Thursday 20 October 2011

Ok it has to be . . . Dr Chawala you are the best!! Thankyou.

Ok so I was right. It is an infection. There were no appointments available so I had to go to an emergency "sit & wait" thingamy at the end of normal surgery . . . which turned out to be a blessing. One of the receptionists said "when your name comes up on the light board, just go to  Dr. Trawlers room, middle corridor 2nd door on left"  For once I absorbed the directions, quite a rarity in itself for me. Usually after being given directions to whereever, I find I haven't taken in one word of it. What I will have taken in will be strange little details about the persons appearance. Not intentionally. It just happens. Anyhow when my name came up, I found the door, noticed it didn't have Dr Trawler on the name-plate, obviously doubted my memory of directions and started checking all the other doors. No Trawler. Returned to the original door for a second glance Dr. Chawala. OK. I get it. What a pleasant surprise. A very thorough Doctor. He'd obviously skimmed through at least my lung history. He knew which consultant I saw, which meds I was on, what needed checking and what needed asking. This might not sound such a great deal as most of the information is on the computer screen in front of him and he is, after all, a Doctor. But compared to other doctors I've seen, sometimes for the fifth or sixth visit, when they still don't seem to remember anything other than the fact that you're a heroin addict, he was an absolute joy, God bless him. He immediately prescribed steroids (eight for breakfast) with the penicillin, instead of waiting a week to see if  penicillin alone would work. He was aware I have three children to tend to, needed some strength & probably wouldn't be getting much rest. He even asked me to double the amount of steroid inhaler that I usually take and do extra breathing excercises. That's a first from any Doctor. He was adamant that I get straight back to him if things worsened before Friday & that I return when I had finished the course of Penicillin, even if I felt well. He also neither judged or lectured me. Well I'm impressed. No really, credit where it's due. Bravo Dr Trawler Dr Koala I mean Dr Chawala!! So that was Tuesday. I already feel better in someways. Tomorrow (today) I'm going to get my Nicorette nicotine replacement patches, chewing gums, lozengers & pretendy ciggy things out of the cupboard & try, try, try again to stop this habit. Who knows, maybe I'm this ill for a reason. There's no maybe about it. One "maybe" has occurred to me during this steroid-induced insomnia . . . Maybe he asked the staff to pronounce it Trawler, rather than them getting it almost right with the wrong emphasis. i.e. Dr. Cha wala which can mean literally, at its best, tea maker or  "Tea boy" , at its worst . . . "Retard ". Maybe not. Maybe I'm thinking too much. I should be asleep. The alarm is set for 7am. Why can't I be this awake at 7am and vice-versa? I must at least try to sleep. Shit its gone half 2!! I'm gone. O almost  . . . Barbara has just joined! Welcome  Barbara  :-) now I'm gone.

Ooooo errr  I just decided to quickly look up the possible short term side effects of these particular corticosteroids (instead of going to sleep) They are . . . Insomnia ,Euphoria, Mania, Phycosis (not necessarily in that order :-)) and on the negative side Depression, Weight gain & Black stool!! O Joy. I'm real gone now.

and . . . indecisiveness! No, really?

PS. Thursday afternoon
I  just had to go and confirm this Cha Waller thing, as much for myself as for anyone else wondering . . . And sure enough  as soon as I typed it in I found an example

In addition to my old shipmate’s stories (Dick Imrie and Ray Self) I too remember that eight days leave in Darjeeling. I recall how we travelled through the night by train from Calcutta with every halt along the way punctuated with the cry of the Cha Waller, hot, strong and sweet tea served up in the earthenware dishes smashed after use and costing two annas, and  . . . .  blah, blah, blah

8 comments:

  1. Thank you for making me laugh this morning...i know wot you mean about doctors and and their judge MENTAL attitudes..sometimes asian docs are the best cos they see the whole picture,due to their blessed culture etc...imagine that,no lecture on heroin..just plain care and concern.Nice one!xxxx

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  2. O Hi lovey. Good to "see" you laughing so early in the day . . . I managed to get up at 7 to get Stropster to work then slept another hour at 8 until Hamper G woke up.
    I honestly felt like hugging that Doctor. And when I go back I fully intend to let him know how pleased I was/am with him. Proper made my day, and I'm on the mend. Hope all things are good with you and yours. Take care love x x x

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  3. That doc's a keeper! How long do you need to stay on the steroids? They can be brutal. However, if they fix you up a bit otherwise, hopefully, it's worth it. I go to a doc here who runs a lung rehab clinic - they play harmonica for the breathing exercises. Hope you are well enough to do what you have to do.

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  4. Jeannie;
    Just five days of steroids.Like a quick boost! Certainly doing the job. I've just been & done the weekly food shop which I didn't think would get done this week.
    Harmonica sounds like a good idea. Why is it anything sounds like a good idea to me other than stopping smoking :-/

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  5. How wonderful that the doctor remembered so much about you! Very happy you ended up with some good care.

    M'eye boyfriend's psychiatirst - don't even think he remembers his NAME! Much less any of the many serious issues he's brought up. Every time the issues were mentioned, the doctor acted like it was the first time he brought it up. Never really had much to say about it, though. "Uh huh. So what else is new?" The only time he got any "attention" was when he said that since he was unworking and disabled, he really doesn't feel like there's a reason for him to be on this planet, with nothing to contribute. So the doctor threatened to have him committed for suicidal threats if he talked about it anymore! The doctor is basically a "pill farm" - charges something like $150 for a 10 minute "med check" session, and $200 for a "regular" 20-minute session that he's required to do every so often. He works seven days per week, has three offices, a wife who's had a lot of plastic surgery, and the narcissistic prick has a big PORTRAIT of himself painted onto the sign in front of one of his offices! When the psychiatrist ended up getting a partner, he ended up lucky enough to often be scheduled for the partner, instead. Now the partner is getting his own practice, and since this one is actually attentive, he'll be switching doctors as soon as they split!

    Hope your medications make you all better soon.

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  6. eyelick;
    Yes it was good. Its not even that he had remembered as I'd never seen him before. More that he had taken some time to read some notes before & during my appointment. Totally sympathise with your boyfriend though. I've had so many Drs/Counsellors/Therapists like that who can't remember a word you have said on previous visits. So pointless. When you're paying that must be all the more annoying. The meds are definitely working, but the steroids are causing major insomnia. Its 3 am!! I have to be up in a few hours. O well at least I'm on the mend. Thanks.

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  7. Are you speeding off your steroids? Naughty girl! I heard they were bad for people with bipolar disorder as they supposedly can make you manic...

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  8. Gledwood.Really? that would make sense.I was definitely speeding & manic. Didn't sleep for more than 3 hours a night. Then I Crashed on Monday and I'm still recvering. Scary. x

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