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Henry Jayasena Column - 177 Story of a Cancer Patient
- Part 19:
More About Doctors
When the Wellawatte Clinic was closed, Dr. Jayasekera shifted his
clinic to his home at Elibank Road, Colombo 5. By then we had become
really good pals and visited each other on occasion.
The 5th of September, Dr. J's birthday was always a day for
celebration and many were the evenings full of laughter and merry
making. Anula, his beautiful wife was a superb hostess and prepared all
kinds of dishes and delicacies for the occasion. Or, if it was dinner
she would serve her favourite Italian dish lasagna to the delight of the
guests.
Dr. Jayasekera always had a trayful of medicines on his consulting
table. He would not only give us prescriptions but also the medicine,
from his tray. He gave them to almost every patient. Many pharmacists,
reps and salesmen came to see him regularly, not only to do their trade
but also to learn the latest about drugs and the latest medicines from
this well informed man.
He was a regular reader of the latest medical journals and his
knowledge on the latest medicines was unbeatable. When you walked into
his consultation room you would find him immersed in one of these
journals, unless he had a patient with him.
Dr. Jayasekera passed away on January 15, 1997. Dr. Jayasekera,
rarely, if ever made a mistake in his diagnosis. How strange and
ironical it is that those who attended on him in his last illness could
not diagnose his illness properly.
He knew what was wrong with him and kept on telling them what his
trouble was. Apparently his words were not heeded and we lost this
wonderful healer untimely.
The last time we visited him in a private nursing home, battling with
his illness, he told me - "Henry, we have had good times, enjoyed life,
lived usefully what more is there?" Perhaps he knew the end was near.
Many of his patients did not know about his death. They came to his
clinic even after it was closed down. They refused to believe he was
gone. They thought someone was playing a nasty trick on them. For some
patients Dr. Jayasekera was irreplaceable. So is it for me too.
***
Dr. Bernard Zoysa of the Nugegoda Nursing Home
has been our benefactor almost from the day he set up his practice in
Nugegoda some thirty odd years back. Like Dr. Jayasekera he is also our
friend and advisor. He insists that we call him by his first name but we
insist that we respectfully call him Doctor. Many are the times he has
rushed to our bedside when either of us or our child was badly ill. Of
course sometimes these illnesses, at least where the two of us are
concerned, were more of the imagination than reality. Once I had taken
the wrong drug and was suffering from severe palpitation. Dr. Zoysa had
nearly collided with another vehicle in his rush to reach our home. He
has hardly ever missed any of our plays. He is like one of those theatre
patrons of yesteryear who insists on making a present to the 'Theatre
Master' who happens to be me. His 'envelope' will always be presented at
the end of the performance. When I was ill this time I had to do so many
tests on the orders of the specialists. Blood tests, urine tests,
X-rays, ECGs and what not. Fortunately for me Dr. Zoysa's nursing home
has been running a well-equipped laboratory for the past 25 years or so.
All the tests that he could handle were done free of charge. Needless to
say that this gesture by Dr. Zoysa minimised our expenses to a large
extent. The daily blood sugar tests I had to do at that time, whenever
that aspect played up would have cost me a fortune if not for the
benevolence of this man. He is always with a smile. Always with a
solution. Dr. Zoysa himself has gone through the ups and downs of life
and we are happy we were always there to stand by.
***
Doctors must be rather partial to me. Perhaps it is because I have
worked with them at various times on various assignments. One of the
earliest was my very first production of one of my early plays -
Janelaya. This was done for the Arts Society of the Medical College, in
1961.
The actors and actresses were not exactly doctors, but 'would-be'
doctors - meaning senior medical students. In later life I met them as
fully-fledged doctors in far away places - even outside our country.
Some of them have become very dear friends. A few of them have preceded
me.
Almost all the doctors I have met in the sixties, seventies and
eighties were also great admirers of our Stage and the Cinema.
They were somewhere there being extremely helpful and kind.
Dr. Jayantha Balawardhana must have been one such theatre enthusiast.
We got along very well although I gave him a lot of annoyance. The
doctor-patient relationship consisted of good hearted banter, pep talks
and even admonitions. We came to know the family.
I found out that his father had been a top rung poet of the 'Kolomba
Yugaya' - the post Independence flowing of poetry led by stalwarts such
as P. B. Alwis Perera, Meemana Prematillake, Keyas, Wimalaratne
Kumaragama, H. M. Kudaligama, U. A. S. Perera, John Rajadasa, Kapila E.
Seneviratne and such others.
Dr. Balawardhana's father - Kosgama K.A.D. Balawardhana, had written
a lot of good poetry in his time and these had been published as little
booklets. Most of them were out of print by now, meaning 1999, when I
was being treated by Dr. Balawardhana.
The doctor was very keen to get them published as a collection. I
undertook the job gladly. By that time one of my eyes had been operated
on and I was in good enough shape to undertake such a job.
It was a pleasant job too - sifting through a whole lot of vintage
poetry. Finally we brought it out as a fairly attractive collection -
'Kivi Dasun" by Kosgama K. A. D. Balawardhana. The present publisher,
Deshamanya Sirisumana Godage very gladly undertook the publication.
Dr. B. is a superb teller of tales - especially of the ribald kind.
Many are the incidents of his Medical College days that he recounts with
absolute glee with a gleam in his eye. I will not recount them here
since I have no permission to do so. He had been a much sought after
actor during his Medical days for their Law - Medical shindigs etc.
It was Dr. Lalith Wijeratne, Rheumatologist, who paid him the best
compliment. Yes, I had been referred to Dr. Lalith Wijeratne too, by
Prof. Dayasiri Fernando regarding all the aches and pains in my legs -
especially after chemo therapy. Said Dr. Lalith W., recalling his
student days - "My God if Balaya was there, we were sure to be there! He
was such a superb comedian.
Every year, as long as Balaya was there, I never missed a single
Medical Show! He was so funny on stage we laughed our guts out!"
***
As I have stated several times in this narrative, you come to know
your real friends when you become seriously ill and need help in one
form or another. I would very much like to mention some of them.
Somasiri Alkolanga and his energetic wife, Ramani, are two such
persons. When I was in the Kalubowila hospital for the operation
Somasiri and Ramani turned up practically every noon and evening with a
specially prepared soup or a lovely drink made out of crushed Ambarella
from their garden - a speciality of their own which was called 'Somasiri
Special'.
When I came home after the operation, they too were greatly relieved,
as much as we were, that my ordeal was over. When they came to know of
the latter developments, they were devastated. I could see it in their
faces. One particular evening, when I was battling it out with chemo,
they came in the morning. They sat near my bed for some time. Then I
heard them talking to Manel in the adjoining room.
It was some sort of 'hushed' conversation. Perhaps more bad news I
thought and resigned myself to whatever might come.
Later I was told they had left without even bidding me goodbye. I may
have even fallen asleep. That very evening they appeared again.
They came straight into my bedroom. They were smiling broadly. I
thought they were trying to cheer me up. I was getting used to this kind
of strategy by visitors.
Somasiri held my hand. Ramani sat beside him, beaming. "What's the
matter?" I ventured to ask. "Don't tell me you have brought me some
magic potion or some such thing?"
(To be continued)
[email protected]
****
Thought for the day
I often wonder about the amount of money that parents, relatives and
friends spend on toys for children. I have nothing against good toys and
I would love children to get them. What bothers me is the quality of the
toys that are put on sale nowadays.
They are mostly cars, mobikes, jeeps, battle tanks, guns - mostly
things used in warfare. That too we have to accept since even toys
mirror the times we live in.
No longer a bat, ball, balloon, a whizzing top, a board of chess etc.
for the boys. They ask for war tanks, jeeps, shiny cars and mostly guns
for their play and then they go 'dishum' dishum'! You can't blame them.
That is what they see all the time. I think most of this junk is made
in China since they have an almost worldwide market for toys, electronic
gadgets, school material and a whole lot of other things.
The toys hardly last a month and you find heaps of abandoned toys
with broken arms and legs, lost tyres blown out war material etc. all
over the house. The money we spend on such useless toys could be spent
for far better use I am sure - like feeding a few hungry mouths, or
helping an orphanage, an old age home or some such institution.
I remember the good old 'dinky' cars that lasted for generations. But
nobody makes things to LAST, these fretful days. Everything is as
fragile as human life itself or any other thing is, these stormy and
unpredictable days.
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