You might be wondering what the aforementioned tidbit has to do with the title of this post??? Read on.....
This happened during my Internship.....when I was posted to the Dept. of Internal Medicine. As I've (tirelessly!) mentioned earlier about the workload at this district hospital I trained at(because of the paucity of residents.....Interns work like Residents- read "bakras").....I'm not gonna delve into details (for your benefit). This was peak season for admissions (hospital-admissions, mind you) and I was handed over the Male Medical Ward as per my rotating internship programme. There were around 27 patients under my care (and only me, alone!!!) during this period. We were required to see the patients on admission, write their case-history, medicine orders (everyday that they were admitted there, that too twice a day), do blood collections and other minor procedures (like catheterization), etc etc. (hope you get the hint). All this and 27 patients to top it all, sure took its toll on me. And one day, I missed out on seeing one of the patients. After our rounds (with the Senior Consultants), I realised my folly. So, that evening I went and apologised to the aforementioned patient. Fortunately, the relatives were very understanding. As I was about to leave, I heard someone abuse me....(specifically using the word "doctor", and I was the only doc around). I didn't heed....but then the abuses went on and on....and all the patients and relatives in the ward (mind you, this was a general ward) were aghast. I turned back and went to see what the problem was. Believe you me, this patient looked like he was hardly in his senses (diagnosed with "Alcohol-Withdrawal Syndrome") and he wasn't under my care (as in, he was admitted under another Unit), so I began to walk away. But the abuses didn't stop, and now this degrading attitude of his, really began to piss me off.....after all I hadn't spent the past four and a half years studying Medicine, to listen to people like him, abuse doctors like us!!! So I asked him what his problem was, sternly. He actually had the audacity to hit me....though I ducked at the right moment and was spared of his wrath (unlike "first time in labour"). Taken aback, I called the security guard on duty.....but this delirious man wasn't in a mood to give up and went on about how "you doctors" don't give a damn about poor patients....how that patient suffered (which was absolutely untrue) and the like. All this while, his poor wife was a silent bystander to this drama and now even she tried to "console" him. But I really don't know what strength "ALCOHOL" gives people.....three security guards later and his wife holding onto him couldn't stop this guy's attempt to pounce on me. I really didn't understand the reason for his wrath against medicare personnel in general. A few seconds later, the patient's doc (Resident Doc of that particular Unit) came in. He ordered for some tranquilizers. Two shots of Diazepam didn't do the trick. Finally after a lot of attempts to pacify him and a lot of violence on the part of the Resident Doc (yup, have to do that at times), Chlorpromazine and Phenargan, both potent drugs.....did the trick. He conked off. Further probing revealed that his wife was used to this drama at home and often wound up getting beaten up. And yet, she supported her husband.....I was at a loss for words. The next day, this patient was discharged (Against Medical Advice- DAMA).....and it seems he couldn't remember anything about this "interesting" incident !!! Woah....!!!
And so this is one particular "breed of patients" we see on a regular basis at Government Hospitals..... this man hadn't realized the damage that alcohol had done to his brain, liver, kidneys, heart and virtually every organ in his body.....I hope you do, before its too late. . . . . !
P.S.: And on similar lines (as my previous "labour story"), this "man" visited me again when I was in the Surgery OPD.....with his kids having multiple abrasions and contusions, saying they had fallen while playing.....whether they had really fallen or were "made to fall" is an entirely different story.
Sordid state of affairs, I must say. . . . . !
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