Once in a while we meet some one truly remarkable. Anges was one such person. She ws my patient when i ws working as a O&G resident. I remember her first visit. She came to the clinic with her 3 kids( all boys) and husband. she ws already in late 30’s. The first thing she told me was. I hope this baby is a girl.. The whole family has been praying for a girl. Each appointment the entire family came along. The kids used to make so much of trouble. As a young single Dr, then, I never understood why this woman can’t get her kids to behave. The older one played with practically everything on my table, the youngest was always crawling under my table and the middle one was jumping from the father’s lap to the mother’s. Our clinic was very busy most of the times, and i was getting a bit tired of the kids running around and creating a ruckus.Yet never once i saw anger on Agnes face. She always told me” Dr… this is just a stage..swoon they will out grow “. The husband and wife ws so much in love. You could see tht in their eyes. They were always together, smiling and holding hands.
I soon discovered tht Agnes hd placenta previa. We admitted her to the hospital when she ws 7 months pregnant. Each morning, when I do my rounds, she would great me so cheerfully, some times, she would ask her family to bring an extra packet of food, and would give it to me when i leave after my evening rounds. some how she knew, most days i never hd time for lunch. Soon there ws some sort of friendship happend between us. I looked forward to her greeting each morning. Her kids made paintings for me. it ws hard for Agnes laying down in bed all day. She missed her family and i started borrowing books from the library for her. Sometimes after i finished my work I would visit her, talk to her. I hv never ever found a patient who hd more positive attitude thn her. She saw the rainbow after every storm. She told me there is a reason for everything. She told me how she cherishes each moment. She ws the only one of my patient, who didn’t want to know wht her baby’s sex is. She wanted tht to be a surprise for everyone including her.
I remember the day she hd her C’ section. I ws happy, because in my own way I felt I ws a good Dr, because she carried the baby to the term. I didn’t do the surgery, because it ws a high risk case. She went to the OT smiling and joking. She even got her husband to bring the sweets to the hospital, her reasoning..it only takes 40 mints for the surgery and he won’t hv enough time later to go and buy the sweets.

Agnes never woke up from the anaesthesia. She hd a baby girl.I lost a friend
Agnes, may u rest in peace