In which Alison is very hands on: Or "That was your first time?!"

Yesterday was probably our biggest day at the hospital so far, and I realize that I havn't told you all what a typical day here is like, so I'll go through it step by step.



Our day starts at 6:00, when we wake up, get dressed and head down to the surgery. They are usually scheduled for 6:30, and we are almost always there before the doctor or the anesthisiologist. Yesterday was exciting because we were watching a loproscopy (where they do all the surgery inside and project onto a TV screen) which meant that Dr. Antony was the one doing the surgry. He is really nice, and always explains really well. This was a hysterectomy (severe endometriosis). They usually go pretty fast, but this one took almost 4 hours! The tissues were so fused together that it was very difficult to get the uterus out of the surroundings. Still, it was very interesting, and Dr. Antony explained a lot about internal anatomy, laproscopic technique, and why its sometimes infuriorating to work with your sister (Dr. Gigi was there to supervise the removal of the uterus through the vagina). It was 10 when we got out, and we ran to the canteen for coffee and teas before we went to consulations.



Consultations are when we sit with the doctor and watch them take care of patients. It can be really interesting, but since all the consultations are in Tamil it can also be an exercise in charades (to figure out what their complaint is). I was with Dr. Gigi (who explains the least of all the doctors) but its usually ok because the women carry medical records with them that are in English, so I can see if the patient is there for pre-natal, fertility, or some other OBGYN treatment. Today she was just getting started when I heard the nurses saying delivery in amoung their Tamil. Turns out there was a woman about to deliver twins in the labor ward, so I didn't let Dr. Gigi out of my sight for the entire morning (she has a tendency to disappear sometimes). Finally, about 1:30, she got the message that the twin were on the way. I ran to Dr. Banu's office (the pedeatrician, Kyla was there) and Dr. Roys (for Lisette) and we three were there to see the twins born. It was very neat, and the babies were tiny but full of personality. The boy was the shyer, but the girl was screaming her head off every time she was left alone. It was about 2:30 when we left (we usually go at 2pm) and we walked to lunch.

Lunch is at a restaurant about 15 minutes away from the hospital. We eat in the AC room, which was really great the first week but is becoming less nessisary now that it's a little cooler. The waiters get a real kick out of us, and we do out of them. They won't let us order some of hte things on the menu, because they are deemed "gross". The Channa masala, Palak Paneer, and Mixed Veg Masala are all excellent, as are lots of south Indian dishes that I've never had before. The will also give me warm milk, which I love in the evening, though I do get strange looks for it. I ordered it the first time trying to get COLD milk, but that just isn't going over the language barrier.

In the afternoon, we usually go to the internet or read until 5:30, when it's time for "needle nruse". Banumathi lets us fill the saringes, and lets Lisette (who is a 3rd year nursing student), push IV injections. It is SO much harder than it looks ot fill a seringe from a bottle of medicine. I'm glad I'm getting practice now! We do rounds to all of the patients who need injections, and half of hte fun is meeting the mothers, fathers, children, aunts and uncles who come iwht the sick person to the hostpital. The kids especailly are really funny, since they are encouraged by their parents to try their English on us. They are really amused when I ask them their names in Tamil. Even trying to speaks gets approving laughs (at least, I'm hoping that they're approving). At 7, Lisette sits with Dr. Roy for some more consultation. I often go with her (so that I can see different things than in the peds or OB office). Today, a woman needed an intra-muscular injection, and the nurse asked if I'd like to do it. Lisette coached me, and I went right through the skin but tried to be qucik. After I was done, Lisette said soemthing congradulating and the woman said, shocked 'That was your FIRST time?". I remember on of the Georgetown nursing students saying that you always told patients it was your first time doing something AFTER you'd done it, so I"m off to a good start!

After a 8pm dinner, Kyla make a nightly check on the labor ward. Tonight, there was a woman in 1st stage labor (which can last hours), so Kyla checked again before she went to bed around 10:30. She came running back, saying that she was in stage 2 and close. We went down, and found one of the student doctors with her. She was moaning and scared, but they had very few people with her. I felt so bad for her, she tried to grab the nurses hands, but they were busy testing blood and trying to do other things, they kept pushing her away. Finally, I went over and held her hand, and stroked her hair. She didnt' speak English, but she almost took my hand off with her squeezing, so I think that I helped. Her daughter was born around 12:00, and we stayed until 1:00 to watch her get cleaned off and start nursing. FInally, we went to bed to get up for a 6:30 surgery the next day.

And that's a typical day here in India.