little poem

just trying to write more... hot summer days. i played basketball until i was drenched...

a poem i wrote based on something solmaz had sent me.


Sunday night blues

say this city has ten million souls
aint none of them is you.
i said this city has ten million souls
my dear
aint none of them is you.

they say you come back
may turn to june
even the peonies down the steet wait that day to bloom.


Sri 5/21/06

june in harbor

so we are well into July. I started second year. Last month was probably one of the hardest of my life. I have been cruising along for so long, eventually life is gonna make you struggle a bit. and so many things came into perspective.

AF, my patient on the wards. a Philipina woman, 73. she had chronic pain and i didn't know how much to give it credence. i hate the gatekeeper roll. i feel like i am always deciding, who is in pain and who is not. who deserves disability and who doesn't. who is addicted to IV dilaudid. AD told me today on the phone that she thought i have the personality of someone who would give in and prescibe pain meds to a patient who demanded and begged for it.

i disagreed. it is a tough line between being compassionate and not being soft. being aware but not cynical. there have been so many patients this year who i present to my resident as a warm great guy with a supportive family and when the urine tox comes back positive for coke, the resident asks me if the patient also smokes crack with his beautiful family. i know everybody has their sufferings but i am not trying to be a sucker.

so anyway, to the point- my patient was here to be placed and i saw her Hgb had dropped a point and a half since the day before. she had just came in. maybe dilution i thought. the next day, i saw on my computer that she had been discharged. i was surprised somebody had found a place for her to stay after i left.

then i ran into the senior resident. she said my patient had coded overnight and died. bled into her belly. i should have picked it up. maybe. the only way to describe it is similar to those you love who leave your life. like a kick in the stomach. a sinking feeling that stays for days.



sri

Dr. V

Pavi emailed this morning, Dr. V passed away.

one of the true heros. He is one of the doctors we should make mandatory study for all of us in medicine. One of the people you want to bring up in nearly every conversation and pass the word like GOOD NEWS. If anybody is around LA or anywhere, you should watch a documentary on him called Infinite Vision... by Pavi. I am going to show it to the residents in a couple weeks.. We can get you copies...








SOUTHERN NEWS - TAMIL NADU

Jul 8, 2006
Aravind Eye Hospital founder G Venkataswamy passes away
Saturday July 8 2006 00:58 IST

MADURAI: Renowned ophthalmologist and founder of Aravind Eye Hospital Dr G Venkataswamy passed away at his residence here on Friday after a brief illness. He was 88.

‘Dr GV’, as he was affectionately called, was conferred Padmashri in 1973.

Born in Vadamalapuram in Thoothukudi district in 1918, he graduated in medicine from Stanley Medical College (SMC), Chennai. He had served in the Indian Army Medical Corps during the British regime.

He began his career as a tutor in ophthalmology at SMC in 1955 and later became the Vice-Dean of Madurai Medical College.

Post retirement, Venkataswamy, chairman of the Aravind Eye Care System, founded Aravind Eye Hospital in Madurai in 1976 and subsequently established a chain of eye hospitals in Theni, Tirunelveli, Coimbatore and Pondicherry.

A pioneer in conducting free eye camps, he had helped lakhs of cataract patients regain vision.

He was honoured with numerous national and international awards, including the Helen Keller International award, American Ophthalmic Association International Award, the Hall of Fame Award from the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeries and the B C Roy Award conferred by the Medical Council of India in 2004.

Venkataswamy, who remained a bachelor and dedicated his life for the cause of the visually impaired, is survived by his sister Natchiar, also a well-known ophthalmologist, and two brothers, Nallakrishnan and Seenivasan.

The body has been kept for public homage in his residence at Anna Nagar in Madurai. The cremation will take place on Saturday afternoon.