So much to say...
So much has gone on since the last time I updated. Let's see...
Right now I'm back in the city of Dehra Dun and staying at my homestay. This past week I've been shadowing a neurologist and a pediatician. The neurologist is cool because I actually sorta know what he's talking about. And when he points to a CT scan I can pick out ventricles and such. I just wish I remembered more.
The pediatrician is very impressive. His name is Dr. Vaish and he has like his own hospital. Really, he's got like twenty patients admitted, ten more pre term babies in the pediatric intensive care unit, and then anyone who comes into the clinic and emergency cases. He's the only doctor and he's on call 24 hours a day. I don't know how he does it. And he doesn't just look after kids. He looks after babies, kids, teenagers, and adults. In one room there is a man admitted for pesticide poisoning and in the bed next to him there is a two year old child with a long term fever and seizures of unknown origin. Dr. Vaish does abcess drainage, spinal taps, bone marrow taps and can do c sections in an emergency.
And the pre term babies! They are the tiniest things I have ever seen! So cute. Just lying there, squirming around every now and then. It's sad sometimes, because they can be very sick. Dr. Vaish has the only accredited pediatric ICU in the state, so all the very complicated cases are referred to him. Yesterday, a baby died. The mother was diabetic and the baby was very sick when it was born. It was very sad. But it's also very encouraging when they bounce back. A one year old came in with respiratory failure and stopped breathing. They tried to put a mask on him, but then he started vomitting from all the sedatives, so Dr. Vaish had to intubate him very quickly and put him on a respirator. The next day, however, he was off the ventilator and crying quite loudly everytime we got near him. (I don't really blame him.)
After working with a pediatrician, I am amazed that humans can live past the age of five. Seriously, there are a lot of things out there than can kill you or at the very least make you very, very sick. I don't know if I can ever have kids. I'm going to be constantly worried that they'll get fungal infections or scabies. Do they have tuberculosis? Menengitis? Tubercular menengitis? Viral pneumonia? Bacterial? All these things could happen and that's not including the stuff we do to ourselves. Drugs, smoking, alcohol. An alcoholic came to Dr. Vaish in the middle of a seizure. I really don't understand how our bodies put up with its environment and then with ourselves. It's pretty amazing.
Happy Diwale!
Right now I'm back in the city of Dehra Dun and staying at my homestay. This past week I've been shadowing a neurologist and a pediatician. The neurologist is cool because I actually sorta know what he's talking about. And when he points to a CT scan I can pick out ventricles and such. I just wish I remembered more.
The pediatrician is very impressive. His name is Dr. Vaish and he has like his own hospital. Really, he's got like twenty patients admitted, ten more pre term babies in the pediatric intensive care unit, and then anyone who comes into the clinic and emergency cases. He's the only doctor and he's on call 24 hours a day. I don't know how he does it. And he doesn't just look after kids. He looks after babies, kids, teenagers, and adults. In one room there is a man admitted for pesticide poisoning and in the bed next to him there is a two year old child with a long term fever and seizures of unknown origin. Dr. Vaish does abcess drainage, spinal taps, bone marrow taps and can do c sections in an emergency.
And the pre term babies! They are the tiniest things I have ever seen! So cute. Just lying there, squirming around every now and then. It's sad sometimes, because they can be very sick. Dr. Vaish has the only accredited pediatric ICU in the state, so all the very complicated cases are referred to him. Yesterday, a baby died. The mother was diabetic and the baby was very sick when it was born. It was very sad. But it's also very encouraging when they bounce back. A one year old came in with respiratory failure and stopped breathing. They tried to put a mask on him, but then he started vomitting from all the sedatives, so Dr. Vaish had to intubate him very quickly and put him on a respirator. The next day, however, he was off the ventilator and crying quite loudly everytime we got near him. (I don't really blame him.)
After working with a pediatrician, I am amazed that humans can live past the age of five. Seriously, there are a lot of things out there than can kill you or at the very least make you very, very sick. I don't know if I can ever have kids. I'm going to be constantly worried that they'll get fungal infections or scabies. Do they have tuberculosis? Menengitis? Tubercular menengitis? Viral pneumonia? Bacterial? All these things could happen and that's not including the stuff we do to ourselves. Drugs, smoking, alcohol. An alcoholic came to Dr. Vaish in the middle of a seizure. I really don't understand how our bodies put up with its environment and then with ourselves. It's pretty amazing.
Happy Diwale!
posted by Jenna Furley | 5:17 AM
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