She was seventeen, but looked barely twelve or thirteen. She had come to the outpatient clinic with her mother. She was in pain. She was scared, but was trying not to show it. They both looked poor, and were making no attempt to hide it. She had been diagnosed to have a hematometra and had come to us for treatment. I examined her and found that she had a hematometra and hematocolpos due to a transverse vaginal septum. She had a single kidney.
"She was to appear for her SSC exam today" the mother told me. "I brought her here because she could not stand the pain."
"So she loses a year?" I asked. "We could have stopped the pain with medicines temporarily." I looked at the wall clock. It was just 10:30. "There is time enough for her to go and appear for the exam. We will give her medicines. We can perform the operation after her exam is over."
Her mother smiled sadly. "We have come from xxxxxxxx" she said. I knew that place. It was far off. They must have traveled for a day to reach our hospital. It was sad they could not get healthcare near their home.
We got her admitted in our gynecology ward. All her tests for fitness for anesthesia gave normal results. I operated on her just 5 days after her visit to our outpatient clinic, which is usually not possible owing to a long waiting list. It was a difficult operation. She had two uteri, of which one was opening normally in the vagina, while the other was obstructed by a transverse vaginal septum. The next day morning, I found her sound asleep at 9:10 A.M., when I reached her ward for my morning ward round. We woke her up to ask her if she felt OK. She nodded with her eyes half closed. There was no pain, no anxiety, no worry about her strange surroundings or her catheter or thoughts about her future.She just knew that the doctors had solved her problem and she was free to be the child that she was. She did not know it was women's day, but I was happy that she had found happiness on this day.
"She was to appear for her SSC exam today" the mother told me. "I brought her here because she could not stand the pain."
"So she loses a year?" I asked. "We could have stopped the pain with medicines temporarily." I looked at the wall clock. It was just 10:30. "There is time enough for her to go and appear for the exam. We will give her medicines. We can perform the operation after her exam is over."
Her mother smiled sadly. "We have come from xxxxxxxx" she said. I knew that place. It was far off. They must have traveled for a day to reach our hospital. It was sad they could not get healthcare near their home.
We got her admitted in our gynecology ward. All her tests for fitness for anesthesia gave normal results. I operated on her just 5 days after her visit to our outpatient clinic, which is usually not possible owing to a long waiting list. It was a difficult operation. She had two uteri, of which one was opening normally in the vagina, while the other was obstructed by a transverse vaginal septum. The next day morning, I found her sound asleep at 9:10 A.M., when I reached her ward for my morning ward round. We woke her up to ask her if she felt OK. She nodded with her eyes half closed. There was no pain, no anxiety, no worry about her strange surroundings or her catheter or thoughts about her future.She just knew that the doctors had solved her problem and she was free to be the child that she was. She did not know it was women's day, but I was happy that she had found happiness on this day.
