so much .. that patient usually decide when and how many investigations they want to get done…and lose health, money and time with all the delay,..

3]internet information can never substitute clinical opinions!.,..  no matter how detailed the signs and symptoms, one cannot treat oneself or diagnose a condition based on google search. Somethings are best left to the specialists.

4]honest second opinions are absolutely acceptable.. instead of cloaking it under “my aunt said” and “my neighbor told me” ,.. it is  reasonable to ask a second doctor about treatment options. Honesty could actually improve the transparency of disease management.

5]doctors are human too.. and are allowed times of peace and quiet, family time ,.vacations and holidays….and having the cell phone number does  not give one the right to use it for silly queries.. and free consultations ..

All we need is a little trust, consideration and confidence in each other,.. maybe this year I will manage to keep my resolutions.. till june!..

health and the indian ostrich !

I have recently started writing for a doctor`s column for a post noon newspaper,...and it`s an interesting experience.. in this world of internet information, one still finds people who read newspaper columns and write in queries. the tough part though, is to reply without sounding like a boring teacher... or giving  too many gory details,thus scaring the pants off them!.


I sometimes i feel, a little fear is a good thing, as too many people seem to take health issues a little tooo easily.In india especially,.health is usually of no consequence.both.in context of importance and budget.
Probably one reason the indian goverment works like this, is that it constitutes of indian people.!!. who,  do not believe to much in planning for, or forseeing bad times! if it were not for flora and fauna distribution,..the ostrich could have been our national bird!. 


The average indian would think of health, probably  after  festivities/ holidays/ kids/  schools/ /car , and the dog..and usually ignores anything related to health until the body squeals/shrieks and finally putters to a halt.....
once  the screeching halt stage happens, it is crisis management time.where one rushes to the doctor heaving and sighing..[usually on a sunday afternoon.].


After the crisis call on a cellphone number [given by a helpful friend who`s aunts daughter delivered with the unknown doctor],..they would probably make the poor lady go crazy managing the stuation..and once better vanish,.. follow ups do not exist in the indan scenario.,.only cliff hanger situations do,..when they will call again..usually sometime between midnight and 3 am on a saturday night into the future!..


.and yes ..[for those of you outside india chancing upon this blog... indian doctors are still gullible enough to hand out cell phone numbers.,..though something tells me that will change VERY soon!.ha  ha !]..

The sarcasm apart,.. it is heartbreaking when the ending is not happy... and it hurts the healer as much as the hurt..so much of heart break could have been saved with a little more concern,..
 when will  we start understanding ,.that heallth is ephemeral...it needs care, and only a fool does not know that..!

cooking up rebellion!!

 
I became a doctor ..  working  day and night
 to avoid the everyday kitchen  chore plight!


 Cordon bleu chefs  get credit.. and money too..
 But tired plodding women??,..only frowns at the menu..!


 its cold! I hate mushrooms!..says every  whining voice
 my mother made it better..[ is strangling him,a choice?..]


 Mother in her time .. would have heard the same  cries..
 a home cook gets credit ,only after she dies...


 I want my compliments.. before I`m interred
 bake? make lunch? pah! caesarean preferred!




Women brag about their culinary abilities, like men their sexual exploits!.this is my personal belief, though i have always wondered, why not vice versa??? ,.. since the best cooks are male .. and er.... you get my drift!.. ha ha
In india especially, a  woman`s ability to nurture were directly proportional to her ability to create great food... and thus generation after generation plodded on in the kitchen, buying into the idea that a good  WOMAN[ read good wife and mother]should be a cheerful and accomplished cook.[ the accomplished is easy, the cheer is outrageous!]


well this theory worked very well in brain washing women for centuries, including the twenty first! , but a few of us ,[ very miniscule few , mind you!] believe if we have an option,[ like a paid maid!/ or microwave dinners, or a feeding friend ]then we will not cook!...sure, we will watch masterchef, comment on every recipe, like  every man on earth, but one would  refuse to plod and  toil in the kitchen when one could be doing a zillion other things that were more joyous !.


I remember once , when my daughter was playing with her friends [, each of them waxing eloquent about what their moms cooked best] ... my daughter gave it some thought and said..." my mom makes yummy bread and cheese!...".
do i regret it ?? naah!.. i was a hands on mom and for me ,motherhood meant time with her, instead of spent in the kitchen, for her!




I think more of us have to take a stand ,  do things you like  to do more than the things you have to do !.. with a job,.. well it may be a tough choice , but other stuff??
well if you don`t do what you like,.. who will ??

steal the styrofoam seconds!!

When does everyday life become a chore??when does the work, the family the relatives and friends who make up your world seem to asphyxiate that sacrosanct  space you consider you!???

Every time i  read motivational quotations, i am amazed at the stuff anyone can write for others...stuff like...
  the day you wake up and you are not happy about who you are is the day you should change your life ....!!!. 
.whaaaaatt?? which world do these people live in ??
motivational speaker world for sure.....where there is only  only fluff and dribble ,  and  kids lunch, monthly instalments and tution fees don`t exist.. where you can just get up and do your "OWN THANG!".. and expect the world  to stand by and pat you on your back ... ...yet...

 aaaaah!.. the yet ... is living life honestly or sensibly..only snuffing out your joie di vivre,.. or strangling your soul??.. not really.. there can be mutual co existence... and thats a  nice path to find. and stay on !.
do you know the trick ?? STEAL AN HOUR A DAY FOR YOURSELF!
don`t follow the all or none rule... yet in your everyday  living .. create pockets of fun,.. spaces of silence, joy .. do the stuff you like to do .. and make the time to do it ...its not going to be easy .. but hey .. its  not for the lazy...!

we all have the 'styrofoam seconds' in our lives,.. the so called package material time that we squander between doing the  chores that matter ,.. well. pack tighly!... and steal the styrofoam!...  and save it up for one time in the day when you know you can enjoy it!.. for me its midnight,.. after all the rumble tumble of hospital, patients and moans and groans.. to come back to a hot bath  and my special time ,.. is like a sample sachet of heaven...
 try it sometime ...

it`s never too late to begin!

Ihave always been enamoured by the net!,.. it has changed a large sprawling disconnected world to a wonderful little space that you can navigate with a click...it always seemed so new and way beyond my ken.i did the routine surfing, checking on the medical sites and other boring stuff,.. and then my daughter started her blog.....and internet turned on it`shead!
 well, i wrote  articles for my website ,.. but they were well thought out  epistles,.sensible ,informstive, medical knowledge or opinions.. but to be just able to write STUFF,.. things that you read and feel and just have to say..[ whether or not the world read it!]... it`s almost like standing at the edge of a cliff and screaming your name!]..the world may not care,..but the fact that you did it ,..is exhilarating!...

that`s when i decided,..i need to write too.,.. need to scream and share and generally have fun with the thoughts in my head...let them run out on paper, make friends with other thoughts, it is time to begin...late??? naah.. it`s only too late if its on your epitaph!.. ha ha