Pediatric Ward and British Airways

Last night I visited the pediatric ward at St. Thomas Hospital. Helen and Anita, the two nurses assigned to the ward, gave me a tour and talked a little about their jobs and the types of patients they attend. Their English was heavily accented, so it was difficult to understand everything they said, but I did gleam that typhoid and diarrhea were two of the reasons of admission. In fact, two children were in the ward being treated for typhoid when I was visiting. I asked if children received typhoid immunizations and Helen said yes, but the immunization rate was about 90% so some children still got typhoid. She said that typhoid was worse in the summer and that many of the children that got typhoid got urinary tract infections, but I couldn't understand her explanation of the connection. I also visited a boy who had an appendectomy for a ruptured appendix. Unfortunately, the infection from the ruptured appendix went into his lungs and he was pretty sick. He had a nasogastric tube, a wound drainage tube, a urinary catheter, and an IV line. He also was on oxygen and is oxygen saturation kept dropping. In addition to the sick wards, the nurses showed me the neurodevelopmental center where children with developmental disabilites receive speech and physical therapy and counseling during the day.

After leaving the pediatric ward, I walked to the front of the hospital to meet my ride. The emergency area and outpatient clinics were back. 6pm to 8pm are the busiest times of the day as parents come home from work and decide at that time to take sick family members to the hospital. It was wild. After our equally wild van ride back to the guest house, we ate dinner which consisted of two different types of rice, potatoes, crispy thin flat bread, and shredded cabbage.

Today, we found out that British Airways is going out on strike the end of the month. Our tickets to leave India are April 3rd. We may have the opportunity to enjoy India even more than we expected.