First Day at Stephen Nursing Home!

As my title suggests, today was my first actual day at Stephen Nursing Home! It was definitely very different from the day I described yesterday! The atmosphere at Stephen is much more calm and time is definitely devoted to the patients. Dr. Ravi and Dr. Rohini are a married couple that run the clinic, which was started by Dr. Ravi's mother a long time ago and he took over two years after she passed away. Dr. Ravi is the Ob-Gyn in the clinic and his wife is more of the general physician. However, since Dr. Ravi is a male, he doesn't get as many pregnancies/deliveries as he would if he were a woman  (i.e., Dr. Victoria at Janet Nursing Home gets many, many, many women per day) and he only treats the pregnant women and delivers the children if the woman is completely comfortable with having a male obstetrician. Often, children who were born into his care, continue to stay in his care throughout their childhood and even until they have their own children and the tradition continues! It's quite amazing to see whole families come through the clinic and he has delivered most of them.

Unlike Janet, Stephen is very small and they said they only get patients via word of mouth. Only about 5 beds in the whole clinic (more like a doctor's office) and it is attached to the doctors' home upstairs, so they are always there and people often come to see them if they are very sick in the middle of the night. At the beginning of the day I met a man who had come in on Saturday gasping for air and Dr. Rohini said "we thought he was gone!" but they sent him straight to the hospital and he came in today for a check-up and said that "God gave [him] a new life." When he realized he forgot to pay for Saturday's care, he called Dr. Rohini frantically asking how much he owed her because he needed to pay for all of her help! She calmly told him to take his time, that he can come pay his fees within the next few days. That's one thing I think is amazing about this facility, they actually know their patients, their life stories, and how much they can afford to pay for medical care. Depending on how much they are able to pay, they will adjust the cost for the care so they know they aren't burdening the family too much. In addition, a consultation fee is only 90 Rs, or $1.50 USD.

Because Dr. Ravi does not see as many obstetric cases, he has specialties in many other areas, such as diabetes and HIV/AIDS. The Stephens were the first clinic in Southern India to start taking HIV/AIDS cases. I was told today that in the medical schools they were not taught anything about HIV and thus, doctors were scared to treat it because they didn't understand it. At Stephen, they see HIV patients and make sure not to let the other patients know that they are HIV positive. The doctors and nurses all treat them as though they were any other patient. The clinic also sees a lot of diabetic cases (more than I can count just today). They check every patient's blood sugar just as a precautionary intake procedure.

This morning I saw a woman with diabetes who had a large wound on her foot from infection and even though it was still pretty large, it was 80% healed and looked much better than the pictures they had from her first visit. I also found out she is an unmarried woman (a rarity here in India) and is a professor at a college. She chose to continue having the Stephens dress her wound instead of having plastic surgery to heal it. When talking about this Dr. Ravi jokingly said, "She is a patient woman, you know how I know that? She is unmarried!" He jokes with most of his patients and it is wonderful to see them all smile. 

I also saw a older man with diabetes who had previously had a stroke and was an in-patient at the nursing home. Dr. Rohini is currently trying to teach his wife how to care for him at home and how to dress his two bed sores so that they can send him home as soon as possible. Another patient I met was a woman with a "mild cracked spine" (dad… I thought that would interest you). She was wearing a leather brace on her back to hold her spine in place, but I feel like any type of cracked spine is scary! I also met a young girl who is going to the US to get her masters in electrical engineering at San Diego State University, many women and girls with irregular periods (e.g., last 15 days, only get it once every 3 months), and many sick babies with what they call "summer fever" or a low-grade fever, vomiting, and diarrhea. Due to the heat, diarrhea can be very dangerous here so it must be treated immediately. 

Throughout the day, Dr. Rohini kept telling me that she is thankful for her small clinic because she can't handle the crowds. And I definitely agree with her. I like the smaller setting where you can get to know your patients and know how they are actually doing, not just their diagnosis. She also emphasized treating the whole person and said Dr. Ravi always asked about the family, diet, etc. because "the body cannot be healthy if the mind is not healthy." I've always loved this philosophy so it was great to hear her talk about!

Lastly, one of the last families I saw had two children: one little girl and one boy around age 1. He was the cutest, sweetest little thing. Because of my skin color, most of the children stare at me because they are very confused (which his older sister did). But Dr. Ravi said, "he's too curious to be confused!" The little boy was so giddy and smiling at me the entire time he was in the office. It made my day have another sweet ending! I can't wait to go back into the clinic tomorrow!

-Marissa

P.S. The doctors invited the girls and I to a wedding in two weeks! So hopefully that will work out and we will be able to go and see even more of the culture!

P.S.S. Oh! I also learned about some pioneering doctors in India today! Dr. Rohini was telling me about Dr. Ida Scudder today and I learned so much. Dr. Scudder was an American woman whose parents were medical missionaries in India. After receiving her own medical degree, she came back to help the women of India. In 1900 she started a small women's clinic in Vellore and treated 5,000 patients in two years. In 1902 she started a hospital, then in 1918 she started a medical school for girls (Christian Medical College/Hospital). Despite people's lack of encouragement for the all girls' school's success, she got 151 applicants the first year. Even though the school is co-ed today, over half of the students are women. Not only was Dr. Scudder an amazing doctor and teacher, but she was an amazing women who brought empowerment to women all over India. Dr. Rohini said she was part of the reason she was a doctor today and the reason she knew English. I'm extremely glad Dr. Rohini told me about her and I was able to learn about such an inspiring woman.