Ya allah, Please don't let me fall sick after because of this chicken sandwich ! - said my 10 year old cousin.
Flashback Friday :
The argument of who is better a doctor or an engineer occurred and obviously had no conclusion. The pro thing about Arguments is that there is exchange of information but handful of them have any conclusion.
The argument was about who was smarter and richer . My doctor friends would laugh out loud and say "Dumbo ! It was one way win altogether . We are paid peanuts! "
The trigger :
Day 0 :
The very next day , we head to chowmohalla palace , followed by a mall and a restaurant for dinner.
That night I make a promise to myself , aaj se bus schedule right karna hai. Bus padhte hi jaana hai... Sincerely.
Day 1 :
18 month old cousin of mine falls sick . Gastroenteritis ... I think its the most under rated sickness . Especially "Nausea" . May be because the chemotrigger zone of your brain is involved , your decision making and parallel functions are significantly affected. But here we have a 18 month baby so dehydration to be corrected. I didn't really want to meddle with the medication , so I tried talking to senior doctors on call.
But within three hours , it only got worse( midnight) . We took her to the nearest emergency . The doctor told us she will be fine and prescribed some medicines to be taken orally. ( Mind you the baby was dancing on the examination table).
I hit the sack tired, 3 hours later woken up again because she had started throwing up. Now she looked extremely dehydrated ... With typical sunken eyes and turned irritable. She had to be admitted . Her mom spent 3 hours straight , changing her diapers. ( Moms job = Tough job because You are the leader , teacher , servant , boss , motivator , paranoid everything! ) .
It came out to be a viral illness thus it will have its own course and duration. As parents all they could do is support her .
2 hours later , I get a call from home informing me that her older sibling also has started throwing up with loose motions. She had consumed 2 fatafat packets 😅. The doctor diagnoses it as viral GE again! Thankfully doesn't prescribe any antibiotics . She got better within 12hours.
Day 2
6am. My aunt wakes me up. My son is throwing up. What do I give. I barely open my eyes ,tell her the medications and zzzzz back to sleep. I wake up to see him make multiple visits to the washroom. I add up some probiotics.
12 noon.
I visit my little sick cousin . She was furious performing all gymnastic moves to get rid of the iv cannula . Stay there while her parents come to freshen up.
6pm
She seems better . We take LAMA . The formalities take forever.
Day 3 .
Midnight . We reach home. I see my 5 year old cousin refuse to eat .
"I am not well. " she said . We thought it was a tantrum to skip dinner . All kids wanted the attention their sick siblings were receiving.
She has a history of faking aches many a times . She often comes to me and all I do is add some perfume into a moisturiser . Tell her that it is custom made . Give her a massage and send her away.
1 hour later
She throws up. I rush to her . Offer her antiemetic.
"Ill be alright . Just leave me alone." She shouted .
Girls are girls . Whatever age they are ,the leave me alone tag is constant.
She threw up two more times . She walks upto me , smiles frailly , " Abhi dedo mujhko syrup."
She throws up the syrup . Repeat and she got better.
Day 4
I woke up in the afternoon. Everything seemed under control. A cousin had come to visit us . She quietly came to my room and told me about her pica . I asked her to get her Hb checked and prescribed her deworming tabs. Her mother had developed fully mature cataract. I explained them the need for surgery and suggested a hospital.
" Go have a look at your mom . She doesn't seem alright. "
She stayed up till late last night . May be thats why.
"Still... Why don't you go and check her up once."
She had not taken anything orally. So , I checked her vitals . Her GRBS was 320 mg/dl . I gave her insulin and asked to eat something. I gave her antacid .
My brother comes back from college complaining of pain abdomen and nausea. I get him tabs. He throws up. And then feels better.
Despite all this , the kids wanted me to take them to Lazer Ops and Dunkin Donuts .
Yes , I obliged. We go there . Have donuts and frappucino.
I come back to see my mother's condition get even worse. I took her to nearest Hospital , since oral medication was not helping. Her abdomen was bloating . The doctor jot down the iv medications and left.
The nurse disappeared for 15 minutes straight. Thats annoying in the ER. But being in the healthcare field myself . I chose to wait .
She comes back. Pokes my mother 3 good times . She defends the senseless poking stating ,
"did she throw up many times? She seems dehydrated."
This was One of the few times I wanted to slap somebody.Some more patience. I caught my mothers hand and said here. This vein is great , go here. She got it ( Double punctured it) . Kept on pushing the medication even when I could see it accumulating. I lost my patience. Pulled the syringe from her and inserted it right away She was a little surprised .
"Aapko aata? Aap bhi nurse hai kya? "
Now the question has become a stale bread . Trust me on this .
"I am a doctor ." I said .
"Oh. " She said and then there was absolute silence.
This was the first time I had given an IV injection to a family member.
I got some syringes and iv medicines home , just incase she needs it in future.
I come home to see my uncles smiling. We had been to this place , had Chicken 65 and now tummy cramps!
By now I had stacked up the antacids and antibiotics . I gave them . They hogged on biryani.
Few minutes later , my 4 year old cousin says pain abdomen and has loose stools. I prescribe the same to her in Pediatric dose . Like 80% of the toddlers in the world. She refuses to take it . I had to promise her an ice cream with the 5 year old one .
Fortunately , she felt better. Bribing worked.
Day 5
I wake up to find my mother restless due to pain abdomen . I found no sense in taking her to the ER next day. I loaded the injection and gave her iv immediately she felt better .
2 hours later ,
My sister in law threw up. I gave her the tablets which I had stocked . She felt better.
My mother has this spicy curry for lunch despite me warning and the gastritis worsens .So yes , another iv injection and bland diet.
Midnight
My 11 year old cousin who had frappucino starts to throw up . I give her oral medications . Doesn't work. She throws up few more times. I give her an IV but that doesn't work now. She begins to have loose motions now. At the nearest hospital , she was given anti- emetics twice in addition to the one I had given . Then she was stable.
Day 6
Now it was my turn to be down with pain abdomen and diarrhoea.
"You too?" Everybody exclaimed.
But hey , I am a doctor and I eat junk food.
I go to see her. She is happy . Her fear of iv injections vanishes . She wanted to stay in the hospital and be at the receiving end of pampering.
She kept on posing as I clicked her .
Day 7
Everything went fine. As in no acute cases. My aunt had come to see her with her 4 year old son. I asked her to give him probiotics keeping in view of the ongoing GE pandemic . She nodded.
Day 9
She comes from a party midway because the little one had soaked his clothes. Another case !
Phew ! So far so much!
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