Will We Ever Run Out of Drinking Water

We know that the vast majority of our planet is water. Not just that, the vast majority of our body is also water. Fitness enthusiasts would know that we lose water weight first when we finally decide to pay attention to it. Don’t fact check me on that. 

When we are out on a road trip and we get stuck in a seemingly endless traffic jam lasting for hours in the middle of nowhere, we do wonder if we are going to run out of drinking water or not. All of us have heard about how difficult it is to provide safe drinking water to people living in remote locations. Is it because fresh drinking water from melting glaciers needs to be transported all the way to the middle of a desert or a mountain or a village or a dense jungle? Perhaps so. Transportation might be difficult and expensive.

Now let me ask you another question. Which location on earth is more remote than the international space station? None. Even the most inhospitable location on Earth would be less remote than space. So that brings us to the next logical question, how is drinking water transported to the astronauts living inside the international space station? The answer is, it is not. Transporting drinking water is expensive and water, before consumption, would also occupy a lot of space inside the space station, where space ironically is not available. Then how do astronauts survive without water? Do they save water and drink beer? Hahahaha. Please laugh. 

The answer is so simple that I am forced to wonder why it has not been widely implemented on earth. Drinking water on the international space station is obtained from waste water treatment. Sweat and other bodily fluids are treated and converted into safe drinking water, which is happily consumed by the astronauts. Happily. This might resemble the dystopian future depicted in Dune but it actually is the utopian reality lived willingly by astronauts. What can be more Utopian than human beings having established a presence in space. So if astronauts can survive on drinking water obtained by treating waste water, why is drinking water sold in plastic bottles on earth? I believe the answer is because it is possible and people find the idea of drinking waste water, even after rigorous treatment, disgusting. When we run out of readily available drinking water on earth, we perhaps will be forced to use the technology that is currently used on the space station. 

To be fair, I have seen a YouTube video where Bill Gates was promoting this technology in order to provide safe drinking water to people, who do not have access to it. I hope mass adoption of this technology does occur and economies of scale render it virtually free to every citizen of the world. What is an economy of scale, you ask? That is the topic for a different blog, but in one line, when a company sells something in massive volume, the cost of an individual item can become less without hampering the profit margin of the company selling it. At the very least, I do look forward to the day when drinking tap water is considered safe everywhere in the world including everywhere in India.

Lymph Node Biopsy

I was able to excise a lymph node today. That too in a TB lymphadenitis patient. I'm eager to follow up on this patient as when it comes to the surgical outcome only three things are important Follow-up, Follow-up and Follow-up. 

Sincere thanks to Taniya Didi and Mukesh Sir for giving me the opportunity. Taniya Didi deserves a special mention for literally holding my hand and guiding me through every step of what most people would consider a very minor surgical procedure. But for a novice surgeon like me, it sure as hell gave a post-op high that is incomparable to anything I've felt before. 

Sluggishness

I think I'm hardly making any progress. Most people don't like me. Others have already identified me as good for nothing. I have always believed that I'm upto no good. I guess over the last 8 years people have started sharing my opinion about myself. 

I did excise a mucocoele from the inner aspect of the lower lip of a middle aged man day before yesterday and repaired the wound to the satisfaction of one of my seniors. I would like to remember it as the first surgery I've performed thus far. 

Today, I removed a fish bone from the mouth of an adult female. It was a fairly easy task. Let's see what else lies in store. 

As far as I understand the situation, the honeymoon period is about to end and the friendly advice of seniors may soon be replaced by angry rebukes. If there's one thing I have been exposed to most frequently over the last 8 years, it's the rebukes. Then again, one of our superiors put it in a highly memorable fashion, "The day someone stops rebuking you, is the day they've given up on you." I might just turn into a masochist at the end of these 3 years. 

First 4 days

It's very difficult to comment accurately on what's happening while it is happening. I have no idea where I'm headed and at this stage of my life, I have more questions than answers. I know now why they say that hindsight is always 20/20. 

I don't really have anything interesting to share with you probably because I don't find anything interesting. All I've been doing in the last four days is sticking an otoscope inside people's ears and trying to get a glimpse of the tympanic membrane. I am yet to confidently diagnose anything. Perforations in the tympanic membrane are either too small or too big to be noticed by yours truly. I suppose with time I'll learn. This is a lot like how I felt during the first few days of my internship and housestaffship. Hopefully, with time, I'll be able to enjoy postgraduation. At this stage, the only thing I enjoy is the fact that I get to return to my teeny-tiny apartment each day by around 4 pm. 

I am happy to report that I haven't struggled to focus the light of the bull's eye mirror on the designated spot. That's something I found almost impossible during my 3rd Prof Part 1 days. On the very second day of my residency, I stabbed a woman in the throat because she was suffering from peritonsillitis. I don't think I was able to carry out the procedure perfectly but I guess the desired outcome was obtained. 

On my 4th day, that's today, I performed an incision and drainage on a submandibular abscess. The first one I've ever performed in this life. Again, I did struggle with the procedure. Although, once it was done, it appeared fairly straightforward. 

I've embraced the fact that I will have to make people bleed in order to make a living. Also the fact that no matter how many hurdles I seem to overcome, there will always be some seniors, who will berate me, sometimes, even in a room full of patients. Although, to be fair, being berated is probably the single most common experience I've had since 01/09/2008. My first four days in a surgical residency have hardly been eventful. 

All I've gathered thus far, is that there's a lot to learn and most probably a lot to do. Whether it leads to anything tangible, is hopefully, the million dollar question. I guess at this stage of my postgraduation, all I want from the next 3 years is the ability to diagnose every pathology, falling within the purview of otorhinolaryngology, correctly. Anything less would be a letdown. Anything more would be a bonus. Oh yes, and I'd also like to pass in a single attempt! 

First Day?

I will be going to R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital, Kolkata at 10:30 am today to complete the last few steps of the admission process. I have been allotted a seat, via the All India Postgraduate Medical Entrance Examination, to pursue the degree of MS in otorhinolaryngology or as the Aam Aadmi calls it, E.N.T. or as the modern day otorhinolaryngologist calls it, Head-Neck Surgery. 

As the acronym MS suggests, this is a surgical residency. Being a resident, I guess I'll have to be on duty 24x7x52x3. If that appears a daunting task on paper/screen, it is likely to be much more in reality. I'll try to post the events, of what promises to be the 3 most eventful years of my life, here on a regular basis. Wish me luck! 

P.S. Yes, I'm very scared.