with Sri Ganesh
On the 1 st , in the evening, I got worried with the situation in Cluny Hospital and pushed my way into their office and demanded to see a doctor and to get clear reports, because no one had bothered to explain to Parthy or to his brother what exactly they were doing for him; for instance they had just bandaged both his thighs, without telling him why, as he had again too much pain and he was again very feverish and distressed. Finally I got introduced to an elderly “doctor-on-duty” who had the medical reports filed with him and, after some courtesies and questions and answers, I finally asked him to tell me frankly whether I ought to shift Parthy to a better equipped hospital; he said that, yes indeed, I should do that, as his levels of urea and creatinine were now too high, indicating imminent damage to the kidneys, and as they had no facilities in Cluny to cope with such cases. I was at once stunned that they would simply have let it worsen without a word to us if I had not insisted to meet the doctor, and relieved that at least he was honest enough and we could act… I got him and Uma to talk to one another on the phone at once; the options were, in terms of facilities, either PIMS or the General Hospital. After a few calls it became clear that PIMS staff were no longer reliable and, besides, the next day would be a holiday, Gandhi Jayanti, followed by the week-end and it was too risky to send him there;. That left the General Hospital, where we knew no one, but which had a reputation of good efficient care once one was admitted in the main stream… I immediately got the doctor to prepare a final report and the administration to produce a bill and got Parthy’s brother Parasuraman and father to chase the proper clerks and pack up and order a taxi. We reached the G.H an hour later, Parthy sat in a wheel-chair and we got into the emergency reception system, which turned out to be a scene from hell… It was past 8 pm by then, the night staff were in charge and the emergency ward, a vast decrepit hall dripping with moisture and blackish spider webs from a high cracked ceiling, was so packed that some of the beds, covered with dirty rubber sheets, were occupied by two people; the floor was slimy with unnameable deposits and some fresh blood here and there and only a couple of barking nurses, snapping at people from behind their masks, and a harassed- looking young male doctor were on-duty… But this chap, once I grabbed hold of him, was quick and bright and seized the situation and listed the steps he would now follow, starting with a new antibiotic, for which he sent a nurse to make a test skin shot to rule out allergy; he promised me he would be there the entire night and Parthy would be transferred to the proper service by 10 in the morning…
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