A Close Shave

We should be glad that we had the reunion in August when it was still the old KMC. Walking through this construction site would not be nostalgic. I was alerted by Dr Rao and MPV of these changes to our old stomping ground. Its very hard for administrators to see  a nice garden  and  not imagine a big building in its place.  I wonder if they transplanted the trees. I wouldn't bet on it.

Prabhakar

Deepavalli

The Kmc1984reunion blog wishes its readers a Happy Deepavalli. We will take a 10 days break and when we come back  will blog about the charitable initiative .

Chennai has a number of malls and many more in construction and most of the famous stores in Chennai have branches all over  the city. But T.Nagar is still  the place to shop. I would think the thrill of bargaining and haggling over the price is the main attraction here. 

 Hiding in the news was the fact that 150 people(including children) were lost from their groups that day. Its concerning to me that this was not a front page news headline. The news also reported that the public announcements by the police were drowned out by the honking and all other  sounds of the city.

We  hope all were reunited and wishing them a safe Deepavalli.

From The Annals of Improbable Research

Though most of you  look forward to the Nobel prize awards, I follow the Ig Nobel Awards which is given out a week before the  Nobel prize announcements. The Ig Nobel awards is an annual exercise in irreverence that celebrates research that " cannot, or  should not , be repeated". These are given to scientists whose results first make people laugh, and then make them think.

The event took place in early October, at Harvard University in Cambridge,US  and was hosted by the Harvard based journal -Annals of Improbable Research. This year ceremony was covered by most newspapers , even The Hindu and Indian Express.

Presenting the winners;

1) Veterinary Medicine Prize - Catherine Douglas at Newcastle University School of Agriculture for the groundbreaking discovery that giving cow's names such as Daisy increases their milk yield.

2) Peace prize- Awarded for research on whether it is better to be smashed over the head with a full beer bottle or an empty one. Bolliger at Univ of Bern, Switzerland  accepted the prize for "Empty beer bottles are sturdier than full ones". However the reseachers conceded that the both full and empty bottles are theoretically capable of fracturing the human neurocranium.

3) Public health Prize- Awarded to Bodnar of Illinois, US for patenting a bra that, in an emergency , can be converted into a pair of gas masks, one for the owner and one for a needy passerby.

4) Medicine Prize- Donald Unger  a physician in California, US  who cracked the knuckles of his left hand  but never those of his right( Control), every day for 60 years to investigate whether it caused arthritis. Dr Unger, now 83 years reported that there's not the slightest sign of arthritis in his left hand.

5) Biology Prize -  Fumiaki Taguchi et al from Kitasato Univ Graduate school of medical sciences , Japan demonstrated that kitchen waste can be reduced by more than 90% by using bacteria extracted from giant panda excrement. Taguchi suspected that panda excrement must contain bacteria capable of breaking down even the hardiest of foods because of panda bear's vast consumption of bamboo,

6) Literature Prize- Awarded to the entire police force of Ireland for issuing more than 50 penalties to a man they supposed to be the most persistent driving offender in Ireland. Mr Prawo Jazdy , was the name , which in Polish means "Driver's License". An investigation done subsequently revealed that that the officers had mistakenly taken down the wrong details from the offender's  Polish driver's license.

Hope you enjoyed this as much I did. There is more, if  you google for Ig awards.

Happy Deepavalli.

Prabhakar

The Front Page

Dr Sankarabarathi operated on a 7 month old  suffering from a rare condition called Nesidioblastosis. An article with Sankarabarathi's  photo and his accomplishment appeared in The Hindu on Sept 27th. This condition is rare cause of persistent hyperinsulinemic  hypoglycemic in infancy. These patients require continuous feeding/glucose supplementation, even  during sleep.

A subtotal pancreatectomy ,  95% of the pancreas was surgically removed by Sankarabarathi's team. Patient continues to do well. 

If others have any accomplishment the would like to share, you can email it to me.

Prabhakar

Joy of Giving (Advisory- Medical content)

THIS BLOG HAS MEDICAL PICTURES AND NOT APPROPRIATE FOR CHILDREN. 

A few of us met recently to discuss reunion matters and particularly talk about the available funds. We have about 45,000 rupees surplus. In the past we have heard different view points , but the common thread is that everyone would like it to be put to good use , a deserving project etc . So this is what we propose.

1) Set up a bank account  - KMC Reunion account . This is be managed by 3 classmates. Will have  an auditor involved. The accounts will have to be very transparent. Will request for voluntary donations. This money will not be used for reunion activities.

2) Will request classmates to submit  projects which deserve funding. They will have to be (initially ) small projects.  For example ,I have taken part in a surgical camp in Tamil Nadu/Karnataka border a few times. I donated a Nellcor Pulse Oximeter in 2005 which was collected from  Children's Hospital, Boston. It still works well and has helped anaesthetists at these surgical camps which are conducted every 3 months

Another  project proposed is an  A/C installation for the Post Operative ward at the Surgical Oncology division in Royapettah which we will discuss. But it  could be anything - pulse oximeter for a medical camp where our classmates are involved, a water well in a village which needs it, adopt and improve a ward ,  a deserving poor student who is unable to cont studies for lack of funds etc. 

But  personal involvement of the classmate requesting this project is required , for this to work. We will also have  a group to decide on such proposals, with the classmate who is interested in its implementation. 

Once we set this up, it would be required for the recipients to talk about these contributions and its impact at future reunions. I  hope everyone would like to be involved in this charitable wing of the class. This kind of  communication and work will keep us together.  

We also propose reunion to be conducted every 2 years and the subsequent one at 3 years. Using 1989  for calculation , 2009 was the 20th year reunion and reunion will be  in 2011 and the 25th year reunion will be in 2014. 

PROPOSED PROJECT - 1

ONE A/C  UNIT AT ROYAPETTAH SURGICAL ONCOLOGY POST OP WARD

As most of you know Chennai can be brutal in summer. I am told that  Chennai has 2 summers these days ; one in May and then in July/August. MP Viswanathan is an Assistant Professor at Royapettah Surgical Oncology division and indicated a need for an A/C for the post operative ward at Royapettah in his unit. I recently attended rounds with him. They have  excellent clinical material and provide quality care. They perform about 12 Major surgeries per week. While the post op ward is very  functional and quality care is being provided , I agree that the patients would benefit greatly to recover in some comfort , instead of having to deal with the elements. There is one big floor fan and it makes more noise than cool air.

I have included some photos from my visit;

1) Dr SNEHALATHA

2)   Patient with Incisional Scar Rt Temporal Region- 40 year old male with CA middle ear, post RT recurrence. Post - En bloc resection of tumour , Rt temporal bone resection .

2) Patient with Tracheostomy /NG tube-  50 yr old female with CA  Lt alveolus . Post - Lt composite resection, P. major myocutaneous flap for lining, tracheostomy for anticipated post op airway issues.

3) Patient with Incisional scar Lt shoulder-  55 yr old male with chondrosarcoma of lt humerus. Post - Type 1 resection (Malawar) and prothetic instrumentation.

Our class has another connection to this surgical division. Dr Snehalatha , our anatomy teacher started this unit in Royapettah.  She was the Professor and HOD of this unit and was instrumental in starting the surgical oncology MCh program at Royapettah. Unfortunately , she succumbed to  malignancy  and pass away in 2003. To me this is a even more compelling reason to take  this as the first project. 

Some of you may ask why cant the govt  install an  A/C ; the answer is- that is not seen as a priority. If others have such ideas in mind , I would be happy to visit your site.  I understand we are doing this without much of a  blueprint, but our class has always been different and willing to explore different areas/ideas.

Prabhakar Devavaram

Thank you, Kamal

Since we have had very few comments in the previous blog entry, I thought of a light topic this time. Currently we are working behind the scenes to set up a charitable arm to our class. More on that later , but first give it up for Kamal Haasan.

 Kamal's 50 years in cinema is being celebrated in Chennai. It brings special memories for me. I think I was in 8th standard when the movie"16 Vayadhinilae" came out. Though I was not allowed to see the movie, I claimed that it was the best movie ever.  Well, I grew up with some serious movie fans. My friends would go to the first day /first show of all important movies , survive getting beaten up  by the police while standing in line for the 90 paisa ticket, then would tell/act out the whole movie to the less fortunate ones like me. 

Kamal Haasan is a special actor to me and my favourite movies of his are - 16 Vayadhinilae, Hey Ram and Nayagan.

If you have any special memories please share, or if you want to honour any other actor or actress, that would be welcome too.

Dont forget

  

I have listed the classmates who we were not able to contact to inform about the reunion. Please keep looking for them , so that we invite them for future reunions.
  
 
  
 
  
 
  
1.Gayatri Bharadwaj
  
2.Jayalakshmi Natarajan
  
3.Jayanthi Christina George
  
4.Josephine Rani
  
5.S.Jothi
  
6.Krishna Jee
  
7.Malathi
  
8.Mangayarkarasi
  
9.Nuniz Derena
  
10.Radha Krishnan
  
11.Savitha Rawal
  
12.Selvaraj
  
13.Sunitha Jacob Kuriyan
  

Finding time to post blogs is getting to be a problem. If classmates can email essays or topics , I would be happy to post them.For example-  Currently there is a health care debate going on in the US , and US docs can educate docs working in rest of the world about that.
  
 Staying on the same subject, when most people in US talk about socialised medicine they talk  with such revolt and anger. Now UK doctors can write about the success and faults of the NHS there. Similarly Docs in India can write about the benefits and faults here. So please help in keeping this blog going.
  
About the picture- I have a regret, that I have never been able to climb a coconut tree. So whenever I see an expert climbing a cocconut tree , I stand back and watch with envy.
  
 
  
prabhakar