Pankaj Desai's Blogs

  The condolence meeting was a serious gathering as was expected. Her husband – an orthopedic surgeon in the city had suddenly died of heart attack. It was a shocking death which added to the solemnity of the occasion. He must be in his late forties - still very young. She sat leading and facing the mourners. They were in early mid-life. Still nothing was well settled and the entire apple-cart of her life had turned turtle. The pain and challenges that she now faced with two young children was impossible in words. Her eyes got misty intermittently. As a wife and husband, both of them had got along very well. They were a fine couple. A tall lady very good-looking in her youth, she was my senior and always had a very healing presence. She was very skillful and competent in her work. She was not strict but was well accomplished in getting all the work done. Solemn condolence meeting         I went early in the meeting. My connection with her was never formal. It was beyond that. It was

“Sir there is a rupture uterus. She is looking very pale. We are arranging for blood. The anesthetists have been called” – it was a typical call from one of the junior doctor on duty from the  labor  room in the middle of the night. Such calls instantly awaken and put the consultant-on-duty in alert mode.  As I accelerated my car on the nearly deserted roads in the middle of the night, I did a mental rehearsal of what all complications and challenges I was likely to face and what all should be done. No wonder rupture uterus is called “electric emergency in obstetrics”. It is a potentially catastrophic event during childbirth by which the integrity of the uterus is breached. It is a life-threatening event for mother and baby. Rupture uterus: Baby dead, mother endangered As I was racing up the stairs to the  labor  room operation theater, I passed a junior doctor. He was obviously breathless hurrying back from the blood-bank carrying two units of blood in his hands. It must