ICTERUS POSITIVE

                 

                      ICTERUS POSITIVE

What does the color “yellow” means to you? It could be the color of sun, sunflower, and the yellow spongy balls with a smile decorated sequentially on your car’s dashboard or your neighbor yellow Nano car always parked in your parking place. Well, it can be anything, but if you ask doctors they will say yellow means Jaundice, ICTERUS POSITIVE.

THE YELLOW MAN

The man in his mid thirties entered my clinic, sat there waiting for his turn. He sat on the edge of the chair, forcefully controlling his restlessness and peeking here and there above his glasses which rested on the middle of his nose.

While talking to other patients, I have a habit of, in between glancing of the other patient sitting in the waiting room, just to subtly observe their body language when they are in much comfortable environment in waiting room and I compare it to the one when they sit right next to me on the revolving stool. As I saw that patient in a glance and another second I was rechecking what I saw and the succeeding second I concluded that it were the awkward sun rays of waning sun of evening probably falling on his face pouring through my clinic door.

After three more patients, he came and sat in front of me. When I lifted my eyes from the register completing the paper work of previous patient and looked towards him saying, “yes sir.......!”, I couldn’t complete my sentence.

There were no golden rays of sun coloring his face but instead a worst case of Jaundice. He was so yellow. His conjunctiva was Icterus positive. He seemed as the yellow alien. His clothes were also staining with his skin color.

After initial conversation and seeing his reports I referred him to the hospital care. He was debauch and had weakened his liver. There was nothing I could do as he required twenty four hours surveillance.

BROKEN PROMISE

Two months later the yellow man’s sister entered my clinic, she is one of my regular patient. As her turn came I asked about the whereabouts of the yellow man, as I was curious.

So this is what happened.........

After I referred him to hospital care, he was taken to one of the government hospitals where he was admitted for a while. Treating doctors told him his condition and told him that his liver have been damaged, but the good news is that it was still repairable but in future a single drop of alcohol would prove fatal from it and he should strictly abstain himself from drinking.

He promised his family that he won’t ever drink again. He said after he gets well he will join the rehab to fight his drinking problem, after all what was his age, just thirty six. He had a beautiful wife and a five year old daughter and for their sake he promised doctors that he will go sober.

He started to recover. He required no more hospital stay. He could recover back in home, But with strict diet and temperance.

He followed instruction for a while, but as they say hold habits die hard. One day he went to meet his old friends and same night came home completely wasted, to utter shock of the family. He explained that it was his party for recovery after month long illness and he just drank a little. He also mentioned that doctors were fool abstaining him from drinking and that now he is totally fine and he can drink without any harm.

He broke his promise and couldn’t abstain himself from drinking. He let his mind control him and take decisions for him.

A week later he was declared dead in the intensive care unit of the government hospital and the cause of death was stated multiple organ failure as the consequence of malignant jaundice.

He was thirty six with a wife and a kid when the yellow man died; it’s all that I know.

PHRENOLOGY

All that I could notice in that man was the yellowness all over and beyond that nothing, except when I checked his eyes to check the regular sign for icterus, I only remember noticing his constricted pupils lodged in his small eyes.

They could be because of his condition or typical of those who are hardwired to break promises, eyes of liars.

MORAL

Lord Krsna says in Bhagvad Gita

“ A man who could control his mind, mind becomes his best friend and the one who is controlled by his mind, the mind become his greatest foe.”