The Story of Two Doctors
My sister is a doctor in a government hospital. She works very long hours. Often she has to do night duty which can be very exhausting. Our government hospitals may not have too many facilities, but at least the poor can get treatment here for almost free.
Once, during one of her night duties, she had to perform many operations and came home very late. Just as she reached home there was a call from the hospital for her to come and perform another emergency operation. She was about to leave immediately. Seeing her tired face I made a comment. 'I agree patients are very important to doctors. But for the last twenty-four hours you were in the hospital. You are also a human being; you too require rest. You can tell somebody else to do this operation. Why don't you rest now?'
She smiled at me and said, 'It is not me alone. There are many doctors along with me who are working equally hard. They also require rest. I am the senior-most doctor, so I must lead the team. In the larger interest of the people you must sacrifice your personal pain. Don't you remember the story of anaesthesia?' Saying this she went away.
I then remembered the story she had mentioned. My sister had narrated it to me some years ago. To what extent this story is true I don't know. But it is a remarkable one.
Many years ago, in England, there was a father-and-son pair who were doctors. The father was very famous and innovative, and the son was young and enthusiastic. In those days there was no concept of anaesthesia and whenever a patient was to be operated on, chloroform was given.
The senior doctor did many experiments in this field and developed a medicine, which when injected in the area where the operation was to be done, made only that part numb. There was no need to make the patient unconscious. Today we call this local anaesthesia.
He performed several experiments and was convinced by adding different chemicals that his medicine was effective. But there was one problem. No one would offer himself for the experiment. Without experimenting on a human being this medicine could not be officially released in the market.
Now, the doctor's son had six fingers on his left hand. One day, he suggested to his father, 'Father, I know your medicine is very good. You inject it to my sixth finger and operate and remove the finger. Anyway I wanted to get rid of that finger. Let us perform this operation in front of other doctors. No man can stand the pain of surgery without anaesthesia. When they look at my face they will come to know that your medicine has made the area numb and I am not experiencing any pain.'
The suggestion was very good. The father conveyed a message to the members of the Academy of Medical Science, who were the final authority for allowing this medicine to be used in public.
The day of the operation came and several scientists, doctors and other public figures assembled to watch the effect of this miracle injection. The father exhibited his son's sixth finger, and injected the medicine. He said, 'Now I will start the operation. You can observe the patient's face.'
There was a smile on the young man's face. The operation was performed and was a success. Throughout, the smile remained on the son's face. Everybody was amazed by what they saw and congratulated the senior doctor for his work.
After they left, the young doctor was dressing his wound. His father had tears in his eyes. He embraced his son and started sobbing uncontrollably.
'Sorry, my son, I knew what pain you were undergoing during the operation, you never showed it to the public.'
The injection had to be prepared by adding four chemicals, but in his hurry and tension before the operation, the father forgot to add the fourth. Because of that the injection was not at all effective. There was uncontrollable pain during the operation. However the son realized there was something his father had forgotten. If he showed his pain his father's experiment would fail. He knew how hard his father had worked to develop this medicine. He himself was aware that it was effective. It was unfortunate that something was not making it work now. In the middle of the operation the father too realized the fourth chemical was missing and the medicine was not working. But he was unable to tell this in public. He knew what agony his son was undergoing inspite of the smile on his face. That was why, when everyone left, he broke down crying.
The son consoled his father. 'Father, don't worry. For the welfare of others, I controlled my own pain.'
I don't know how true this story is, but in my sister's and her colleagues' dedication to their work, I thought I saw a glimpse of the sacrifices people in the medical profession make.