My good fortune had to run out of steam at some point. Yes, my gut became the centre of my attention for the whole of about 12 hours, during which time every movement, every ripple of an unusual sensation was subject to the closest scrutiny, lest it might lead to the undesirable. I was quite ill and feverish overnight, but held off taking the ciprofloxacin that I kept eyeing intently, constantly weighing the possibilities of whether this was a bacteria, a virus or just a toxin. I am glad I reserved the tablets for some future occasion as it turned out to be one of those nasties that produces misery for only half a day. I don't know what caused it as I had eaten nothing unusual- just the normal lunch menu at the hospital canteen. I must assume from the natural course that it was some toxin, maybe b. cereus or staph.
Anyway, I am thoroughly enjoying the clinics at CMC. Dr Mammen Chandy has taken me under his wings during these and I can see the jealous looks of the other doctors when they come in to discuss patients. The breadth of haematology that I see at each of these sessions is staggering, and there's a fair bit of general medicine too to keep one on his toes, and avoid losing the diagnostic skills and flair that we tend to dismiss when we have all sorts of funky tests at our fingertips. Dr MC is just so experienced that he seems to make haematology simple and straightforward, which it is far from.
I have been reading Rabindranath Tagore's 'Home and the World' which Juanita gave me just before I left. Thanks Juani for this amazing book! Its just so beautifully written and it's theme reflects te dilemmas of life that stand true even in modern day Indian society. Tagore was a genius in his mastery of language and its lyricism and deservedly won a Nobel Prize in 1913. Mum, I'll send it to you by post as soon as I finish it.
I'll try to head to Pondicherry this weekend. It's a four hour bus journey, and you well know how allergic I'm becoming to these, so I'll see how I feel about that tomorrow. One half of me begs for a lazy weekend in Vellore doing absolutely nothing, after the hectic past few weekends with lots of travelling. There's always the mountain overlooking Vellore that I have promised to climb, and which now looks refreshingly green after the recent rains here, but due to the heat this will have to be an early morning affair. At the same time some 'haute cuisine Francaise' in Pondicherry does beckon too!