COGNITIVE ANECDOTES

An effort to recapitulate and share my ideas,views and thoughts in words...


It was a warm Sunday afternoon. Rahul sat in his bed, hunching over the bulky Anatomy book, trying to learn the relations of axillary artery. The 1st average examinations were just around the corner and he was determined to live up to the expectations of his family. He was the first ever medico his family produced, so the pressure of expectations on him was huge. Though his eyes were fixed on the large text book, his mind transgressed to various thoughts, from the good looking girls in his class to the beautiful places he wished to visit. As he sat musing in his thoughts and occasionally in the anatomy of upper limb, a sudden, sharp pain bolted across his lower abdomen. He winced in pain and hurriedly examined his abdomen. The bulge which he had discovered in the inguinal region few days before was now more prominent. He had also been experiencing pain in his genitals and attacks of constipation but refrained from revealing it to his parents due to his shy nature.


The agonizing incident brought a great deal of anxiety in him and he decided to consult Dr.Ramachandran; who was the Associate professor of surgery in the medical school that Rahul attended. Rahul succumbed to the embarrassment of exposing his private parts as Dr.Ramachandran carefully examined the lump in the scrotal region with his index finger. As the doctor found the boy experiencing a "catching" pain during straining efforts, he confirmed his diagnosis as "Inguinal hernia". Rahul's parents were soon called upon and Dr.Ramachandran conveyed the news for operating it at the earliest. The surgery, by no means was a jeopardizing one, but it meant that Rahul would miss his examinations and a few classes. Meanwhile, Rahul enjoyed the care and attention he got from his fellow mates while he was admitted in the hospital.

The surgery went on as scheduled. Dr.Ramachandran had no hiccups as he performed herniorraphy meticulously, reverting the herniated coils of intestine back to the abdominal cavity and closing off the Hassalbach's triangle through which the hernia had occurred. Rahul wondered what the doctor did as he lay anxiously under the influence of the local anesthesia. The surgery concluded in few hours and Dr.Ramachandran was all smiles.

" Did I scare you son? I just put a wayward coil back on track!Dr.Ramachandran said with a gentle grin.

Rahul recovered soon and within a fortnight, he was back in medical school. He had a lot of pride sharing his experience and was totally relishing being the center of attention among his mates. Nevertheless, at the back of his mind, he was terribly sad not to have given a shot at the exams for which he had prepared well. 

The first two hours were lecture classes on Nerve and Muscle physiology by Dr.Rita; something he never enjoyed. Rahul was extremely passionate about Anatomy and was waiting impatiently to get into the dissection hall. Just as Dr.Rita finished delivering the Physiology lecture, Rahul got up with exuberance, put on his white coat and joined the mass exodus of bodies covered in white coats to the dissection hall. As he climbed hastily the fleet of stairs, he sensed the familiar stench from the cadavers, up in the dissection hall begining to permeate his olfactory mucosa. He looked at the notice board and was surprised to find that the dissection of thorax had finished and that of the inguinal region had started.
The notice board read

"Today's dissection-INGUINAL REGION"


This was the region that caused him miss almost a week of dissection and a series of exams and the very reason made him eager to learn about his anatomical shortcoming. As soon as he entered the dissection hall, he occupied his seat near the cadaver and began reading Cunningham's manual of anatomy. He avidly waited for the Professor to arrive at the table. Soon Dr.Asha arrived, greeted all the students, inquired about Rahuls recovery and gave directions to carry out the dissection. It was Rahuls turn today to dissect as he had missed several dissections off late.

Rahul grew nervous, his hands shook as he carefully marked the points of incision. Then with the scalpel, incised the dark, cold, wrinkled and hardened skin of the cadaver. The whitish layer of superficial fascia began to show as he reflected the skin. He exposed the superficial inguinal ring and soon Dr.Asha came in for a closer look. She examined the structures coming out of the ring. There was obviously, the spermatic cord and the Ilioinguinal nerve but there was something else, large and uncanny. Dr. Asha was excited, "Yes! It is a hernia!!" She exclaimed. Rahul was awe-struck. He was witnessing the case, which taunted him for days, right in front of his eyes! He couldn't fathom his state of mind, was he happy? Excited? or Scared? His mouth became dry, Dr.Asha looked at him in amazement. Soon, Rahul became busy showing off what he just discovered to his mates and a very eventful dissection concluded. As Rahul packed the dissected region with glycerin and cotton, he stared at the face of the cadaver. 

"Strong man, died with the agonizing hernia, untreated.." he thought. It was for the first time that Rahul actually thought about the human which once lived in the cadaver, a human being, with ambitions, feelings, emotions and senses as his very own. But now, it lay cold and naked, waiting for its body to be eviscerated. He finished packing the inguinal region with utmost respect to the cadaver. As he left the dissection hall, chattering with friends,  he glanced at the quote embossed in the wall, that he always cherished.
"Let the laughter flee and the talking cease, this is the place where death delights to help the living"






6 comments:

Wonderful to read this post Vaisakh...... I am so very happy :) Woww... an experience in itself for that guy.. :)

Being a doctor we should know about both the sides of the operating table..... it helps in better communication.. ..
Loved it!

Keep them coming! :D

@ Tanvi,

I knew Medicos would like it...I'm Happy you enjoyed reading..

Cheers

great work vaisakh:D:D:D(i keep typing ur other name..hehe!!)
honestly its a good thing tht u put forward the whole idea ..rather "fact" of the "HUMAN BEING" in a cadaver.....like one of our most beloved anatomy madams say..."respect him for he was once alive!"..i dont think many ppl actaully do care...all tht they bother is to find the normal existence or a variation of some or the other organ or nerve or whatever in the body.often wn we deal with a cadaver,we never really think...wat if we were in its place...well(haha!)..it sounds creepy but...u wud at least hav a little sumthing to think about...at least u wud treat it with a little more respect...after all...had these cadavers nt been there...we wudnt be able to know anything abt our OWN body rite?:)
and u presentd our dear"rahul" very very very well:Dhaha...u did read his thoughts extremely well:Dgood work on tht too:D
and yea...GREAT CONCLUSION!!ive always loved tht LINE!:D
KUDOS VAISAKH!!!

@ Saebs...

Thanks for that Gigantic comment...
hehe ...I'm glad you like it....

Cheers....:)

@uaisakh
thts was tooo awesome...
Pinae, adutha interbatch nu,
'ezhuthu itemz' participate cheythu,
'gup' vedichilael, nintae disection.. Ee njan nadathum... :-)
dude, u got talentzz :-)))

@ Dinnu...

Ill try da...No guarentee...
hehe...
Cheers..
Thanks for visiting and commenting..

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The images you see in this blog are executed by my sister , Sreevidya P.A...

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