http://www.thepunch.com.au/author-bios/ranjana-srivastava/ Medical Oncologist and Writer Ranjana Srivastava graduated from Monash University with a first class Honours Degree in Medicine. She received the Faculty Prize for Psychiatry, the W.G.Walker Alumni Award, the Fulbright Award and a Fellowship in Medical Ethics and Communication at the MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics at the University of Chicago.  She volunteered at Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta, India and with refugees at the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre in Melbourne. She was appointed by the Commonwealth Services Abroad Program to work on a remote island in the Maldives in the aftermath of the devastating 2004 Tsunami. en Copyright 2012 The Punch penberthyd@newsltd.com.au penberthyd@newsltd.com.au Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 Politics, opinion, world news, sports news, latest news, views, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Nathan Rees, Malcolm Turnbull, Peter Garrett, Barnaby Joyce, Australian, federal politics, opinion polls, election, The Punch, thepunch, punch ExpressionEngine 1.6.7 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 15 http://www.thepunch.com.au/images/punch-logo-rss.png http://www.thepunch.com.au/ 144 70 Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. Search The Punch keywords http://www.thepunch.com.au/search/ http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/When-letting-go-is-the-hardest-thing-to-do/ This is the first in a series of pieces The Punch will run featuring speakers from the upcoming Adelaide Festival of Ideas. This week, oncologist Ranjana Srivastava writes about the last days of a terminally-ill patient. Surprisingly, it takes until mid-morning for the code blue call. The way he has declined, I would have expected him to have breathed his last by now. Aghast at the code, I climb the stairs two at a time to get to Mr Johnson’s bed side. There he lies, surrounded by a throng of doctors, each moving to a different part of his body, to bring it back to life. “Quick, is he breathing?” asks one. “The pulse, the pulse”, presses another, already plucking open the patient’s gown. “Mr. Johnson, wake up, wake up darling,” urges his lovely, white-haired nurse. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Ranjana Srivastava) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/When-letting-go-is-the-hardest-thing-to-do/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/When-letting-go-is-the-hardest-thing-to-do/#item6543 Fri, 19 Aug 2011 19:55:53 +0000 Ranjana Srivastava | Author bios | The Punch