We shall Overcome

Last week has been hectic, we just moved back home on retirement hoping to just chill for a while before taking the plunge for the second inning on re-attirement, as it is euphemistically being referred to these days. First the battle with Packers and Movers, who true to their business ethics kept us on our toes till the truck finally arrived, albeit delayed by a couple of hours and was fully unloaded. That merits a full-fledged separate account and will be given its due some other time.

Actually the reason for being busy here is that my mother took unwell and needed immediate hospitalisation, a battery of tests ensued to diagnose the ailment. While I was waiting outside these labs to divert my attention from the issue at hand I started to scribble or rather swipe my fingers on the keypad for my blogs. The first one was on " Spit and Polish" published on my blog and now this one follows. In total awe of these doctors who practise this noble profession for our good health. A bunch of dedicated professionals who leave no stone unturned to provide relief to the suffering patients, of course in the bargain these days they are well rewarded also.

I can still recall my bout of appendicitis more than two decades ago in Karu (Ladakh), when I was carted in the middle of the night to Leh and operated upon early morning to remove the vestigial organ which was ready to burst any moment, or the time when having landed up with facial paralysis courtesy Bell's Palsy, the neurologists managed to not just contain the deformity but actually brought it back to status quo ante. I have had experiences which were not so pleasant also but by and large we owe a lot to this gentry. After all, right from the time we were born, most of us at least, the doctors were present to assist and support our mothers through the procedure. Then the vaccinations and the bouts of fevers and colics which are invariably encountered when our parents rushed to the doctors who would very calmly address the issue. 

When we were growing up we had the concept of family physicians who were practicing in practically all residential colonies,  who were plain and simple MBBS, who knew the complete medical history of all the patients, prescribed medicines which were generally some mixtures which the compounder would dutifully mix and the first dose administered immediately for the rest, small paper packets(pudiya) was given to the parents. Temperatures were recorded with glass thermometers, injections administered with glass syringes duly autoclaved, not the disposable ones which are ubiquitous these days. This breed of family physicians are extinct now, as a result, the compounders too have disappeared, after all pharmaceutical industry is a lucrative business. There is very little diagnosis these days, there are umpteen number of tests which are prescribed as a routine. 

But times have changed, medicine is a highly technical profession now armed with precision instruments, robots and now even Artificial intelligence doctors today have been successful in combating and eradicating diseases which were considered insurmountable until very recently. Even the emperor of maladies has now been reduced to a normal peasant today, in that he doesn't enjoy the exalted status of being deadly. Last year we were faced with some challenges in the family on the health front and our close interaction with the medical fraternity provided us with an opportunity to watch their work ethics at close quarters. As a family we are blessed with a number of doctors,  my sister a Neuro surgeon, brother in law an orthopedic, my daughter an anesthesiologist, my elder cousin and his spouse are world renowned ophthalmologists, my aunt, uncle, niece her husband, the latest to join is my nephew as a dentist.  I just hope I haven't missed anyone. It is such a blessing to have one in the family who can  advise you,  counsel you should there be need. 

The realization which dawned on us was that faith plays a huge role in our healing and recovery, faith in the doctor and in the overall design of the Almighty. We are up against yet another similar challenge, armed with our faith we are facing it, the doctors and the support staff have left no stone unturned, we are naturally confident that we shall overcome..... !!