Story
of a Sesamoid
Dr. Aditya Jindal
DM Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine,
PGI Chandigarh
Consultant Pulmonologist
Jindal Clinics
The year was 2003.I had finished my internship and was trying to psych myself for the dreaded
entrance exams to MD courses. Needless to say, I was failing miserably. Then a
cousin suggested a skiing trip to the Garwhal Himalyas. It seemed just the
thing, so I made my reservation and headed for the hills.
We went to Auli, a hamlet
situated 12 km uphill of Joshimath, on the great pilgrim route to Badrinath.
The snow clad hills and the fresh air were liberating. After being fitted out
with the skiing gear we hit the slopes, all too literally. It was a beginners
course and the first thing one was taught was how to fall. One of the
instructors even boasted he knew fifty ways to fall!
Soon, one fact emerged – I was
the only doctor for miles around. My nascent ability was soon put to the test
when I received a message one fine morning – while I was out skiing – requesting me to attend a young
British lady who had taken a tumble
somewhere on the slopes.
The history was that of falling
on her right hand. As I went to see her , morbid thoughts of Colles’ fractures
and elbow dislocations were hammering inside my head, not to mention the
butterflies fluttering in my stomach. Though I had done a lot of hard work
during my internship, this was to be my first taste of independent decision
making; never had I felt the need of a senior so badly.
Anyway, on examining her, all I
found was an area of tenderness localized over the base of the right thumb. I
had seen a small clinic in Joshimath when we had arrived, so I sent them there
to get an X-ray done and prescribed some painkillers, of which they had an
ample stock already!
We met an dinner that day and I
was solemnly informed that the X-ray showed a fracture. I asked to see the
X-ray; one point I noticed initially was that the doctor who had reported the
X-ray was a BHMS. The moment I saw the X-ray I burst out laughing, for the ‘fracture’ was nothing more than a smooth
round sesamoid bone lying lateral to the head of the first metacarpal bone!
I explained this to the couple
and told them nothing more needed to be done. I returned home soon after, after
refusing payment from the grateful couple, feeling refreshed and with a renewed
belief in the medical profession.
Good job doctor... :-)
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