Member-only story
My Great-grandmother was a Doctor in India in 1928
Fleeing abuse, she worked as an army doctor and for royalty
Recently I skinned my knee pretty badly. When I was younger, the procedure was to clean it, then use Bactine or Iodine to disinfect it. We might add Neosporin before bedtime. After that, we just let it heal.
However, recently I fell due to balance issues and general clumsiness thanks to the peripheral neuropathy that accompanied my chemo treatments. The wound was deeper and I wanted to protect it when I went to sleep, so I put a large bandage on it.
Unfortunately when I peeled off the bandage the next morning, newly formed scabs came off with it and I was left with a painful, bloody mess.
The next night, I used a large nonstick pad. But then I had to wrap it with gauze binding. I asked Mom to do it for me since I was having problems doing it.
As she did it, she told me it brought back memories of working in her grandmother’s dispensary.
Her grandmother was a remarkable woman.
Born to a Brahmin family in the early 1900s, she was being abused by her in-laws. This is unfortunately still common enough in India that it’s a common theme in Indian soap operas.
