MEDICO

Who are persons, and who are individuals? Conventional knowledge proves that a person is an individual. Give or take, far and wide, this is typically acceptable. I beg to differ however, on grounds that you can be a person (have a spirit, soul and body), scale through landmarks that show that growth has commenced and continues to occur and yet fail to reach the point of individualism- which is that point where you decide to stand for a cause/truth or simply choose to be you, be different. We are all persons, but as matter of fact, are you an individual?

Tick tock…S ₁ ,S ₂ Two clocks ticking…my heart beating and the sounds converging in my ears as I place my right hand over my praecordium while preparing for my final paper. This happened last week Friday and since then, I haven’t been able to forget the synchronicity of two seemingly apart and completely incongruent structures. But could it be a subtle reminder for us utilize our lives…as long as our heart still beats?  

At a point, you just don’t care. Well, let me re-phrase…it’s not that you don’t care, but you’ve actually reached the end of your rope and can go no further. The phenomenon of past-pointing: It seems like you’re reaching far beyond your original/intended objective- and not in a good way, mind you. Pathological? Maybe not. What I however know is this- at that point, take a deep breath, pause if you wish/must…but don’t stop. You just might hit the target…you just might.

Maybe that’s one of the really genuine reasons the general public considers doctors/medical professionals/scrub nurses/ OR staff mean. Debridement, I mean. Anyone who’s ever had a relatively extensive wound that required this process of removing necrosed (dead) tissue would be familiar with the pain…well, if not done under anaesthesia. But we all have undergone some form of debridement…at one point in time or the other. How? You ask me. I’d say through corrections e.g. when someone ‘shouts on your head’ or talks sense into you; or when the great dad/mum refused to spare the rod and had you severely flogged for an unpardonable(?) offence committed or better still, when God gives you grueling tasks to complete with seemingly little assistance. I think that’s pretty close to the process of debridement, for as in debridement, the immediate thought is that ‘this person hates me’. However, it helps- well, eventually- but definitely not on the spot. My point is this…pain is pain ...

I know hope exists, but I don't want to assume that I know all of what hope holds. Joy maybe? Sadness maybe? Longing maybe? Or maybe a little of everything... Seems like a riddle.

I have heard of so many triads- Virchow’s triad, Cushing’s triad being just 2 examples that I can readily recall at the moment. Triads simply point to common occurrences (in threes) that characterize a particular state or condition. Well, I have a triad to add and its known as the hyper-tired triad. Ever being tired? A negative response is similar to a Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score of say 3! (lol), in essence, we’ve all being tired @ one point in time or the other. Some people are even tired of doing nothing (I wish). The classical triad I am pointing out has these 3 features: 1.       OVERWHELMING SLEEPINESS 2.       HIGH LEVEL OF IRRITABILITY  3.       REDUCED SPEED OF PROCESSING INFORMATION I know this is a triad, but can I add a fourth feature? (Thanks…) It’s the tendency to repeat the phrase “I am tired” with every spare breath you can take. Well, as I am apparently tired this i...

Learning confers on each of us a certain privilege…from actually sitting down in a classroom and being taught by a teacher, to standing by the roadside and watching people go about their daily activities, to watching a surgeon perform a surgical procedure; the process of learning is definitely one of teaching. The paradoxical thing about learning is that we do not learn until we have learnt. If you don’t have as a basis a certain amount of knowledge e.g. of English language, you might not be able to read an essay or interpret a discussion.  Same follows in the world of calculations, you cannot solve a complex mathematical equation if you lack the knowledge of simple arithmetic. But the thing about life is that paradoxes abound. You want to learn right? But really, learning comes and is consolidated ONLY after learning.