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John Parker's Trip to Nepal - John Parker |
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Things rarely turn out as planned, especially in third world countries and although the theory was that people with surgical problems would come, and the local radio usually does a grand job in this respect, what actually happened was that anybody who wanted to see a western doctor turned up and the Scottish nurse and I sorted them all out, sending anything surgical off in the right direction and dealing with the rest. On the busiest day we saw 260 patients between us and as I was working in a language I hadn’t spoken to any degree for 30+ years, it was interesting to say the least. Lab facilities were available of a sort but after the first half dozen or so stool specimens had all shown Giardia I just gave up and dished out Tinidazole in copious quantities to anybody with abdominal pain. We had brought everything to set up an operating theatre with us and the two surgeons did nearly 70 procedures with no major problems. I did some hernias on the last afternoon.
The rest of my time in the region was spent seeing TB and Leprosy, attending a conference and doing a ‘general’ camp for two days in another town. All very good for the little grey cells. I shall look forward to doing it again as long as I can get myself reaccredited.
Oh, and yes, Tinidazole does work for Giardia!
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A
man who really loved his job.
So now, before we all disperse,
Please listen to this little verse.
Now Doctor Bob, a
Lived quietly with his Mum and Dad.
A clever lad, and not a fool,
He did extremely well at school.
Then off he went to Doctors' college
To get some bits of medical knowledge
In
And he was held in high regard.
He slaved away for many a year
And never once went on the beer,
Until in 1968
He thought he'd better graduate.
And so he did, but then began
A course with scalpel and trepan.
He mastered medicine at the Queen,
Obstetrics next at Marston Green,
A hospital that is no more
It's under Runway Number 4.
Then paediatrics he did do
And found that that was childs play too,
And when he got a wee bit bored,
He chased the nurses round the ward.
By now he had discovered girls -
The ones with frocks and pretty
curls,
And soon he met, on Bedpan Row,
The one that set his heart aglow,
So innocent, so chaste and pristine,
His bride-to-be, his darling Christine.
But now, he had to earn a crust,
To get a job became a must.
With all that knowledge in his mind,
Thought Bob "A GP's slot I"II find.
I'll go to Bewdley, I declare,
And practise on the people there!"
At first, he was so young and shy,
He'd blush,; and then avert his eye
Each time his stethoscope he pressed
Beneath a lady's woolly vest.
But soon, his confidence was high,
And as the years went rolling by,
Our hero, Doctor Bob, matured,
And what a lot of things he cured:
Laryngitis, hepatitis,
Tennis elbow, housemaid's knee,
Diarrhoea, gonorrhea,
The pain you get when it's hard
to pee.
Constipation, infestation,
Diabetes, runny nose,
Flu from
Athletes' Foot between the toes.
Chicken pox and smelly socks
And fevers caught in foreign lands,
Double vision, malnutrition,
Halitosis, swollen glands
There came one morning in the
post
The news that doctors welcome most:
Yes, Doctor Bob was now a Fellow
So had a drink, and feeling mellow,
Said “Well, what an accolade!
This honour has to be repaid.
How can I help the NHS?
It's really in a frightful mess.”
But then, what do you all suppose?
An opportunity arose:
One day Bob was sending E-Mails
To a few adoring females,
He found a use for his computer-
Chronic illness trouble-shooter!
By putting nurses in his place
To manage every chronic case,
The doctor then, without dispute,
Could concentrate on things acute.
And Doctor Bob, the pioneer,
Became the Doctor of the Year!
He said "I think I'll soon retire
And be a sort of country squire."
And so we're here to make a fuss,
For Doctor Bob is leaving us.
With stethoscope up on the shelf
It's time he thought about himself.
It's time for things that he enjoys
Like playing golf with all the boys
And; walking, jogging, playing
Bridge,
And sipping lagers from the fridge
And watching vegetables grow high
Avoiding doing D.I.Y.
And dining out, without a worry,
Eating heaps and heaps of curry,
And now and then, if he feels able,
Chasing Christine round the table.
The job is ended, work is done.
Now, riding off into the sun
There goes that lovely, golden chariot
Bearing Doctor Robert Marriott.
And, as he rides off to the West,
We wish good luck and all the best
To Doctor Bob, the
Forgive us if we look so sad,
Forgive us if we sigh and sob,
But - boy,
we'll miss you, Doctor Bob!!!!
MJR
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We
decided to take the old Alfa Spider to
We
crossed over on the Portsmouth to St Malo night ferry (Dick is bad sailor so
needs to sleep!) and spent the first few days touring Brittany and staying at
Logis which are excellent value at 40-70 euros per night and usually have
wonderful restaurants at prices which puts the UK to shame.
Ingrid
and Peter live about 5km from the small town of
Our
return journey took us east which enabled us to look at Agnes Nalpass’s new
home near Ales. It is also an old stone house in the middle of 35 acres of
woodland with a lodge where Tony (alias Theodore Dalrymple) can continue to
write his witty penetrating articles for the Sunday broadsheets and other
worthy
publications. The property is fairly remote and access is not easy but they are
both looking forward to moving there next June.
We
had a great time at Ingrid and Peter’s gite and if anyone is interested in
booking, just email them at pandibatty@caufour.com
But,
at the end of the day – well, not quite – saving money, rather than throwing
it away unnecessarily, is a commandment passed on to us by our parents, and one
which we should pass on ourselves. And so I will come to my tip of the day ---
week --- month -
How
would you like to call the
OK,
so I have stimulated your interest. Well, it damned well should because I have
cut the call charges on my phone by some £60 a month - £720 a year !! And this
is because I have linked to a service which does not ever advertise or promote
itself but just relies on word of mouth. And there are no catches, honestly. You
just register your phone number with them, give your credit card details and,
before every number you dial, just dial a prefix number. If you are then
spendthrift enough to spend more than £1.50p a month, they will deduct it from
your credit card – meanwhile, you just pay your monthly line rental to BT
(Only BT lines apply so, if you are a cable person or are linked to someone
else, you need to install a BT line – and within 2 months you will have saved
the cost !!!)
OK,
the details. All you web active people just contact
www.call18866.co.uk
and you will see all the details and much, much more. Within 1 hour of
registering the phone numbers you want to activate you will be on line for mega
savings. Those of you who are not computer literate are welcome to contact me on
01562 630544. I will take your
details and register you by proxy.
Any of you who don’t take up this advice will very obviously be one of those amazingly affluent active GPs and Consultants don’t have to worry about such mundane matters as money – and do you know what, no-one pays me a penny out of passing this info on to you – so retirement must be very satisfying !!!!!
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Several
teams of children and grown ups spent a lovely June afternoon in Wolverley.
The
event organised by Judith , Robert and family led us along a picturesque route
through woods , fields and canal towpaths , wound its way through the village,
to begin and end with refreshments ,
croquet and socialising in
Judith’s garden. The weather was perfect and a good time was had by all.
The flour trail meant that even the youngest (and those who could not
unravel the clues!) could participate.
The victors were led by Parveen Mann, closely followed by several others. Congratulations to them and many thanks to Judith and Robert.
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