As we journey through life we meet many people who, in one way or another, impact on our lives-sometimes positively and sometimes negatively. Some of these people we vividly remember while others become a faint memory over time.
For the people who have had a positive impact on our lives, we do not always express the gratitude that we feel at the time of the good deed and sometimes we do not fully appreciate the impact of the good deed on our own lives. Time slips by and we are left with a vivid memory and one more piece of unfinished business. Today I wish to express my gratitude to someone from whom I learnt a powerful life lesson.
Some 39 years ago when I was still a graduate student at the UWI, I developed a severe allergy which resulted in an outbreak of hives and painful itching all over my body. At times my body felt aflame, so intense was the itching.
I sought medical attention from my personal physician whose practice was in Arima. He prescribed one of the well-known antihistamines, which I dutifully took and expected the allergy to subside in a few days. It did, but only to return shortly thereafter with greater intensity.
This unpleasant situation of increasingly intense outbreaks continued for a few weeks with little respite. I removed various foods from my diet but to no avail. My doctor kept assuring me that the allergy would wane and eventually go away. It didn't.
I remember having a serious outbreak while visiting my wife's uncle in Pointe-a-Pierre. My skin became very lumpy, my lips and eyes swelled up and all those around me panicked. I was rushed to a private doctor in the vicinity where I was given an injection after which I fainted. I was revived following an injection of adrenaline.
Following this near-death experience, I realised that my situation was dire and that I needed to seek specialist medical attention.
I was referred to the supposedly leading dermatologist of the time whose office was in Port-of-Spain. I secured an appointment and visited him at his very formal and somewhat intimidating office.
After waiting for some time, I was ushered into his private office where I related the history of my medical problem and told him of the prescription drug that I was taking, but with no long-term relief. He then very arrogantly said to me that he would have to start from scratch and that I should discard my current medication. After a brief physical examination he told me little, then wrote and handed me a new prescription. I looked at the new prescription that he wrote and exclaimed: "But doctor, this is the same drug that I have been taking!"
The shock that I was bold enough to read his prescription was very visible on his face but shock soon turned to anger as he quickly ushered me out of his private office. He charged me for the "consultation" and I reluctantly (and perhaps stupidly) paid him his fees. Being a student, that decision was financially very painful.
I was now in a bigger quandary having alienated "the specialist." The repeated allergic reaction continued and the cause remained unknown. I continued to ease the pain and discomfort with the originally prescribed medication.
Someone suggested that I should see Dr Courtenay Bartho-lomew, who, at the time, was part of a small team of UWI medical professionals based at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital. I made an appointment and visited. He was kind and welcoming and listened with great interest to my story.
After giving me a thorough physical examination, he told me that my case was unusual and that he was not sure of what was causing me to have those repeated allergic outbreaks. He asked me to give him a few days to research the case and that I should revisit him one week later.
So one week later, I anxiously made my way back to Dr Bartho-lomew's office. There he informed me that he believed that he had the answer to my medical problem and proceeded to get greater and more detailed information from me on my medical history and more particularly on events in my life in the days and weeks prior to my first allergic experience.
He then focused on the medical treatment I received for a flu infection for which my Arima physician treated me with a long-acting Penicillin injection. He then informed me that my allergy was most likely due to Penicillin and the repeated attacks were due to the long-acting nature of the formulation I received.
He informed me that I would have to continue antihistamine treatment until the Penicillin had worked itself out of my system. I was totally relieved to know the cause of my problem and that there was an end in sight. Dr Bar-tholomew's final words to me were: "I learnt something from your case and since you are a student my fees are waived." I thanked him profusely and left feeling much lighter.
In time, I returned to great health.
I have not met with nor seen Dr (now Prof) Bartholomew since, but through this medium I will like to publicly express my gratitude for his kind care, concern,attention and generosity. I particularly valued the professionalism, openness and integrity in which he handled my case.
This whole episode has taught me a powerful lesson about the positive and negative aspects of human behaviour, which I have regularly shared with my children, my students and workshop participants.
When we are taken up with ourselves and our own self-importance, we can easily slip into the world of pretence and act in ways that destroy the same image that we are desperately trying to elevate. Although our stupidity is obvious to others, we ourselves are blind to the shortcomings of our own behaviour as was the case with the specialist I first consulted.
On the other hand, when we are strong enough to speak truthfully we can easily acknowledge when we do not know and thus open the door to seeking greater understanding and in the process become even more knowledgeable. We become lifelong learners, as we are always open to new knowledge.
The lesson of the power of openness and truth is one that I have tried to personally imbibe and one that I continue to share with others. Thank you once more, professor.