Life, death, and difficult diagnoses

Publisher: Mystery Publishers

Hospital wards and corridors are cold, dreary places that many people dread visiting. However, no matter how much we loathe being there, the realities of human existence and the fickleness of the human body ensure that at one point or the other, we will be clients of a hospital.

Then there is the doctor, the person we go to confide in when our bodies act out; the person who sees us at our most vulnerable; the clever person we trust to find a solution to ours and our loved ones medical issues.

Up and until our bodies act up, we like to keep doctors at arm’s length, knowing all too well that we will need their services when things go South. In extreme cases, we ‘consult’ doctors when we are so far gone that we cannot coordinate any of our senses and it is doctors who are entrusted to bring us back to good working condition.

Other times, and despite the doctor’s best efforts, life quietly slips out of a patient’s body.

Have you ever paused to wonder what goes on in the world or mind of a doctor, that person who on a day to day basis grapples with life and death matters?

Introducing Escort-In-Chief: Through the Eyes of a Physician, written by Dr Bundi Karau.

This book, published by Mystery Publishers, is essentially a collection of essays written by Dr Karau, on key moments of his medical career.

Read: Raila’s memoir that never was

It gives a behind the scenes perspective of what happens in medical doctors’ lives, their fears, triumphs and unique perspective on life, diseases and even death.

For the uninitiated, Dr Karau was the top KCSE candidate in 2002 and went on to pursue a career in medicine.

To put his training into perspective, he has Bachelor of Science in Human Anatomy, Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery, Master of Medicine in Internal Medicine and PhD in Neurosciences (Human Anatomy) – all from the University of Nairobi.

He also has a certificate in creative writing; so you know that he has put a lot of effort in compiling this book.

Dr Karau is a consultant physician and teaches at the Kenya Methodist University (KEMU) School of Medicine.

Escort-In-Chief will be launched at the end of this month.

Picture this, a girl, barely 20, is brought to the hospital in great pain, accompanied by her mother; turns out it is an ectopic pregnancy. Despite the her pain, the girl is adamant that she has never had sex with a man, a thing that leads a medical staff to mutter, under their breath, that hers would be the second case of virgin birth, after Mary, the mother of Jesus.

‘Free medical consultancy’

Still, in the course of surgery, to help unravel the problem, Dr Karau discovers that the girl’s hymen is still intact, lending credence to her protestations.

But still...

After the the medical procedure is over and the girl has regained her health, she seeks Dr Karau out and explains what really happened. You will have to purchase the book to learn the story behind this unique case of ‘virgin conception’.

Then there is another woman who visits the hospital to have her uterus and womb cleaned up. This mostly happens in instances of a miscarriage.

While the woman is recovering in the ward, the doctor meets her husband and naturally he explains what the problem was and how it was managed.

“I saw him bite his lower lip in anger and exasperation,” writes the author. “How can she be pregnant? I have been in South Africa for the last eight months and just caught an emergency flight to Kenya when I heard she was sick," he said. "Anyway, let her get well. We shall sort out this problem," he said and walked out in a huff.”...

“She left the hospital after two weeks. She had lost her uterus and, most likely, her marriage,” adds Dr Karau ruefully.

If you know, you know....

Read: Why memoirs should be your end-of-year escape

Escort-in-Chief somewhat reminds the reader of the late Dr Yusuf Dawood, who run the popular Surgeon’s Diary in the Sunday Nation for close to 30 years. That column was a compilation of Dr Dawood’s experiences as a medical doctor, his interaction with his patients and some of their escapades. Most of his pieces were later compiled into books.

While Dr Dawood mostly focused on the human interest side of his medical practice, Dr Karau, in this book, gives a more nuanced narration of the medical practice, the origins and causes of the diseases he is dealing with in those cases. He goes further to give a historical perspective of medicine and diseases.

Have you been in situations where you are in the company of a medical doctor and it suddenly occurs to you to pick his brains on some aspect of medicine or ailments and you find them either dismissive or grumpy when they realise that you are trying to cut corners; securing a consultancy without having to pay for it?

Worry not, Dr Karau’s book is a your cheat code to ‘free medical consultancy’, the more reason you should secure your copy.

As a parting shot, he has some advice for the reader: “Once you visit a doctor, you have entered into a relationship of trust... Only through cooperation and openness between the doctor and the patient can the mystery of disease be unravelled and proper management instituted.”