By Jayesh B. Shah, MD
I
don’t need an alarm to
wake me in the morning.
Usually, I am blessed with a good night’s sleep and my
eyes are wide open by 4.45 a.m.
As I awaken, I say a few prayers, thanking God for another
day. Then I get ready for my morningwalk. My wife Neha
sometimes joins me, but she’s not an early morning person
like me.
This important time of day provides me with physical
and spiritual exercise that helps guide me through the rest
of my day.
By 5:45, Neha has awakened the kids and gotten them
ready for school.
We do morning prayers together, and then have breakfast.
During breakfast, I ask my kids- Prachi (9) and Aj (7) what
they plan to do at school that day.
When my daughter tells me she wore her mom’s chappals
(slipper-like shoes) yesterday to her friend’s birthday party,
and when my son asks me how much horsepower my car has,
I realize my kids are growing fast and I better sit with them
now because they may not be at this table in 10 years.
By 6:45, I’m ready to hit the road because if I run late, I get
stuck in traffic and I won’t have enough time to complete
morning rounds. I hate it when I have to do things hurriedly.
I reach Southwest General Hospital by 7:15 and try to see
all my new inpatient consults. On this day, I was consulted
for an infected knee wound after a total knee replacement. I
discussed the treatment plan and prognosis with the family.
The patient received a knee wash out and was started on
negative pressure therapy with wound vac with instillation.
I am amazed at the unbelievably advanced wound therapies
that are available today to help patients heal
.
Still, after practicing medicine for 15 years I have come to
realize that with certain patients, the family and patient
need kind words more than continued aggressive treatments
with newer modalities.
I have finally started to believe that true healing does not
happen — as someone once said, “…without compassion,
love, understanding and oneness, only techniques and technology
exist, but no healing.”
By 8 a.m., I reach my outpatient wound care and hyperbaric
center, which is right next door to the hospital. My
staff has four patients ready for me to see. I evaluate them,
check their vitals and okay them for hyperbaric treatment.
Most are grateful they still have treatments available to help
them save their limbs.
Afterwards, I usually find time to check my e-mail before
I start seeing patients. I am blessed with a great staff and
sometimes I wonder what I would do without them.
While seeing patients I think to myself, despite the lifedisturbing
tragedies these patients have gone through, they
come to the clinic with beautiful smiles and a special drive
that keeps them going.
At noon, my nurse manager reminds me about an executive
committee meeting at 12:30 p.m. at the hospital. When I don’t
have to attend any meetings, I take the time to enjoy lunch in
the doctors’ lounge and chat with my physician friends and
administrators to get the latest on what’s happening.
I return to the wound care center at 1 p.m. to see the rest
of my patients. Many are challenging: frustrated after seeing
several doctors and going through many different treatments
without meaningful results.
While seeing patients, I meet a daughter who is taking
care of my patient — her helpless, elderly father. Out of gratitude for the care her father gave her as a child, she had
given up her career as an accountant to take care of him.
The story moved me, and I paused to wonder how many
people still think that way in the 21st century.
My next patient was a man living alone. He has been
suffering from his wound for many years, but his real problem
was more socioeconomic than medical. I discussed his
issues at length with the social worker and asked her to
look at his home situation.
I finish seeing my last patient at 5:15. Then I finish
checking labs, signing home health forms and completing
paperwork. At 5:45, I return to the hospital to complete my
rounds on inpatient consults. At about 6:30, I call my wife
to let her know I am on my way home.
I have plenty of time while driving home because I am
always stuck in traffic. I use the time to answer messages
and make calls about my extracurricular activities.
At present, the Texas Indo Physician Society (TIPS) is
working with Metro Health District to open a charitable
clinic on the Southside, and as a past president of TIPS, I
like to stay involved.
I like to keep busy. On certain days, I lecture on hyperbaric
team training and wound care, while on some lucky
days I get to exercise leisurely at the gym.
Once I reach home, I eat dinner with my family, including
my mother. Dinner is a time where we share everything
that happened that day. After dinner, it’s playtime with my
kids, which might include cycling, badminton, table tennis,
freeze tag or just UNO or card games.
Twice every week, I listen to my mother read from our
Hindu religious book, “The Bhagvatam.” Because of my
mother, my kids speak Gujarati and we stay informed of
our religious days.
At 8:30, I participated in a national teleconference for
American Association of Physicians of Indian origin, where
we talked about national, legislative and charitable issues
that AAPI is working on. Then I check my e-mail and by
9:30 or 10, I am ready to call it a day.
I know all physicians have very busy lives, but we are not
the only ones. I think it is
all about balancing our lives
between work and home, remembering to enjoy life and
our profession.
We all know that life teaches us lessons from our experiences.
When something unplanned happens, maybe God
has better plans for us that we realize only later. Knowing
this, I have no complaints and strive to have a great day,
every day.
I am ready to head back to work the next day, proud to
be associated with a one of a kind wound care center, just
recently nationally accredited by the quality and regulatory
affairs of the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medicine Society.
As I close each day, I thank God for His grace, for the
blessings of my elders and their faith in me, and of course,
for my patients.
Dr. Shah is the Medical Director for the Southwest Center for
Wound Care, practicing hyperbaric medicine and wound care at
Southwest General Hospital.
