Roofies for Rookies

A message on my phone read as follows :-

"A woman at a nightclub (Mumbai) on Saturday night was taken by 5 men,

who according to hospital and police reports,

gang raped her before dumping her at a Busstand in Mumbai.

Unable to remember the events of the evening,
tests later confirmed the repeat rapes along with traces of rohypnol in her blood. ...

Rohypnol,
date rape drug is an essentially a small sterilization pill.

The drug is now being used by rapists at parties to rape AND sterilize their victims.

All they have to do is drop it into the girl's drink.

The girl can't remember a thing the next morning,
of all that had taken place the night before.

Rohypnol,

Not able to remember your rape is even more horrifying

which dissolves in drinks just as easily, is such that the victim doesn't conceive from the rape and the rapist needn't worry about having a paternity test identifying him months later.

The Drug's affects ARE NOT TEMPORARY -
they are PERMANENT.

Any female that takes it WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO CONCEIVE.

The weasels can get this drug from anyone who is in the vet school or any university.

It's that easy,
and Rohypnol is about to break out big on campuses everywhere.

Believe it or not,
there are even sites on the Internet telling people how to use it.

Please forward this to everyone you know,
especially girls.

Girls,
be careful when you're out and don't leave your drink unattended.

(added - Buy your own drinks, ensure bottles or cans received are unopened or sealed;
don't even taste someone else's drink)

There has already been a report in Singapore of girls drink been Spiked by Rohypnol.

Please make the effort to forward this to everyone you know.

For guys - Pls inform all your female friends and relatives."
This is imp message pls spend some time to read it completely...n pass it to all.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So i thought of throwing some light on the article as well as the product. Rohypnol is just a trade name and the real name is Flunitrazepam. Which is used by psychiatrist on mania patients to calm them down and provide them sleep. They use benzodiazepam grouop of drugs.

But perticularly fluniterazepam has a adverse effect that it can cause retrograde amnesia i.e. the patient wont remember ample details. Other facts are true in the above message. But there is no effect of it causing infertility. Victim will still conceive and in future also she can achieve pregnancy. It can only cause harm to the fetus only if victim is already pregnant.
Fluniterazepam's most dreadful adverse effect is that is may cause coma or even death if given in higher dose and it's action become stronger if taken with alcohol, which is the case mostly. But then again let me assure you guys that this drug Rohypnol or roofies is not easily available. it can only be obtained on prescription that too in 1mg dose. Also rarely used in india. It has been banned in most posts of the world and is classfied as scheduled class 'A' drug and possessing it without proper medical prescription is illegal. It is common in Singapore, south Afrika,  norway etc but not that much in India. For more details check out yourself Date Rape Drugs or  Rohypnol

Know more and be safe or be ignorant and suffer the consequences. It's completely your choice. 

So called inspection

Nearly a week ago we were informed to make ourselves prepared for N.M.C (Nepal Medical Council) inspection & we were looking quite forward to it. Since years unknown such inspections have been taking place now and then but still hasn't been able to turn a single stone of this college.

I think this is so because they don't use the element of surprise. They happily inform the college well in advance granting then enough time to make preparations for their proper welcome. This is the time when our college sparkles up. Every department has quit a number of names in the list of the doctors working there. The actual number may be not even 1/4th but during the inspection days all the faces become visible walking around the OPD and the canteen.
I myself got introduced to few of the new faculty members on the supposed day of inspection. On my way i saw the nursing students nicely dressed, waiting for the inspection team with flower bouquets. Notice had been published earlier itself by our well reputed MS issuing orders for all of us (doctors,  interns and JR's) to look sharp and formally dressed. 

People formally dressed

So be it, i also went in wearing my best attire with a batch on my apron saying 'Dr. Sarthak Chakravarty'. Let's us also enjoy the attention sometimes. My colleges also walked in wearing formals and looked ravishing. Inspection time is kind a like a carnival in the hospital, people running up and down inquiring weather the inspection team has arrived or not, sweepers cleaning every bit of dirt from the floor, ward attendants spraying room freshener all around, all kind of patch work going on which kind a made a few corners totally unrecognizable. Mess swelling up with all kinds of delicious mouth watering recipes which gives almost the same food everyday for rest of the year. Doctors have taken on their aprons after dusting out from the almirahs. And many similar changes were seen around the campus.

People trying to look busy

"They have arrived" came in the news. Everybody trying hard to look busy, engaging themselves in something or the other. I being posted on the top floor of the OPD waited nearly 4 hours for the team to reach here. Yes i was all prepared, i knew how many faculty members were there & what their names were (all mugged up), i knew how many students were posted, what topic is being taught, what all operations are being done, yes i was ready.

The team arrives, goes upto the HOD, shakes hand. Asked the JR a question or two and that's it. It was over, done, finished..... no one asked me anything. All mugging up went in vain, down the drain. I knew i should have worn in the imported perfume but no i had to use the stupid NIKE deo! Well nothing to do now but we all were definitely happy that it was over and no more formals from tomorrow, thank God for that.
I just hope the college doesn't shuts down before i complete my internship  and hopefully not as the heads of management have masters in the art of bribery. Other than that who doesn't likes a bit of carnival mood now and then ;)

Visit to the Minor OT

Never it occurred to me that assisting a minor procedure could be so much fun.

It began with the very 1st case in Ophthal opd when a young girls enters the room with a Chalazion in her upper eye lid (a painless swelling). That day was meant to be special coz our senior who consulted the case had sent her off with some medicines but she again showed up after an hour or so and i knew this was a sign for us to operate her. A chance for me 
to learn to excise a chalazion (observe only of course), and for our 1st year resident to learn it from the consultant how to create a grand level of comedy in the minor OT.

As soon as the patient turns up, without waisting anymore time i run to sir who was busy downloading meera bai bhajans from youtube, and pursued him for operating. Once he said yes without wasting any time i rushed to minor OT (dilating pupils of few patients to be reviewed) and got their clearance. While sir was checking out the patients in the ward i helped myself to fetch the instruments required for the operation.

"Yes the instruments are ready for use, are you about to start?" asked the sister in charge. If i'm here then definitely we are about to start... why else would i be running up and down three stories then - i thought to myself but still said "Let me confirm with sir first" and i was glad that i said so because on my return with the news of available instruments
sir asked me to proceed with the blood investigations required before any procedure first.

And the chase begins as soon as the patient returned with her blood reports at 2:45 in the noon. Time is important to mention for that our OPD timings are only up till 3:00 o'clock in the winters. Sir said "No, not possible today. Call them day after" as next day was a holiday. Patient party requested for that day itself because they had come a long distance and were staying in a hotel who's bill they'll have to pay for another two days. Finally sir agreed and i 
sprinted towards the major OT to bring the weapons of 'Chalazion's DOOM'

"Sister please give me the 3 instruments i had requested earlier" i said, but this wasn't her. "What instruments?" came the reply. Then i again explained the whole thing to her and was asked to follow her after a long wait as she didn't knew which were the keys to the sterilization room. I followed her upstairs then through a large hallway to a room
very simillar looking to our existing OT rooms, when i realized this was a another OT which is just locked away unused. 

There inside that room was a table in the center and on that table was a glass box. In that box there were ophthal instruments. "Which ones do you want?" asked the sister. How would i know??? ok fine i had seen one of them before but didn't know about the other two, to my surprise nor did the sister. So now by this time i was googling for the instruments
picture while sir, resident and another intern and the patient party all waiting for me in the minor OT to appear with the instruments which i was to see for the first time in my life. Later on i  did discover the fact that they were anxiously looking for me and desperately trying to call me without knowing my number!!! i wonder how. But anyways, finally all the
three instruments were in my hand and after nearly 20 mins i was pushing my self through corridors towards minor OT.

If you are enjoying this then please let me tell you that the fun part is yet to come. I entered the minor OT where sir and junior resident were preparing. Next to them was a nurse standing and watching them in a somewhat confused manner. I Could understand why, as sir stammers while speaking and she wasn't able to understand anything. Lying on the bed was
the young girl who seemed a bit scared and was obvious. "Sister  give me the drapes" said sir. Sister looking at him confused. "Give him the  cloth to cover the patient" i said "Oh you mean eye towel!" exclaimed the sister (smart one, didn't see that coming) "Yes yes eye towel & towel clip also" sir continued in his stammering voice.

Meanwhile JR checked the girl for anaesthesia reaction on her forearm and me marking the site to calculate the erythma if any. Once it was eshtablished that patient will not react to LA sir simply filled her eyelid with lignocain (local anaesthesia).

The struggle begins - when sir asked the JR to clamp the chalazion. The JR being her first time was extra careful with the patients eye and after few tries couldn't clamp her where entered Arnold Swatzinegar of terminator 2 'our sir' and just like terminator who will save John Conners and care for no one else - sir started clamping the chalazion with no care
of where he's going or what he's clamping. On the top of that the patient is shouting & crying her lungs out - "it's paining it's paining" she shouted. "Why is it still paining?" said sir and injected some more lignocain in her eyelid and it all flushed out. It was totally unnessary as the girl was only scared and not under pain of any kind.

Finally we were able to tame the lion - clamp the chalazion that is. Now a incision was made and all the puss was scooped out. Now sir said "we will cautery the point" and turned to sister "give me the spirit lamp" Sister again looking at me, no not because she didn't understand sir but because of the weird fact as what he was asking for?!!! 'Spirit Lamp c'mon man i haven't seen spirit lamps since my chemistry lab in schools. So obsolate. Nor did we have one there. Then what to do? 
"There's a cautrey machine here" sister said "I don't know to use one" came the reply.
Holding the patients hand (i  had to coz she was again and again touching her eye) i asked my fellow intern to run outside and fetch us a bundle of matchsticks. Witout loosing any time he left the room and before blinking to the eye he returned with a packet full. Sister still confused what to do with them as sir was asking her to light up a gauge piece soaked up
in spirit. I don't know what it was - sir's stammering accent or a really dumb nurse who made me watch and enjoy the moment without interrupting. As i continued to watch - sister is once handing over the spirit bottle to sir, sir holding the bottle, then she is taking out a spirit swab, taking back the bottle and handing over a gauge piece to sir. Then she started cleaning the matchstick with the spirit swab and was finally instructed  to stop by the JR who i suppose was done enjoying the confusion. She asked the nurse to light up the swab and the dumb nurse did so holding the swab in her hand and most immediately it caught fire, all of it & the nurse dropped the swab on the floor of the OT. Our terminator oops i mean sir, without loosing anytime ducked and started heating the cautery on fire and cauterized the chalazion scar.
Finally ointment applied and the eye dressed by pressure bandaging the patient was let off with proper advice and antibiotics.
All the above mentioned events occurred within 20 mins and will last in my memory a lifetime. 

Medicine field give you something new to learn each day, something new to explore with each case and largest of all adds a
meaning to your profession.... apart from all the humor.
looking forward to more fun field experiences which will one day make me a successful doctor even in handling the most treacherous situations.

Duty begins with a blast

It's now been 2 months since i have started my Medical internship at UCMS teaching college at Bhairahaawa.

Had a super duper starting - My 1st day was emergency duty & on the very 1st day i was assigned to put sutures on a scalp of a guy who had come in about 3 hours ago after having a big fight at home because of inter familial conflicts.
Well if a man got to do his duty he's just gotta do it. I called upon Mukund my very good friend a final year student back then. He also didn't hold any experience  in this particular art of suturing. After a good boost up from the MO incharge and mukund i entered the male ward. The injured was very well prepared to sleep and was already very comfortable over bed. After getting him to position i started shaving his head over the injured region with an incision blade (no razor was available). My hand shaking & mukund cleaning of bouts of sweats over my forehead. Soon the field was clear and there i was holding the "cutting edge, piercing 3.0 curved non-traumatic needle" (yes it's that long a name) in my hand, with an artery forcep and toothed forcep the other. Oh i almost forgot the injecting Local Anesthesia part. It's actually fun, you inject the periferal skin with 'lignocain' and keep doing that while small spurts of lignocain errupt all over the place. Anyway, now i was half a way through my suture by piercing the poor guys scalp a lot of times and don't know how many times saving my finger from that needle. Now comes the tricky part... what i had learned before was how to suture a straight wound but whats this?!!! This wound was in 'Y' shape, WTH! not which side was i supposed to move?
Now kicked in my common sence, or you can say it was a combined thought from me and mukund that let's stich one side first and we'll come back for the other later (only if i had learned sewing back at home, lol)
The trick did work and at last both of us were very happy that some how we managed to stop the bleeding from that poor fellows head & then MO incharge enters the ward. 'Good Job' he said and i was just wow, patting my self in my imagination which seized with the next word from my MO - "what about the other cut?"
"What other cut?" & then we found out that there was a another linear injury next to the one we have stitched & this one had escaped our eye. 
After a long painful back aching repeate of events finally we got a victory to make that guy medically fit.
And then the events continued for the next 15days throughout my emergency posting, from snake bites to poision suicidal cases and much much more.
Over all it was fun and fun still continues coz everyday in medicine field is a new experience, something new to learn everyday and somethings to make your life more meaningful. My adventure as an intern continues.....