Of Health, Doctors and Networks

The 2nd wave of Covid-19 pandemic has hit India hard since mid-April 2021. In these difficult times many of us have been directly or indirectly impacted by the situation. 3 weeks ago, my parents and brother started to show symptoms of Covid (Fever, Cough, Chest Congestion, Body Pains, Severe Headache, Fatigue etc) with my father being impacted the most with breathlessness and variations in Oxygen levels as well. The immediate need was to get a doctor to see us and impart the rightful treatment to all of them. This is where the rich network of friends and associates came in handy when several Phone Calls to my local area physician and a trusted doctor went unanswered.

a. I got not one but 3 doctor recommendations from one friend. Talked to all 3 of them who picked my call in the first attempt and suggested the right set of actions to do despite their busy schedules. All 3 of them were seeing in excess of 30 patients that day. All 3 my schoolmates.

b. Wife's friend recommended a home visit doctor service by Arya Brightcare who responded quickly (<30 mins) to do the basic consultation, medication and necessary blood tests.

c. When my father's breathlessness increased and O2 levels dropped - one of my doctor friends recommended a Chest CT, Spoke to the Diagnostic center to accelerate the tests and took personal interest in digging out the report amongst the 200+ who had their Chest CT done that day. Her timely assistance helped.

d. An unknown person whom i called for Oxygen cylinder said that while he does not have stock, he can help with suggestions on how to increase Oxygen levels - on being told about my father's asthma problem recommended Nebulisation, Drinking hot water and the Proning exercise. 

e. Another doctor friend - an ENT surgeon - helped my father's case with recommendations of Nebulisation and the right medication to be immediately given to bring down infection. He was available for a phone call even at 11PM to discuss my mother's and brother's health situation and recommend medication.  

f. All my doctor friends regularly followed up with me on the health situation of my parents and brother.

g. Some of my friends who came to know about the situation did their own search for hospital or/and oxygen cylinders and kept me informed of potential options. 

My Doctor friends have helped many of my schoolmates and their immediate families in their hour of need. They continue to provide guidance on how to deal with the pandemic and more so on what kind of news that we should trust/not-trust when it comes to medication. They risk their health while helping others.  

Couple more of experiences

a. Many colleagues in my office group collectively worked together to gather and share information about hospital networks, covid related policies for employees, oxygen and hospital bed availability etc. 

b. Got my 2nd dose of Vaccine thanks to a tipoff from a friend while the CoWin app continued to show no availability in my and neighbouring areas. 

My learnings

a. Google is good, Doctors know better.  

b. Your Network is your Net-worth. Stay connected. Technology is available, Humans still need to connect.

c. There is a ton of information available - Validate and use what is relevant.

d. Share relevant information to your networks.

Mask up, Stay Safe, Stay Healthy

#Dr. Ramesha, #Dr. Yamuna, #Dr. MK Girish, #Dhananjaya, #ArunBR, #RavindraBS, #AryaBrightCare, #KanvaDiagnostics, #BGSGlenEaglesHospital