My Houseman Days Poem by spiritual seeker

The year was 1981, and these stories were all true,
Rhyme me my own experiences, as a young doctor in Kota Bharu,
Say, it was the best and biggest hospital in the whole state,
But they had huge rats running, even cats were afraid.

Begin me as a green houseman in Obstetric and Gynaecology,
They let me first managed the postnatal ward, ahh! that look easy,
Check me well the mothers and also the little babies,
Looking for fever, bleeding, jaundice...hey, this is easy!

Next rotation for me is the exciting labour room,
For many young houseman, this is a place full of gloom,
30 deliveries a day, no rest, little sleep and no time to eat,
At the end of 36 hours, I almost felt like a piece of dead meat.

Come twilight, a royal patient, multigravida in full labour,
Had been in second stage for more than an hour,
She said ‘Doctor, all my kids born with an open umbrella over my head’,
Do as she requested, ah..within minutes the delivery was complete!

Next incidence, the antenatal ward sent a triplet pregnancy in labour pain,
She went into labour, but surprisingly a big singleton came!
I panicked, anxiously searching for the other two babies,
As it turned out later, a wrong patient was sent, what a mistake it is!

A cord prolapsed is certainly a dire emergency,
Straight away a Caesarian, my MO perform, I assist but mainly see,
In the middle of it, my head spin and darkness overcame me,
God, I was fainting... cause I had no rest, no sleep and not even a cup of tea!

A Chinese lady had already ten beautiful girls,
Now she is again in labour seriously hoping for a boy in the family,
We all prayed and hope this one will be a strong male baby,
Aii yaaa…what a disappointment, again another cute girl for the big family!

Rush me quickly to the Accident and Emergency,
See me a pathetic old man lying on a metal trolley,
Groaning, rolling in severe pain with a full bladder strain,
Insert me a catheter, and lo! , flew away the pain, and he thanked me very profusely.

In the medical department do me rounds with student nurses all around,
Quick, a heart attack! .. get me a defibrillator, I promptly shouted.
Like a flash of lightning, all of them disappeared and widely scattered,
Leaving me all alone to treat the patient and thus badly resuscitated.

A cobra bite is common and bilateral ptosis is a sign of toxicity,
When a young girl showed this, lots of anti-venom was given freely,
Not getting better, looking too well, I asked her again for a good history,
Sir, my eyelids were like this since me a little baby!

In those days I saw lots of patients, the wards were always overflowing,
They slept on the bed, canvas and also the metal trolleys,
The nurses worked with full dedication but sometimes not so smiling,
But the treatment was good, they got well and there was no billing.

Work in the wards was always never ending,
You start in the early morning till the next day evening,
Some lady houseman wanted to give up and stay home cooking,
while many others will end up sobbing and also crying.

The time passed by so quickly that I don’t even notice,
By the time I realised my houseman period was almost ending,
It was also the time my first lovely baby girl come into being,
It was the most exciting period, and those sweet memories just keep on repeating.