With so much talk going on these days about doctors who do more harm than good thus effectively turning their back on their hippocratic oath,it really is a wonder if patients or a fellow colleague say a good thing or two about us!
It was a sad day for me today....not only do i leave a good fraternity behind to seek greener pastures, I also recieved news of the death of one of my little patients who wasn't so little.
The story of "J".......
He was a really chubby baby at birth what with the mother being a diabetic as well as being into her mid 40s.She had decided on conceiving another child after losing 3 kids to a fire disaster.So one could imagine what a precious baby "J" was.
He was so precious he was spoilt rotten and by the time our friend was 7 he was already weighing in at 80kgs!He had to have McD's BigMac TDS and could polish it off within minutes aided by a litre of Coke!
Last I saw him was 2 weeks ago...had come to me for severe sleep apnoea induced by extreme obesity....the child would fall asleep while talking to me, standing!
I knew he couldn't last long if he kept at it and adviced the mom to take him for an ENT follow up urgently for an immediate corrective procedure to at least aid his breathing.
Never heard from the Mom.
Until today.....
Was at the hospital clearing out my locker/finish some last minute paperwork/say goodbye to some of my favourite staffs when I saw the Mom sitting in my room in the clinic waiting to see me.
Her son had died a week ago.
She was surprisingly calm and collected though I could see in her eyes the pain and loss that she was going through....I couldn't control my own tears and anger when she related this to me:
She had gone to see the ENT dudes, and not only was the child ridiculed, they also implied that she hadn't done a good job of mothering.Subsequently the doc told her to go home and come back a week later with some dietary advice,medications for his worsening flu and to go back and see the pedaitrician (me!!)/Dietitian on some dietary advice(!!) as surely he could use some 'weight reduction'.
The kid didn't survive the night.
It makes one think.....when you have the power to improve something/do good and you just blow it...at the expense of another life....why be in this profession at all??
Honestly I don't think docs make as much money as they used to in the past (as compared to some of the other professions) so if they are in it for money....they are in the wrong place....
Glory??....wrong place again buddy!
Sigh....Well, at least I do know that "J" is in better hands now....