Speaking doctors

Twenty eighth of March. Two days away from semifinal. And also by the way two months away from exams. The first exam I remember is of class one. Maths paper. We were so closely seated that I could see my class fellow's paper. The sums were all done! Then class two. Dera Ismail Khan. We had two papers daily.In between, we had a break. We had wooden clipboards and we used to make a ball of the first paper and play ping pong with it! We almost made table tennis champions out of those games. No tension. Class five. Indonesia. In that school we didnot have exams. Its the feedback that was given in the progress book and to our parents, that showed how we were doing. I remember my father saying , "Your teacher said that the maths evaluation was ok, that means you should work harder on it ".Work harder. The teacher said maths is ok right....

ICU Day twenty five. Young female, enthusiastic, carries a blinding torch in her pocket, addicted to blog writing, history of admission in ICU for a month, back in April 2010. Now readmitted for a two month rotation, to hopefully expertise in passing lines. Continue same treatment for another month! On examination : CNS Seems sedated postcall (though is off sedation) GCS fluctuating. CVS Blood pressure dropping due to hunger. Pulse tachycardic. Respiratory settings Vent --- man this washing machine is beyond me! CXR --- was OK on residency admission.(patient clearly refuses to get another one done) GIT Feed ----- needs something beyond "economy" Gut sounds Audible to all ID Never rotated there. Investigations Not done due to limited salary! Treatment given in ICU Good (so far.......) Assesment plan Patient looks comfortable. Continue same treatment for another month.!

There is no light from seven till nine pm. The UPS works for one and a half hour, and then this is followed by half an hour of darkness and fight with the mosquitoes. Pakistan beats Australia. We just love that!     Twenty third March Means a lot of different things to a lot of people. For people like myself it means another holiday. No waking up early. No rushing towards hospital. No morning follow ups.A day of laziness. Sipping tea under the mango tree. It s the day called Pakistan Day. A country we are rarely proud of. A country now sixty four year old. An age of retiring. An age when after all those years of giving, its now being the turn of receiving.The want of care. But do we care…     Cricket Junoon   Its world cup again. Pakistan beats Australia. We just love that. Astralia, team unbeaten for so many matches. We the unpredictable , beat them. As the match starts, the mesmerizing scene starts.With all eleven standing,  our anthem is sung … Hair raising indeed.

“You are living in Pakistan, you should write something about the state of this country, not just the hospital stuff”, Fozia (my younger sister), tells me. She doesn’t stop here. She gives me three topics. Bijli (light), machar (mosquitoes), and mehngai (expensiveness!?!). All right. Topic one Bijli (light) How can I write about something that’s usually not even there. Machar (mosquitoes) Causes malaria, dengue. I meet them everyday.An encounter in itself. Mehngai (expensiveness!?!) Why should I even bother to talk about it and what’s the point.   There done.Three topics. Three minutes of my life. Nothing innovational. Now coming back to the hospital. Asif (Year two resident), is scrolling through facebook. “It’s Dr Saeed’s birthday today!”, he says excitedly. Dr Saeed is a critical care fellow. Tall, kind, funny, almost fatherly. “We should celebrate, then!”, I tell him and we order a cake from United bakery. Chocolate fudge cake is to arrive at about three thirty. Clock

Clock ticks two am. The nurse calls and tells me, “”Come quick, your doctor has collapsed!”. I don’t believe this.What the hell is the nurse saying. I rush towards CICU. My patient has been reintubated. While intubating Doctor S (my anaesthesia colleague, oncall with me), felt dizzy and collapsed.   Thank God, there was another anaesthesia resident standing nearby to complete the patient’s intubation. As he definitely needs to nourish himself. On the bed adjacent to the patient, lay Dr S.Have you checked his blood sugar, I ask the nurse. The glucometer arrives and the blood sugar is fine along with the rest of the vital signs. Dr S tries to get up, but I ask him to take some rest. His support is needed to run all those washing machines (ventilators)!     Early next morning, as we start breakfast, Dr Javed Hussa in arrives for the rounds. I pack my nashta in a tissue paper, pick up the glass of milk and ask Dr S to complete the meal, as he definitely needs to nourish himself.  

The nurse, screams, “Dr Zarka!, your blog is found unresponsive!”. I rush towards it. No pulse, no breathing. We start CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation). Fluid boluses are given along with inotropic support. Blog starts to revive. Thank God! I guess the problem lies with our stars. They don’t match! Almost ten days in ICU rotation now.The team comprises of three medicine residents, one pulmonology resident, one rapid response resident (what a job description!), two anaesthesia medical officers and a critical care fellow.The ICU has been divided into medical , surgical and paediatric  ICU. Thirteen beds. And all these doctors have one call room. The call room has every necessity required , except space. First week  was with Dr Nawal. Seven days. I guess the problem lies with our stars. They don’t match. Second week. Dr Javaid Hussain’s week starts.One of my friends once commented that he is one of the very few people who look handsome despite the baldness. Rotating with him has

Ladies and gentleman.Let’s take a visit to my cousin’s wedding. The chiefs could not arrange for a replacement. I tried my level best to arrange a cover. Dr Imran accepted to give cover, but then the whole plan was not really making sense and I thought that I’m not going and will stay in the hospital, while the rest of the family leaves for the wedding. Dr Jalal then told me to go, if there is some sort of arrangement being done.”Work here will never finish, don’t miss this chance!”, he added. I left. Postcall. Drained out. I left hospital at 1715 hours. My family looked excited. As we approached toll plaza, the sun was about to set. Toll Plaza (leads to Hyderabad).From there on its about a two hour drive.     Wonderful truck art.The portrait is of ‘Jalal Chandio’ (famous Sindhi singer).           The evening gives way to night, and the sky hues beautifully!               Take another look at the hypnotizing sunset……       We stop at one of the petrol p