On weddings and random diseases

...or as I'm discovering, not so random. In one outpatient session, I saw leprosy and measles. It's the first time that I've seen either. The girl with measles caught my eye as soon as she came in. During my paediatrics placement, we were told, incessantly, that the most important thing that we should take from the rotation is being able to tell a sick child by simple observation. When I did my paediatrics, I don't really think I ever saw a very sick child in outpatients. Parents bring them in to A&E at such an early stage in England. But she caught my eye because she looked sick. There's no other way to describe it. Anyway, she was admitted and she's doing reasonably well.

And there was a lady with leprosy. Her hands were mutilated by this most strange of diseases - her fingers were shortened and bent, with the classic white patches as well. The fascinating illnesses I'm seeing here astound me - the diseases I read about dutifully for exams but never see are walking through the door and presenting themselves to me.

Lots of TB as well, but doing work in the city where my medical school is means that sadly even in England this is not anything new. TB, along with other emerging and re-emerging infections, is again rearing its head to remind us that we live in a pretty precarious balance with nature. I have a very good friend who lived in one of the most notorious areas of the city who got TB. He was trying to figure out where on earth he got it, but I told him that you don't always have to be anywhere exotic to catch TB now.

I spent Thursday night staying in one of the tribal villages staying with the local people. It took almost an hour to walk to, through acres and acres of tea plantations and palm trees. The hospitality was astonishing. They piled heaps and heaps of rice and daal and all sorts on my plate, and despite my pleas didn't touch any food themselves until they were sure I had been well and truly stuffed. And they gave me and the other student a room to ourselves when they really didn't have the room for it. I did my best to tell them that I didn't need so much room but they wouldn't hear of it. They made us chai after chai, and lit a fire so we weren't cold. The next morning they boiled water before we even woke up so we had warm water to wash our faces. I was humbled! And the kids! they followed us round in their bare feet (sometimes more was bare!) and smiled and laughed and delighted in my obviously hilarious attempts at Tamil and my camera and my watch. It was lovely to see their energy and enthusiasm that I don't think I ever had as a kid!

And on Sunday we were invited to the wedding of one of the nurses that works in the hospital. We all dressed in saris and again felt so welcome! It was a traditional tribal ceremony with the very very old dancing and music - the drums and pipes they were playing were so rythmic and hypnotic and everyone was dancing. And the scenery just couldn't be bettered - in their house surrounded by tea plantations looking out over the valleys of forests. It was stunning.