Slim Novel 11 - http://adventuresofkimi.blogspot.com - See Homepage
20. Abo
20. Abo
Kimi is astonished at Sanya's openly doing termination of pregnancy which she cryptically refers to as ‘abo’. They sit between a surgically draped woman's thighs and Sanya says “The authorities know I do it but do not dare interfere.” She laughs, showing a specially designed curette to scrape out unwanted pregnancy from the womb of the woman. “The slum women would riot.”
She turns to Kimi with a knowing smile and says in lowest voice: “I take care of the Empress herself.”
She turns to Kimi with a knowing smile and says in lowest voice: “I take care of the Empress herself.”
Kimi who is familiar with the midwife way of abortion by chemical douching is astonished at Sanya's special curette instrument, a sip-straw-thin, firm but flexible plastic tube with a wedge-shaped opening that shows reversed shaving edge cut into its tip.
Sanya holds it up as they sit together between the thighs of a 30-year-old sex worker. She inspects it for defects; then grasping the tube with forceps a short length from its tip and working inside the already surgically spread vagina, at its far end, she inserts the tube's tip into the uterus's lip-like opening - the cervix os - and pushes it up into the womb, or as she calls it, the uterus cavity. Once the tip is well inserted she attaches its near end to a 50-cc syringe and pulls back the syringe barrel till it gets fixed on the upper edge of syringe-barrel-holder notch thus creating a vacuum inside the syringe and its attached tube.
Then, holding onto the vacuum-syringe whose attached curette tube tip is inside the uterus cavity, she makes in-and-out motions to scrape away pregnancy tissue from the walls of the womb. At once the pregnancy product is sucked back into syringe. It only takes a minute to complete, and all the while the patient chats with a helper happily.
Now, Kimi is no longer astonished; she is astounded!
Now, Kimi is no longer astonished; she is astounded!
Ten abortions and one hour later, Sanya completes the last case, a 15 year old Korean girl impregnated by her father, and comments “Not a bad little instrument for making a woman happy, or what do you think? It is a standout example of our creative-dying program. I set the problem to a midwife dying of leukemia: To invent a simple, safe abortion instrument. She was a neighborhood abortionist and saw too many women die from infection made by the old douche method and she also knew the lacerations, perforations and hemorrhages caused by the rigid metal instrument when doing the dilatation & curettage, so called "D&C", operation.
After thinking it over, she got idea to combine methods: From the douche method she took the flexible tube they call catheter but instead of using it to instill chemical she conceived it as pathway for inserting and scraping, and as exit tube through which pregnancy product is removed. She reshaped the tip to be a reverse shaving edge pullback scraper which works like the curette in D&C but without risk of laceration or hemorrhage. For this we needed technical help because the old rubber catheter was too floppy, it did not have enough strength to stay firm so it needed material that is not too rigid yet flexible enough to push through the cervix-opening canal into the uterus cavity without risk of perforating the cavity. Luckily, we found an old rubber worker dying of TB but still strong and lucid enough to use makeshift equipment, and also vinyl chloride, which I got through my VIP friend close to the Empress, to develop a crude but workable process of making thin, hollow tubes, so called cannula of plastic - firm yet flexible enough for our need - and he fashioned it by hand-cut metal mold and razor carving and it became this curette-tipped suction instrument I know use.
With it, my dying midwife inventor took a 50 cc syringe used to inject or irrigate and made it into hand-held suction instrument by notching the syringe barrel-holder upper edge in such a way that when the barrel is pulled back it locks into place to give fixed continuous suction that, applied to the attached curette inserted in womb, safely, effectively and painlessly scrapes and sucks the pregnancy of up to 10 weeks easily from the womb. And, as you just saw, it works.”
She pauses then adds “Works! Is not that a fine concept in one word? I like it! If something works, I put it in my book of knowledge in a chapter called Works. With this instruments, abos could be done at home by any trained woman herself.”
After thinking it over, she got idea to combine methods: From the douche method she took the flexible tube they call catheter but instead of using it to instill chemical she conceived it as pathway for inserting and scraping, and as exit tube through which pregnancy product is removed. She reshaped the tip to be a reverse shaving edge pullback scraper which works like the curette in D&C but without risk of laceration or hemorrhage. For this we needed technical help because the old rubber catheter was too floppy, it did not have enough strength to stay firm so it needed material that is not too rigid yet flexible enough to push through the cervix-opening canal into the uterus cavity without risk of perforating the cavity. Luckily, we found an old rubber worker dying of TB but still strong and lucid enough to use makeshift equipment, and also vinyl chloride, which I got through my VIP friend close to the Empress, to develop a crude but workable process of making thin, hollow tubes, so called cannula of plastic - firm yet flexible enough for our need - and he fashioned it by hand-cut metal mold and razor carving and it became this curette-tipped suction instrument I know use.
With it, my dying midwife inventor took a 50 cc syringe used to inject or irrigate and made it into hand-held suction instrument by notching the syringe barrel-holder upper edge in such a way that when the barrel is pulled back it locks into place to give fixed continuous suction that, applied to the attached curette inserted in womb, safely, effectively and painlessly scrapes and sucks the pregnancy of up to 10 weeks easily from the womb. And, as you just saw, it works.”
She pauses then adds “Works! Is not that a fine concept in one word? I like it! If something works, I put it in my book of knowledge in a chapter called Works. With this instruments, abos could be done at home by any trained woman herself.”
Kimi understands it partly but more importantly she appreciates what she sees working: Ten pregnancies ended by abortion in 1 hour and no anesthesia and the women now happily leaving hospital with relatives.
The small waiting room has a happy, clubby atmosphere except instead of expensive silk kimono the women wear monpe and peasant jacket. As Sanya walks through this scene with Kimi by her side, patients & family bow murmuring “Thank you! Thank you, Lady Professor!” and each presses a present – a sack of potatoes, a chicken in cage, a bag of persimmons – which 3 helpers in blue dress uniform accept. And the gifts keep coming so that they get loaded down also with bottle of Korean pickles, bag of apples, package of salted fish …”
The small waiting room has a happy, clubby atmosphere except instead of expensive silk kimono the women wear monpe and peasant jacket. As Sanya walks through this scene with Kimi by her side, patients & family bow murmuring “Thank you! Thank you, Lady Professor!” and each presses a present – a sack of potatoes, a chicken in cage, a bag of persimmons – which 3 helpers in blue dress uniform accept. And the gifts keep coming so that they get loaded down also with bottle of Korean pickles, bag of apples, package of salted fish …”
“Drop them off with Cook,” says Sanya, heading for her office, and to Kimi: “Toodle-loo, see you tomorrow.”
To read on now, click 11.(21-22) Mistah Wondahful & Good Morning Lady P...
To read on now, click 11.(21-22) Mistah Wondahful & Good Morning Lady P...
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