"Sir, we had a patient who was too difficult" an Assistant Professor from another unit told me. She just refused to let anyone examine her."
"What do you mean by 'refused'?" I asked.
"She screamed, threw tantrums, was violent, the works."
"Why?"
"God knows. A number of people were required to restrain her so that a brief examination could be done."
"And then?"
"She delivered. She was completely quiet and docile after the delivery."
"Remarkable" I said.
"Did you experience any such thing?"
"Yes" I said. "Quite a few times. When I was doing my residency, there was a woman who refused to be examined. She was calm, firm, and in control. No tantrums. No screaming. Just refusal to be examined."
"So what did you do?"
"We told her that she would have to go to another doctor if she did not want to get examined."
"So she agreed?"
"No. She would not go away and she would not get examined too. Finally she delivered. Three days later she went home."
"Must be a psychiatric illness."
"Probably. We learned much later that we had to make psychiatric reference in such cases. There was another patient who behaved similarly. Her relatives threatened to break down the hospital if she was examined."
"Then what happened?"
"We had a smart Associate Professor.He checked her pulse, touched her tummy, and declared she needed a cesarean section. She submitted to a cesarean section and went home with a baby in her arms and two scars, one on her uterus and the other on her abdomen."
"Poor thing."
"By that I trust you mean poor doctor" I said. "Then there was one who would get up from the labor cot and hide under it, or run out of the labor ward. Then there was a smart doctor who was a patient herself. She delivered in the sister institute. She knew they would start an oxytocin drip for her and then take her up for a cesarean section. So she went to the toilet, locked herself in, sat on the commode, and came out only when she was about to deliver."
"That is unbelievable."
"Yes. They come in many types."
"What do you mean by 'refused'?" I asked.
"She screamed, threw tantrums, was violent, the works."
"Why?"
"God knows. A number of people were required to restrain her so that a brief examination could be done."
"And then?"
"She delivered. She was completely quiet and docile after the delivery."
"Remarkable" I said.
"Did you experience any such thing?"
"Yes" I said. "Quite a few times. When I was doing my residency, there was a woman who refused to be examined. She was calm, firm, and in control. No tantrums. No screaming. Just refusal to be examined."
"So what did you do?"
"We told her that she would have to go to another doctor if she did not want to get examined."
"So she agreed?"
"No. She would not go away and she would not get examined too. Finally she delivered. Three days later she went home."
"Must be a psychiatric illness."
"Probably. We learned much later that we had to make psychiatric reference in such cases. There was another patient who behaved similarly. Her relatives threatened to break down the hospital if she was examined."
"Then what happened?"
"We had a smart Associate Professor.He checked her pulse, touched her tummy, and declared she needed a cesarean section. She submitted to a cesarean section and went home with a baby in her arms and two scars, one on her uterus and the other on her abdomen."
"Poor thing."
"By that I trust you mean poor doctor" I said. "Then there was one who would get up from the labor cot and hide under it, or run out of the labor ward. Then there was a smart doctor who was a patient herself. She delivered in the sister institute. She knew they would start an oxytocin drip for her and then take her up for a cesarean section. So she went to the toilet, locked herself in, sat on the commode, and came out only when she was about to deliver."
"That is unbelievable."
"Yes. They come in many types."
