THE DIARY OF A DOCTOR WHO TELLS

Evening Star, Issue 24286, 29 August 1942, Page 3

THE DIARY OF A DOCTOR WHO TELLS

LINIMENTS AND SUBBING Monday, August 24. ‘‘ I want a really good liniment to mb in,” said Jack Driver. “ My hack’s been aching long enough now and it’s time I took it seriously.” “'What sort of liniment do you generally use? ” I asked. He told mo, and I suggested he continue with it. “ I thought there might be something better,” lie said. “ 1 don’t think there’s much difference, you know,” I said. “ More especially as it is the rubbing that docs the good. The liniment is a convenient vehicle for the rubbing.” “ Hut something must do good when it gets inside,” protested Driver. I explained to him that the human skin was practically water and oil proof. If our skin wasn’t waterproof we would drown every time we had a bath. If it absorbed all tipi liquids and oils that felhou it wc would he a pretty soggy mess by the end of the week. As someone recently said, the skin should have “ Exit Only ” written on it. Friction produces heat and heat induces a pleasant flow of blood to the part. This gives a comfortable feeling and may sometimes relieve pain. We all know that “ giving it a rub to make it better ” is satisfactory home treatment.

Additionally certain things stimulate the skin, and that also causes a pleasant glow and a flow of blood. Liniments have their use, therefore, so long as you don’t credit them with miracles.

Tuesday, August 25. “ It has been well said that T.B. is not hereditary, but weak lung tissue is, 1 explained to Harry and Jill Markhame this evening. “ And thus, while you can’t inherit the disease, you can bo predisposed to it.” My statement was in reply to a question by Harry whether it was now all right for them to have children. Harry went down with the trouble three or four years ago, but now seems to have it completely arrested. “ 1 sec no reason why yon should be deprived of children,” I told them, “ more especially as, in any case, the danger from a male parent is not as great as from a female.” Incidentally, in females, child-bear-ing definitely increases the personal risk very much, while paternity does not harm the male. “I’d like to say. this to you both here and now,” I concluded. “If you are blessed with a child or with children, you must always bear in mind that its lung tissue may be weaker than normal. That needn’t cause yon sleepless nights if- you do something about it. Remember that fore-warned is forearmed.”

“ But what could you do about it? ” demanded the wife.

“ Build up his resistance from the start,” I replied, “ with plenty of the right foods, more sleep than tnc average child has, and plenty of fresh air and exercise. He should be kept away from infection and should be seen every new and then by a doctor, who will probably see that he is X-rayed at appropriate times.” Wednesday, August 26.

When Bernard Keens came to me last week complaining he was going deaf, I put the speculum in each ear and saw why. His ears were choked with wax.

The large syringe we have for dealing with this was brought into play, and, greatly to Bernard’s astonishment, large lumps of wax came out. His astonishment was mixed with confusion.

“It looks as if I’m a dirty sort of a blighter, doesn’t it? ” he remarked in an embarrassed voice. “I do wash my oars, though.”

“ This accumulation of wax occurs whether you wash them or not,” I told him.

To-day I met him in the street, and ho stopped me to tell me how different life was.

“ You know.” lie said, “ I’ve discovered that I was accommodating myself to the deafness and taking it for granted that certain sounds were naturally dim. Now, life just roars by.” Actually, we do accommodate ourselves to our deficiencies. Many people whoso sight is failing go without glasses, screwing up their eyes and getting headaches till they can no longer see to read. Thursday, August 27. When the phone rang at 2 o’clock this morning 1 cursed inwardly and said a sleepy “ Hullo.” “ The district nurse here, Dr Peter,” said the voice. “ Sorry to disturb you, but I’m in trouble. A confinement.” “Who is she?” I asked. “Didn’t she book anybody?”

“ Don’t know anything about her,’’ said the nurse.’ “I’m ringing from a guest house. They say she’s come down from the country quite recently. I’d move her to hospital, but it’s not sale now. I’vo only just got hero myself.”

“ Okay,” I said. “ I’ll be along in a few minutes. The case was very difficult, and when the newcomer arrived we didn’t know for a few moments whether the little body would ever have breath in it.

Just as we were getting results the mother collapsed. Nurse took the child and I the mother, and for a while each of us shook dice with destiny. Providence was in a friendly mood, and when I drove home in the dawn tiredness was mingled with contentment that a job had been done and the Reaper had been robbed. A visit later in the day failed to solve the mystery. It was obvious that the mother’s name was a nom-de-gnerre. the “ guerre ” being with the conventions of civilisation. The little gold ring on the third finger of the left hand looked cheap and shiny. It was none of my business. Will tlie baby born to-day be a world failure or a world figure? Who knows?

The story is told of a doctor awakened one snowy-sleety night many years ago to attend a mother in a desperate condition He trudged miles and got there in time. In IDIJ-1S the baby born that night dominated the conferences of Europe. How many of the world’s groat men would not have been had not some village doctor taken their arrival as part of his daily duty? Friday, August 28. Mrs Dadson. middle-aged and stout, ran breathlessly up the surgery path this_ evening She burst into the consulting room and in a tearful voice said; “ Oh, doctor . . . Gerald . . . come quick . . . suicide.” They live three doors away, and I was there in a minute. Gerald, aged 2S. had cut his wrist and sat waiting the end. I grabbed the bleeding point, applied pressure, and things were soon under control. I don’t think Gerald had the least idea of killing himself. He was having “ girl trouble.” so his mother whispered as I left. The attempted self-mutilation was a dramatic attempt, to bring the girl to her senses. "Were

I the lass, it would, on the contrary, put mo off for a long time. A girl wants a man who can control himself and take things on the chin. It has been cynically said that fX) out of 100 suicide attempts are fakes. Be that as it may, suicide does not solve a person’s problems; it merely evades them. It is one of the forms of evasion employed by sufferers from neurosis. If the would-be suicide realised that a great many people have problems much more difficult than his own he would probably force a grin and take himself in hand Suicide is also used as a sort of revenge. The world refuses to take the unhappy person at his own extravagant valuation. Very well . . . he’ll show them. He’ll write a note ... a sad, sweet note, and then everyone will know how greatly lie suffered. One has great sympathy witli those unhappy folk who find life’s difficulties insurmountable. If only they would have a talk with a psychologist or the family doctor when things get tough they’d probably got over the suicide feeling in half an hour. Names in this Diary are fictitious. (Copyright.)