September 1974
The office door closed behind the last patient and his mother. Theoretically, Jolanta could finish it for today, but she still had some documents to fill out and she didn’t want to take her work home. She’d done that too often lately, and she’d promised the kids they’d go out for ice cream today. But before continuing her work, she got up from behind her desk to close the windows. They had to pour sewage from a nearby chemical factory into the river again, because there was an unimaginable stench in the air. In the vicinity, in addition to the steelworks, there was a soap shop and a mustard and vinegar factory, which ensured an almost unforgettable fragrance experience. The doctor knew families from Szopienice who on hot summer days deliberately closed the windows before dinner, because otherwise the household’s appetite was not good.
Jolanta was just sitting back at her desk when there was a knock on the door. She expected that one of the mothers in Szopienice had come to ask if the doc would be able to take one more child that day. Of course, in such situations, Jolanta always agreed, because as she used to say, it was not her job, but the service of little patients.
– Please come in! she said loudly.
A short, elegantly coiffed woman in a fashionable suit stood in the doorway. Wadowska-Król had the impression that she had seen her before, but she could not assign the face to time and place. It was certainly not one of the Szopienice mothers. She looked about fifty years old, and her appearance was very different from the unkempt women who usually appeared in this office.
Jolanta jumped to her feet, because she had a premonition bordering on certainty that someone important appeared in this small clinic at the end of the world.
“Good morning,” she greeted, waiting for events to develop.
A pleasant smile appeared on the stranger’s tense face.
– Good morning. The woman extended her hand to Wadowska-Król. – Bozena Hager-Małecka.
– Professor! Jolanta was surprised.
ILLUSTRATION PHOTOGRAPHY photo. Dawid Chalimoniuk / Agencja Wyborcza.pl
Naturally, she knew who Bożena Hager-Małecka was. She assumed that every pediatrician in Silesia, and perhaps even most doctors of other specialties, knew this name. It was said that the professor is a co-founder of Silesian paediatrics. She managed the Paediatrics Clinic of the Silesian Medical University in Zabrze, held the position of a provincial consultant and had a second degree of specialization in this field of medicine.
– Jolanta Wadowska-Król – the doctor introduced herself. – How can I help you? Would you like something to drink?
“No thanks, please don’t bother yourself.” I would like to talk to you about your patient who is in my clinic – explained Hager-Małecka.
Wadowska-Król froze for a moment. If the director of the clinic herself came to her, it must be serious. It is not the responsibility of the hospital staff to inform the attending physician about the patient’s health condition. And this is Professor Hager-Małecka herself!
“Please, sit down,” she said, then sank into the armchair herself.
– Janusz Weaver – the professor began, sitting on the other side of the desk. “I came for him.” Doctor Rzeszotarska from Janów referred the child to us for further diagnostics.
– Yes? – encouraged her interlocutor Wadowska-Król, because she made a longer pause.
Hager-Małecka got up and went to the window. She stared at the densely built working-class neighborhood.
– What we are talking about today cannot go beyond these four walls – she went on without looking at Jolanta – because it is a very delicate and, um, slippery matter.
– Of course, you can count on my discretion – assured her Wadowska-Król.
Hager-Małecka looked at Jolanta.
– I recently returned from a symposium in Switzerland where the case of a boy with lead was discussed. The child was poisoned by eating from a plate covered with lead paint for a long time. When Janusz Tkacz came to see me, something touched me and I ordered a determination of the level of lead in my blood. When I got the results, I figured they must have made a mistake in the lab, because that’s just not possible! I asked for a repeat test. It wasn’t a mistake. The professor paused. – At the moment, the norm is thirty to thirty-five micrograms per deciliter, and it is increasingly being said that it is very liberal. In Janusz Weaver, the level of lead in the blood exceeds this standard ten times. As for that boy whose case was discussed at the symposium, it was only slightly above the norm. To be honest, I’ve never seen anything like this.
Wadowska-Król needed only a few seconds to connect the facts. Is it possible that…
“Due to the fact that the boy lives in the immediate vicinity of the lead smelter, we must act quietly and carefully,” continued Hager-Małecka. – Can you imagine the reaction of the authorities if we accused the state-owned steelworks of poisoning children? It will not pass, not in this country, not in this system, here the propaganda of success works on a huge scale, and anyone who claims that the Polish People’s Republic is not a country of honey and milk is immediately labeled an enemy of the homeland and accused about inciting people. That’s why I came to you personally to ask for your help.
“I’ll do what I have to do.” – The doctor immediately made a decision, because even though she still did not fully understand what was happening, she knew one thing: she would take risks for her patients, regardless of the cost.
ILLUSTRATION PHOTOGRAPHY photo. Dawid Chalimoniuk / Agencja Wyborcza.pl
“I believe that the other children in this boy’s family, if any, should be tested, as well as those living in the immediate vicinity. Let’s say a few, maybe a dozen or so, to see if it’s an individual case or if there are more of them. Of course, the research must be done in absolute secrecy. Please talk to your parents and ask them for discretion. Do you have many such anemic children?
Jolanta was already mentally analyzing the contents of her dispensary notebooks, which she meticulously completed. Without a word, she got up from the desk and with a decisive movement, because the drawer was jammed, pulled it towards her. Hager-Małecka observed this movement with satisfaction, because she recognized in Wadowska-Król a doctor by vocation, someone who would certainly want to discover what ails her children.
Doctor from the family WAB
Source: Gazeta
Bruce is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment . He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
