Speaking doctors

I don’t even remember when was the last time I d written a post. I do remember prompting my ex-interns (who’ll always be my interns) into writing a post for me some time back.  As I sit under the mango tree with my green tea (with the lemon drops) I collect myself on how to begin. Apriling clinicking I rotated in clinics in April. The month of my birthday. April fool. I grow an year older as the clinics proceed. Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays are clinic days. Tuesdays and Fridays are days of almost nothingness. The nurses like me there (or so I think). "Daikh bilkul hamaray jaisee hay , har waqt khatee rahtee hay!", one of them beams. Then the patients who are there for their initial visit, it was difficult yet funny explaining that I am not Dr Nehal. The stalk of files to see is amazing. Its only do able thanks to the sanity that the staff maintains.       Floor returns One labour day later I am back on floors. With a mixed old new team, Khalid (jo ma...

Guest post   So again, I woke up to the dreadful fact that it’s (med) school no more! You can’t go late to the ward or bunk a patient (*sigh*). It’s always the same every morning, feeling of staying some more time snugged in the bed and till date I feel the same. Beside my wishes, my alarm is quite loud-mouthed. It keeps screaming until I wake up. And the patient’s census guessing start right from the bed, “OMG, I’m already late,’I think we have to follow 15, hmmm, 18 patients.. God knows how many admissions last night. Ahh, Dr. Shayan must be waiting, let’s be quick ‘. So I get ready to reach private wing, with the same wishes in my head. Not to mention the pager hunting in my bag, securing the meal coupons and yeah the much talked about ID card. And the day begins…. A day in Oncology rotation; Oh simple things, where have you gone? So I reached private wing, where the young man at the counter known as UR throws the same old question, before I could even take a breath,” A...

Clinic completes early. So I have an hour, extra and free to my life. The passage from the clinics till B2 oncall rooms is both long and interesting. It gives you a long walk to think. If the day was nice the path is smiley, if the day was not so smooth, you are all the more bitter. So you climb down the flight of stairs, pass through Nazeraliwalji. Three minutes pass There is a lot of construction underway. They are building a two story building. And its building up every day.You have to almost take a u turn and you can see the main building. On this route you see a lot of young and not so young men  with ties. Then comes the round about of the main building. Here if there is an aunty or not so aunty, she makes sure she scans you. She thinks that because you work here so you are highly paid and follow the latest fashion trends. I make sure I throw a smile and move on before she starts to make an effort to smile back. The main entrance is crossed. On the left is th...

Monday ‘What a facility’, I think to myself. I wake up with a heavy heart. Its floors no more. The whole month is supposed to be clinicking. Mondays are supposed to be the toughest. Clinic starts at twelve but will start early (as some other consultant’s clinic is cancelled). I text Dr Asif about when exactly should I reach hospital. ‘At nine’, comes the reply. Nine seems like ages away. A whole extra hour.  I usually leave home at quarter to eight and a fifteen minutes drive takes me to hospital. Its nine when I reach hospital. I hit the on call rooms. From there I call the clinic counter number. They tell me clinic starts at ten. I reach there at quarter to ten. “I’m Dr Zarka”, I introduce myself. The staff there turns around to have a look. “Oh so we finally get to see you today, for the last three months, we have been listening to you via phone only!”, one of the staff beams. I return a smile. Its more of a grimace.   I start with my first patient. Sara’s words...

(Guest Post) The hospital makes sure we get lots of proteins. I wake up from my slumber and grab my cell to see what time it is. I think the buffer created by the snooze option has made me lazy. Finally, when I gather enough ATPs to drag myself out of bed, I am welcomed by an azure sky and singing sparrows. I get ready for the day and hang my AKU card whose only utility is opening doors. The stage is set As I enter D2, I am to fight, sorry, print out profiles. The day is kicked off. I can hear Dr Zarka (Onco fellow) ensuring whether the follow ups are complete. I am sent on the hunt for red folders as if I am a bull. Meanwhile, the round has started. The onco team is looking forward to Shehzad’s sketches. Someone politely knocks the door. The seeker hesitantly opens the door. He is one of the attendants. He wants to know the exact junction in time and space when the attending will be visiting his patient. I assure him that we’ll be there anything like storm. I re-join...

  Brentuximap in Lymphoma

Weekend passes away like a dream. Monday flies away. Drained totally drained I return home at half past nine (pm). Thursday is presentation day. Tuesday, Wednesday. No time left. I gather some courage to make a few slides but feel too lethargic. I put an alarm for five am and also inform Fozia (my younger sister) that I will wake up at five to prepare for the presentation. Fozia smiles at me (she is preparing for exam and has altered sleep pattern). “I ll wake you up, if you are willing and will salute you if you are able to wake up at the said time!”, she ridiculed. The alarm does not ring. I wake up on this note, “Its five thirty am”. I come out of the dream world into the real one. I drag myself up by six. Namaz is followed by nashta. The tea is terribly bitter. The egg mashed up. After eating like a king (??) , I get hold of the laptop and put it on the table. Few slides are added to the already made presentation. The sun starts to rise and its seven thirty soon. I get ready fo...