A Doctor Who Tells

Evening Star, Issue 26103, 17 May 1947, Page 10

A Doctor Who Tells

The Diary of

THE BABY HATED LIGHT

Monday,: May .12. The baby lay limply and fretfully on its mother’s shoulder with- its face turned towards the mother’s neck. It whimpered rather than cried. The mother looked care-worn and tired. - “ This teething business is terrible, ’ doctor,’.’ ■ she said. ‘LI. had no idea it . went on so long. Baby’s 14 months ■ ; now, and he- seems worse than ever. He cries ■all" day ■ and most of ; the night,, and'l'.just can’t.get. any:sleep.” “ Put liim down on. the surgery couch,” 1 said, “ and then sit down yourself in that easy chair.” “ I must admit I’ll be glad to get rid of him for a few minutes,” she said, and then added quickly: “Oh, what a dreadful thing to say. But, 1 am So tired. He’s really been like this for . weeks, and 1 ought to have brought him before.” She put the baby on the couch, and it immediately turned its head to the wall. It seemed to be slumping rather than lying. , 1 i took its pulse and found it to be about 150. It was perspiring round ' the head. An examination of the body showed a slight rash that looked like a sweat rash. It looked as if the baby had been scratching it. [t was the hands and feet that arrested my attention. They were puffy and.had a bluish-red look. They were cold and clammy to the. touch. • “ ■How’s lie eating ? ” I ’ asked the mother. . “ That’s one of my chief worries,’ she replied, “ lie seems to have lost his appetite,' and his bowels have been troublesome, "too.” “1 noticed when you brought him in that his face was turned towards your neck and his eyes were half-closed. - Now- he’s turned :away from the light and • looking:at the dark wall. Have you noticed anything wrong with his eyes?” > “ No, they’ve, been all right,” said the mother, “ though 1 must say that he seems to burrow down in the clothes. . Now you come to mention it, he gene- . rally turns away from the light.” “ I told the. mother that the child had Pink Disease :. ■■ ■“ Whatever's . that? ” she asked. I’ve never heard of it.”' “ It’s rare, but quite well known, especially in Australia,” I told her. “It was an Australian physician, actually, who had much to do with the early description of it. “ We frankly don’t'know very much about the cause. However, baby needs very careful attention. indeed, for! in his condition he is liable to pick up any infection that’s going round. “ He’s likely to be sick for some weeks, so if you can get anyone to help ybu nurse him it will be very wise to do so.” . Tuesday, May 13. At the hospital to-day we gave a blood transfusion, to Harry Barnes, who had a serious accident on the way to work this morning. His condition was desperate when we began, and it might reasonably be said that the transfusion probably saved his ‘ life.

“ There’s no, doubt that there are some wonderful things in ; modern medicine,”: was liis wife’s .comment when she was told about the treatment and the result. Two hundred and eight years ago the physician to the King of France, Jean Denys, perforriied the first blood transfusion. It was suggested by that master mind, the architect, philosopher, and scientist, Sir Christopher Wren. The years move by, and I realise with a shock that it is .now 30 years ago si nee the Transfusion Service was used at casualty, clearing stations in World War I. Donors were rewarded at first with/24 hours off duty, a liberal supply of stout or something else, and a fortnight’s home leave. . These days Miss 1947 tells her department head that she’ll be out for ah hour or two. slips into the hospital,

makes her blood gift, and gets back to work, often without anyone being the wiser.

Wednesday, May 13. ■ I never cease to be surprised at the condition of the bathroom shelves or cupboard in houses where otherwise everything is spotless. To-dav I was invited to wash my hands after completing, a small surgical job at the Gorson’s. Above the wash basin in the bathroom were a couple of shelves with a rather fearsome array of tooth brushes, tooth pastes, shaving gear, medicine bottles, ointments, and cosmetics. The shelves looked as if they could do with an energetic scrubbing. The tooth brushes were showing signs of considerable wear and the pastes had the top off each tube,, a combination of circumstances which scarcely made for protection from infection should a bristle penetrate the gum'of any Gorson adult or child. Among the medicaments I recognised the following:— The ointment which 1 gave one of the children who had an infective skin condition and which would be quite unsuitable if used on most other skin conditions.

The stomach mixture which 1 gave an aunt who was staying with them a few weeks ago and who proved to have deficiency of hydrochloric acid. The same mixture would be unsuitable for most other stomach conditions. The gout medicine given to Gorson, senior, and of which there now remains about a spoonful. ■ The cough mixture given some 12 months ago to the then Baby Gorson. The contents would be much too weak to. have any Worthwhile effect on any other member of the family. MrS Gorson’s rather strong constipation ipills which she prescribes for herself. , The erstwhile Baby Gorson is now in the stage where he climbs on chairs and could easily help'himself to liberal doses of gout, stomach, and other mixtures which happen to be around. He could also grab a handful of pills with disastrous results to himself. There is little economy and possible danger in saving the last few drops of any medicine no longer used for the condition, and by the person for whom it was originally prescribed. Incidentally, in these bottles and jar shortage days it would be quite ail idea to have a regular turn-out of ’ bathroom shelves. A lot of hospitals are glad of empty bottles and jars. Thursday, May 14. Wendy, home for the holidays, has confided in me that she wants to be a nurse—or a doctor—or a ballerina. - She’s not quite certain which, but at the moment the nurse has preference, chiefly because she read in a newspaper last week that, the country desperately needs more nurses. . As a-step towards commencing her professionshe* asked couldn’t she help in the surgery. Margaret, the secretary, has been giving her some cleaning of instruments to do and impressing on her the need for the most careful sterilisation. . To-day in the garden as we walked around for a few minutes after lunch, Wendy got too near a rose busli, ahd a thorn stuck in the finger. “Oh,” she said, and instinctively put her finger in her mouth and sucked it. “ Oh, dear,” she said, in a ■Aioment, after withdrawing the finger, “I shouldn't have done that, daddie, should I?. M.v mouth isn’t sterilised.” I told her that nature had arranged a-few almost reflex actions which were to the body’s good, rather than harm. The putting of the finger in the mouth and sucking it.probably tends to draw out any infection which has been picked up •on a slight surface scratch, and also, helps to Mr aw additional blood supply to the injured part. The blinking of the eye just as a foreign particle enters it is a step .towards preventing the object getting in,—or at least preventing any following objects.. The tears help to wash away the;particle. Friday, May 15. From this week’s reading . . ..about doctors. , Old physician: Maybe the old-time doctor didn’t know, but he didn’t soak you 10 dollars for sending you along to someone who did. Modern surgeon: A good surgeon should have an eagle’s eye, a lion’s heart, and' a lady’s hand. Matrimonial: There was the girl who married her X-ray specialist because no one else could see anything in her. Generous toast: Unto the doctors let us drink, Who cure our chills and ills. No matter wliat we really think About their bills and pills. Names in this diary are-fictitious. Copyright.