olaoluwatomi

 Do you ever get random memories that make you cringe or blush especially when you have not remembered those things in a long time? My brain likes to take me on random trips down remembrance lane from time to time to keep me humble or should I say it likes to remind me that I am only mortal and so I am prevented from developing airs. Yesterday was one of such days. I suddenly remembered something that happened 10 years ago and of course that led me on a convoluted journey into the underworld of cringe worthy moments. My aim in sharing these moments is to spread some of the joy of being human and if I can tease a laugh from you then I'd say my day is complete. So what did I remember? An episode that started with my sister calling me frantically about her child who was ill. She has the benefit of a personal physician- me. My default mode when I think it is not a matter to be settled on the phone is to refer her to the nearest hospital I trust. Several years ago, after my youth servic...

In recounting my near misses, I can't but think of how many other misses I am unaware of. As a child, I was the only one who was hospitalized a few times compared to my siblings and cousins. I cannot remember if I ever felt sick enough to be at deaths door, but I do know I disliked getting injections. During one of my trips to the hospital I was to receive a Novalgin injection, for those of you old enough to remember Novalgin, it was the most painful torturous injection ever. I screamed hell and blue murder as the nurse approached with a Novalgin shot. 'I don't take injections', I lamented in my most piteous voice, you would think anyone with a heart would see the tears and back down but those nurses were a special breed. After a few minutes of my temporary madness, my father was summoned, it took just one look from him and I accepted the drilling of the syringe through my marrow (that was what it felt like) without as much as a squeak. The feeling Novalgin gave your bu...

I'll digress a bit before getting back to my tale. One of my patients died today, it was expected, it was obvious when we examined that the end was near and still we tried to stop the arm of death from plucking this one away from loved ones. At what point does one give up pulling back the cord of life and allow the grim reaper tug the soul to the great beyond? When do we give up the heroic efforts to restart a failing heart of a soul whose body has been ravaged by its time on earth and infiltrated with cells not designed to nurture life? Many are guided by personal experience, religious belief and a hope so strong it laughs in the face of death to decide whether to be accepting of the eventuality or wave wiry fingers at the specter that wants to bring about the separation of a loved one. As a physician, I have a fair idea of when the grim reaper or faithful servant if you please is near. One question friends and family want to know is 'How much longer?' 'When will the ...

I wrote this on the 29th of November 2018 as the 1st part of a series on my facebook page. I eventually wrote 3 parts and no matter how hard I tried to write a 4th part I never could get round to finishing it up and then the pandemic struck and I look back on this and laugh that I had no idea what death was or is. I am re-posting these here so for those of you who have read it, I apologize and hope that I'll be able to write a 4th or even a 5th part soon.  Death is often a word that brings with it a sense of panic, of doom, a feeling of such helplessness. As a child whenever I asked my mother what killed someone, her answer was always death! It was frustrating then but in reality, that is always the answer to what killed a man. 'It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of everyone; the living should take this to heart.' I first read the words from Ecclesiastes as a child and I thought surely no benefit can be fo...