12 February 2011

A personal Reflection !

'We have to be strong to be useful' so true i thought when i was taking my grandfather to the hospital who was breathing hard. I was exhausted with thoughts cluttering in my mind- a scary thought of losing him and a contradictory thought of seeing him alive and another following that 'God is just testing your faith,sweety; he will be alright, we are gonna have breakfast together'. As I apply brakes to my car so does my silly nervous system to the unwanted negative feeble thoughts.

I reach the hospital, Dr. Dave examines my grandfather and says 'Severe Bronchospasm, you need to urgently take him to another hospital as he needs Intensive Care." It sent a shiver down my spine.I wanted to cry out loud but then again the more disciplined side of me would not allow me to do that and reminds me 'you have to b strong to b useful'. I hold myself back, collect courage, clear the choked up throat and tell my grandfather in a loud, clear yet cheerful voice 'you are alright dada, just that i need to take you to another hospital for a simple test.'

Dr.Dave already had a word with the doctors at Diva hospital where my grandfather was to be treated. There they take him to the Intensive Care Unit, connect him to ECG through electrodes, deliever inhalation therapy through Nebulizer, control hypoxia through controlled oxygen therapy and maintains hydration. And, my grandfather breathes normally. This brings a smile on my face with a tear rolling down my cheek. The moment that i will never forget. The moment which reinstilled hope for my grandfather's life, belief in recovery and unshakable faith in power of prayers and Almighty. I was clueless how was i to repay the debt to all these doctors and nurses.

My stay at the hospital with my grandfather left me thinking about the sacrifices all the doctors and nurses have had made to serve the patients and save their lives. Out of 72 hours spent at the hospital there wasnt a single hour when i saw them losing hope inspite of pain and death around them.I was wondering, if a few hours can make me feel so exhausted and stressed out then they must really have a strong Emotional quotient to get over the patients pain and liberate them from the suffering and Spiritual Quotient as well so as to have faith in God, the life Saviour and forsee great health in the dying patients.

I still wonder, how our lives would be without this noble profession of medicine?



Thank you Note:
I will like to thank all those wonderful people in my life who are doctors by profession and have inspired me in every little way:

Dr. Jagdish Kothari and Dr. Kalpana kothari (Oncologists) who have been my personal mentors and guided me like my parents. I admire the way they have dedicated their lives to treat Cancer patients and who always dutifully prioritzed their patients need before their personal needs.

Dr. Nidhi Badiyani(a very close friend of mine who i know since 22 years)who is on 24 hours emergency call for 2 days out of 7. Rest of the days she is juggling between treating her patients, studying for boards and helping her friends. Your spirit to serve the community, your passion for curing and healing the unhealthy awes me, each time I meet you.

I really admire spirit of Dr. Nirali Vora (childhood friend)who is all set to treat the old bones :)

I am eternally grateful to Dr. Kishore Dave, Dr. Mayur Dave, Dr. Sanjeev Pathak, Dr. Maulik Vora and Dr. Parimal Desai who always made sure that me and my family lived a little longer ;)

Links:
URL of one of my favorite TV Shows hosted by Kiran Mazumdar show interviewing the best Indian doctors, dicussing the Health Care Industry of India and related challenges:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vq9BuNyBhq0&feature=relmfu

7 comments:

  1. Riddhi very nice blog........seriously do not stop writing blogs everrrrr.......

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  2. There should be more Reactions rather than only three... funny, interesting and cool.
    I find it Fascinating...!!!

    Always Fascinated by Medical Profession. Now I am into this Noble profession(not by choice). Thanks my Brother(Engineer himself) and my Parents who insisted me to be Doctor. Being a Geek, I always wanted to go into some technical line, or become Scientist!! But I think, I born to be Doctor. More precisely, I destined to be Doctor.

    It needs too much Hard work, effort, comprehensive and through knowledge, painstaking efforts, commitment, hope, faith, dedication to be a Doctor and as you go into further specialization, the hopes and expectations with you become insurmountable.

    Being a Resident, Even after working 48 hours at a stretch, 4 sleepless nights back to back, no bath since 7 days(Damn!!!) , no shaving since last 20 days(Horrible), not time for food(prefer easily chewed and swallowed).... You are satisfied. And this satisfaction is withing Inside. You see how many lives you have saved. You feel Content and Calm from Inside. Inner Peace and Joy makes you forget the pain and sufferings you are facing.

    That phase is over now, not so much work load. I can find time for bath(1st Priority), food, sleep. Comfort and Entertainment is still at very minute level. Having many Hobbies and Interests, I find being a Doctor is very tough call for me.

    There is nothing like Syllabus, you need to read cover to cover, you need to have through knowledge of everything. You need to read for the patients not to clear your examination. Need to be updated with the state of the art technologies and newer guidelines.

    After being Doctor, I get to understand the sacrifices and hard work done by doctors. But, If at all I was not lucky enough to be in this profession, still I respect this profession. Every Second counts when you are dealing with lives.

    Either it was any Infectious disease, or Swine flu or recently Crimean Congo Hemorrhagic Fever... you need to be there, in a close proximity to the patients.

    Life is Beautiful. People respect you. They know how hard you work for them(like you know now). You remain Happy and that Happiness is Eternal and within Inside. No outer Turmoil can Shake you. Once you are in Emergency room, you forget everything... you are totally engrossed in your work.

    Excellent profession, nothing exaggerated.

    BTW, I like to remain anonymous here for the obvious reasons.

    One friendly remark.. When you write in your blog, you should edit it in some word editor to make sure that the article is grammatically correct.

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  3. @Jaitun: Thanks bud!Inspiring it is :)

    @Anonymus: Speechless and moved :)Grateful to you for the same. Inspires me to pass this act of kindness forward, anonymously.

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  4. i love the way you are so expressive and i can so relate to this feeling. Amazing!

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  5. Can you get this printed and paste it on the walls of that hospital and send a few copies to this doctors?? :)

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  6. Thanks for this nicey idea, Rushla (:

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