Dumb Dumb Shiga Shiga : A Ward Story !

It is a good three weeks since I came around on 'Live, Love and Laugh". Not because there is any dearth of Life, Love or Laughter. It is just that I have been overtly busy "Doctoring the Balls !!!". Cricket after all is life and love for me ! It makes me enjoy, love, laugh, brood and then laugh again in the end.

Here is a small anecdote that happened today. I had to narrate it right here because it is simply way too funny at the end of the day to miss. And it has nothing to do with Cricket.

I visit our in-patients in the wards thrice every day. First visit very early in the morning to update prognosis. Then I join my Boss for the regular rounds. Later in the afternoon, I do a review rounds when I visit selected patients depending upon the condition.

Thus I went about an hour ago for my afternoon rounds today. There is this overtly talkative 74 year old lady admitted with a Lower Respiratory Infection. She had severe bouts of cough and off and on wheeze. I had advised her to rest well and not to talk too much. When I went to her ward, she was sleeping peacefully.

Happy that she was resting well, I told the Nurse on rounds, "Good that she is resting. I don't want to disturb her. Tell her I did come visiting when she wakes up". I turned around and was just leaving the ward. Suddenly this Staff Nurse, a girl in her early twenties rapidly walked towards the sleeping patient and woke her up with a quick jerk and told the patient, "Amma, the Doctor had come for rounds and he went off because you were sleeping".

This was infuriating. I asked her, "Why on earth did you wake her up ? What was the need to tell her now ? I told you to inform her when she wakes up...". But the girl very calmly replied, "I didn't want to forget it Sir. That is why I told her now itself !". I just asked her one more question, "What is your name ?". "Shiga" came the reply. Whatever that means !

I have seen girls, idiots and God-damned Dumb Nurses. But this was something different. There was no use in admonishing her because she just couldn't understand what the whole issue was.

So that is life after all. And in spite of all this and more, I manage to Live, Love and Laugh and share it too !


Dr. Pun-dit