Buried in the debris

CONQUEST OF DEATH 2

‘It’s already two and a half hours! How long would you take?’ the anesthesiologist was grumbling.

I was engrossed in the operation. So I ignored her.

‘It would be unsafe to continue giving anesthesia for a longer time----‘ 

I was alarmed. With the sense of a surgeon’s duty and compassion, I said,

‘Isn’t it equally unsafe to leave injuries untreated, especially perforations? It’s criminal!’ 

‘Patients of fecal peritonitis do not survive! She already has contracted fecal peritonitis!! (Feces infecting the sac in which the intestines are contained)’, the anesthesiologist emphasized.

‘For want of better drugs to combat infections, for lack of better supportive measures in the hands of medical fraternity to manage septic shock, let her die, but certainly not for surgical negligence and not treating these injuries like perforations!’ I said.

An elderly lady was buried in the rubble following collapse of the roof of her house. She had sustained abdominal trauma. On the operating table, I found that she had many perforations in the small and the large bowel. There were no other injuries. I had almost finished the operation when the anesthesiologist alarmed me. Only the colostomy procedure (bringing the large bowel out of the abdominal cavity and subsequently opening it to empty the fecal matter), was remaining. I soon completed that and caught a last glimpse.

‘Nurse, peritoneal lavage please!’ I said. Peritoneal lavage refers to washing of the sac covering the intestines.

I inserted two catheters, one each in the iliac fossae for postoperative lavage and closed the abdomen. 

After shifting the patient in the ward, I gave her relatives an idea of the gravity of the situation.

In the ward I administered intravenous fluids, antibiotics, peritoneal lavage, etc.

Two days later, her restlessness disappeared. Her vital signs became stable. Later, her colostomy started functioning. The sepsis was controlled. There was no wound infection. She started accepting oral feeds.

On the tenth postoperative day, I removed the sutures. She was moving around cheerfully in the ward.

Three weeks later, I closed the colostomy.

In due course of time she went home!!

A True Story in Real Life!! 

A Drama in My Life!!

  

The Life-Threatening Custom!!

CONQUEST OF DEATH 1

'Customs are wisdoms of centuries' says an adage. Really? Are they or aren't they? 

What if practicing a custom culminates in a life threatening disaster?

Well! I have a tale to tell...

In search of talent in the realm of music in the state of Maharashtra, India, a contest was announced.

'Is any of your kin contesting?', asked my wife to a lady sitting beside her. Dark in complexion, she appeared to be an uneducated peasant. She wore a clean but worn out sari. A necklace of black glass beads and glass bangles were the only humble ornaments that behooved to her. Obviously, poverty was the master here!!

'My son!', she replied. 

'Fair complexioned, talking a polished tongue, obviously you are a cultured middle class or higher middle class lady! People of your class look askance at our class, instead you are inquiring about me so compassionately. May I know your name?'

'Mrs. Vinze.'

'Vinze?'

My wife nodded.

'I know one Dr. Vinze….He used to come to Thane, he was attached to Dr. Karve’s Hospital.'

My wife was nodding to her every sentence.

'Are you any of his kin?', the lady asked. 

'I am Mrs. Vinze, his wife!'

'W-i-f-e??  I bow down to your feet'…..

With these words the lady touched my wife's feet.

'No—No---No---' my wife raised her.

"I dwell in Wada, a remote village in Thane district.” She started narrating the anecdote. My wife, already aware of the incident, nodded appreciatively throughout her story.

"We are uneducated, rather illiterate peasants. There are many worldly, material possessions that 

 we do not possess and will never ever have! But we certainly possess all that really matters!! In our village, it is customary to smear the umbilicus with cow-dung after severing the umbilical cord of the newborn immediately after birth. 

After two daughters, I delivered a precious baby, a son! The cow dung was neither handy nor was easily available, but rat shit was!! The accoucheur (midwife) who delivered the bairn smeared the umbilicus with rat shit and covered it with a gossamer cloth.That was ominous! A few hours later, my baby stopped crying. It would not suck milk. His tummy was bloated. Immediately we took him to Dr. Karve. He started saline and some medicines and said,

'We shall take Dr. Vinze's opinion.' 

'Dr. Vinze came the same evening. He examined the baby and explained the case to Dr. Karve. I did not understand but realized the gravity of the situation. He then explained to me his line of action and the plan of treatment.

'He removed the rat shit, dressed the cord twice a day, and started the injections of a strong medicine. It was a costly medicine but the cost was petty vis-à-vis my baby's life! He inserted a tube in his stomach and drained the dirty fluid from the stomach and continued the saline.

'Two days later, my son started smiling, the bloated tummy became flat, he started rubbing his tongue on his lips demanding feeds, but the doctors did not allow. The dirty liquid draining from the stomach markedly reduced in quantity. Four days later, he passed dirty stools. The doctors removed the stomach tube and allowed breast milk,’ she continued.

'Two days later, the saline was stopped. On the fourth day, the injections of that costly medicine were also stopped. By around ten days, all treatment was stopped and we were discharged from the hospital.

'The doctor's bill was far too less than we expected. We would have paid any amount the doctors would have demanded! My son's life was priceless! The doctors, especially, Dr. Vinze brought my son back to life from the crooked clasp of death.  

My wife's face was shimmering with pride and proud! Her eyes were brimming with tears of ecstasy. She closed her eyes for a while. The tears of ecstasy gushed down her cheeks.

Before my wife could open her eyes, the lady touched my wife's feet and saying, 'To me, Dr.Vinze is a God and you a Goddess!' mingled with the crowd and disappeared, probably never to meet me again!!  

A True Story in Real Life!! 

A Drama in My Life!!