A MYSTERIOUS CASE OF THE" UNCONSCIOUS "PATIENT - A TRUE HUMAN INTEREST STORY

     I was really impressed by the old man when I saw him in my clinic. A crisp, spotless white dress; clear thoughts; good ability to communicate stood out. He was always in control. He came with his wife looking less than half his age - a very young wife indeed. He made it very clear that he had come for one time consultation for  a thorough check up and advice.
     He had no specific complaints. The check up after a thorough clinical examination showed that he had aged gracefully and had no major illness, in fact not even diabetes! Only thing I was not clear was his occupation - he simply said that he was a "trade union leader" at Bombay and had made some enemies in the course of his career.
     After about a month, his wife requested for a house visit at their flat  for what looked like a bad bout of respiratory infection. I obliged considering his age. He recovered promptly. On my way out of the building, I met an old friend of mine who also was residing in the same building. He was shocked I had visited his house. "Be careful", he said, "this man was a supari  hit man in his prime at Bombay"! I was indeed surprised and slowly forgot all about it. He had mentioned that his children were studying in a residential school far away and I now seemed to understand why - In his old age he had become a toothless tiger and ( he along with his  family) was therefore vulnerable to attacks from his enemies.
     About a year later, his wife phoned at the dead of the night . She said that he was very ill and requested me to come immediately. It was raining cats and dogs and I was not very eager to go. I tried telling her to take  him to a hospital. My wife then reprimanded me saying how can  a lady alone get her husband to the hospital without help. I went ahead  to his house.
     Imagine the scenario - Dead of the night and it was raining very heavily. The old man had fallen unconscious at the entrance of the bathroom - his head and part of the trunk inside the bathroom and remaining part of the trunk and the legs outside. He was unconscious and breathing heavily. He did not respond to his name or to the painful stimulus. I  knelt down in the dampness and checked him - BP was normal and he did not have any stroke. The question that bugged me was why indeed was he unconsciuos?
     The first step in any treatment is a good diagnosis. There was none here. I had to be very careful now. Just then the wife said " Now that you have seen him  you may go. Tomorrow I will come for the death certificate". I was shocked. I told her I had not completed my job. She coolly told me she did not expect me to! I was in a dilemma. whether to leave him alone or to diagnose and treat him. I had to think fast. I looked around and checked what I had hitherto ignored - the drugs. To my dismay, I found a strip of a strong anti diabetic tablet with 3 tablets missing. He was not a diabetic. The diagnosis was obvious - he had been given 3 tablets of a strong anti diabetic medication causing a low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) enough reason for explaining his unconsciousness!
     I decided to save him as it was an eminently reversible condition - ran out of the flat, woke up the next door neighbour who happened to my  same old friend whom I had met earlier, shifted him to the hospital with his help. You should have seen his wife's face. If  looks could kill, I would be dead on the spot.  He recovered fully and went home.
     I slowly sorted out the remaining par of the mystery. His wife wanted him dead to claim his wealth and property. The hit man almost tasted a generous dose of his own medicine!