Nimako goes to work the following day

Chapter 8

Nimako goes to work the following day.

As usual, Dr. Nimako went round to see how her patients were doing. She interacted with them and those she had to discharge, she duly did and those she had to change their medications, she did as well. Dr. Nimako told her patients to send all their issues to her through dialogue and not a fight. As Rumi said, ‘Raise your words, not your voice. It is rain that grows flowers, not thunder.’ Interactions between patients and medical practitioners could sometimes be challenging but Dr. Nimako broke that chain and so most patients were comfortable going to her instead of the other doctors.

Sometimes in situations where breaking bad news to patients could be challenging, Dr. Nimako had a way of communicating such information to her patients without being hurt. Any time there was any difficult news, for instance a life- changing diagnosis, she was the one the hospital relied upon to communicate such information to the patient. She always made sure there was appropriate support available for the patient whether in the form of counseling services or the patient’s family members being around.

During dialogue, she used good verbal communication with eye contact with the patient as in some cases some doctors might be focusing solely on their computer screen or notes. She made sure she used appropriate gestures and right tone of voice accordingly. From there, she attended to the new patients who came to her.

A pregnant woman came to her and she complained of her heart rate being on the high side any time she became pregnant. She claimed any time she checked it; it was between 101-109bpm even right after waking up. She was actually worried about it. Dr. Nimako took her time to explain to her about the fact that heart rate is determined by various parameters. They could be caused by emotional variations and physical stress. The other known factors could be anemia and hyperthyroidism. Dr. Nimako asked her to study it for at least three days and if it continued she could come back to her.

The patient left and another person came to her consulting room. The attendant complained of her dad who had been diagnosed of unusual growth of cells in the colon, which other doctors so far had confirmed as a state of cancer. Dr. Nimako asked her the kinds of tests the patient had done. According to the attendant, on the recommendations of doctors in Paris, they did blood tests, CT scan and biopsy. They had taken three views on the reports and all had come out with opined colorectal cancer.

She shows the reports to Dr. Nimako and she goes through it.

Dr. Nimako went through the reports and she had the impression it could be cancerous. She admitted the patient at once and she asked the patient to do some few tests. Dr. Nimako asked the attendant to meet her the next morning when the test reports were ready.

Dr. Nimako formulates her observations on her letterhead and gives it over to the patient. The person then admits the patient and visits the doctor again the next morning.

The next morning, the test reports were ready and the patient appeared before Dr. Nimako. She explained it to her that the cancer was just one stage before it could expand to other parts. She advised the patient to have a quick surgery to extract the affected part, accompanied by radiation therapy. The patient accepted it and the surgery was successful.

Dr. Nimako closes from work. She goes home and in the morning, there is a phone call from Gustave. She picks it.

Nimako:

Hello!

Gustave:

Hello baby! This is Gustave.

Nimako:

Hello, Gustave.

Gustave:

How are you?

Nimako:

I’m good. Thanks for asking. What about you?

Gustave:

I’m good too except that I’ve been thinking of you since that day we met.

Nimako:

Oh! Really? She smiles.

Gustave:

Yes, of course.

Nimako:

I see.

Gustave:

I just feel like taking you out.

Nimako:

Oh great!

Gustave:

When will you get time?

Nimako:

Can we make it on Saturday night?

Gustave:

Perfect!

Gustave and Nimako meet at same pub on Saturday night. The server serves them.

Gustave’s face was full of smile. Of course anybody who saw her would realize he was in love. Gustave tried to know more about Nimako. It was there she told him she was a Ghanaian but her parents moved to Nigeria and it was from Nigeria she then got a job in France. When Nimako told Gustave she was a Ghanaian, he couldn’t believe it. His parents stayed in Ghana 10 years ago when he was young and since then he had never met a Ghanaian. He was then surprised to hear that Nimako was a Ghanaian. Both of them were happy and their relationship became better.

Nimako and Gustave take a sip of the drink.

Nimako and Gustave met at the pub and they talked about love. He was really in love with Nimako. He told Nimako that whenever he looked at her all that she saw was only love and so he asked her whether she was also having same feeling. Nimako however asked him why he thought they could be together. He said, he had the strong feeling they could be a good husband and a wife. Gustave looked again into the eye of Nimako and said, ‘Nimako, you deserve the world and all the good things it has to offer; if I fail to find that world for you, I promise to give you mine.’

At this juncture, Nimako had the impression, he was really in love with her and so she gave in. In fact, she knew they were connecting.

Gustave gets up from his seat and shout yes, my joy is fulfilled. Everybody looks at him.

Claude (sitting with his girl friend on another table):

Is he getting crazy?

Girl friend:

I think he is in love.

Claude:

Then sometimes the way some people are trapped into a love web should be probed.

They laugh.

Nimako:

I think I’m also in love, Gustave.

Gustave:

When one is really in love, a cliff becomes a meadow.Thank you Nimako, for healing me.

Nimako:

I think we’ve healed each other.