O – Blog 44 | Storytellers | November 22, 2020
When COVID 19 hit home | Vijayaprasad Gopichandran
When the family members of a doctor providing care for patients with COVID 19 come down with COVID 19, some very fundamental changes start happening in the doctor’s life. I am writing a narrative of what happened to me, when my elderly parents both in their early seventies, came down with COVID 19 pneumonia one after another in a matter of a week…more
O – Blog 41 | Mumbai Mirror | November 06, 2020
The Trump versus Fauci contest | Sanjay Nagral
When medical students all over the world begin their interaction with patients there is a standard textbook recommended for a key subject. They are warned that the book is voluminous but a bible for reliable updated knowledge. “Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine’, now in its 20th edition, was our favourite even in the 1980s. Amongst its multiple editors is a diminutive soft-spoken man … more
O – Blog 43 | Mumbai Mirror | November 20, 2020
Lage Raho Munnabhai | Sanjay Nagral
Last week, I had that standard call for advice but with a new twist. After the usual pleasantries, I was asked, “My daughter is deciding her future. Do you think she should be pursuing medicine as a career? We are confused as many doctors have told us that it’s not worth it, given the long years and hostile working conditions. And that Covid is going to worsen the situation in the future.” As someone who is asked this question regularly,…more
O – Blog 40 | Mumbai Mirror | October 30, 2020
A Capitalist Socialist vaccine | Sanjay Nagral
Vaccine conversation is all around us. It better be. Our collective future is hinging on it. With little headway in treatment and with the pandemic raging on, it is the only substantive hope for a resolution of the Covid crisis. The fortunes of some governments also rest on the vaccine. The promise of free vaccination for everyone has emerged as a new electoral slogan… more
O – Blog 42 | Mumbai Mirror | November 13, 2020
A quiet Diwali wish | Sanjay Nagral
We would all plan and set the alarm for the unearthly hour of 4.30 am. I remember checking the clock repeatedly, worried that it may not ring and that I may be left out of the action. We wanted to be the first ones in our colony. We would quickly pick up the crackers, gather on the colony road, and with a sense of achievement set off a volley of loud bombs. Lights would come on, signalling that we had succeeded in waking up people… more
O – Blog 39 | Mumbai Mirror | October 23, 2020
Scapegoats of our being | Sanjay Nagral
When we examine the belly of patients with abdominal pain, we are taught to carefully look for scars. These convey important information. They could mean that there are ‘adhesions’— a phenomenon after surgical procedures where structures get stuck to each other Or, they could be sites for weakness in the abdominal wall called hernia. Sometimes, the previous operation is directly the cause of pain… more
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