
Counting Down to 90 - Week 1565 - Bone-Tired
These days, our bodies and minds need adequate time to recover after reaching a state of being "bone-tired".
The Concept Explained

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The phrase "bone-tired" emerged in the early 1900s to describe exhaustion that reaches the very core of your being.
I was away in Chennai for our annual Indian Radiology and Imaging Association (IRIA) meeting, which was clubbed with the Asian Oceanian Society meeting this year.
It was a successful meeting with over 5000 delegates, a buzzing trade, good food, and good lectures. The problem is that these general-purpose meetings, including the Radiology Society of North America (RSNA) meeting no longer serve any academic purpose to those of us who are already at the cutting edge of what we do, because the scientific sessions cater mainly to residents and fellows.
They however serve an important purpose: to meet friends and colleagues from across the country and the world. Some people call it “networking,” a term I hate, because it implies an expectation to gain something from meeting people and some kind of a hidden agenda, when all you want to do is to meet them and catch up on their lives, kids, careers, and families.
In the last 4 days, I met many radiologists from all over. Each evening and night saw different dinner and drinks sessions, apart from just running into people and chatting with them for brief moments in the meeting area itself and the hotel where we were staying.
The same was true with the trade. Many managers who join radiology companies don’t leave the field, though they may switch from one vendor to another. This is probably because radiology remains an exciting field and radiologists are nice people who see those in the trade as friends and colleagues, unlike many other medical specialties that often treat them poorly.
So, moving through the trade area and going from booth to booth, generally means connecting with people I have been meeting for the last 35 years, including those who used to come to LTMGH when I was a radiology resident in the late 80s. They’ve grown up with me and have been part of my journey as a radiologist and person.
I was therefore constantly on my feet all day, able to sit only if I found myself in a lecture hall. While I may be running, walking, and weight training regularly, our bodies aren’t designed for hours of shuffling and standing while meeting up with an endless number of friends and colleagues. It takes a toll.
On the flight back, I was supposed to write this piece, but my mind stopped functioning. I just went to sleep. Once home, I crashed after lunch. I was bone-tired and didn’t want to do anything, except lounge around and so I watched Emilia Perez, an astounding movie on Amazon Prime. Then I sat down to write this, with some of the bone-tiredness having partly settled.
Age matters, despite what people want to believe. In the early middle third of my life (30-45), I used to hold Resident Review Courses over 4 days every year. I reported scans through the night and early morning, gave 3-4 lectures a day, met other faculty, and went for dinners on one or two nights and I was fine. My younger self in my 20s could go without sleep for a couple of nights easily, especially during exams and inter-collegiate festivals and my body and mind seemed indestructible.
Nowadays, I need time to recuperate. We returned on Sunday morning, not afternoon or evening, to allow time at home for the body and mind to rest. We should be aware of our limits, and if we ever reach a state of being “bone-tired,” we need to give our minds and bodies adequate time to recover.
PS:
- The icing on the cake was Ravi Ramakantan’s lecture on the language used in radiology reports. He came down for the day and left everyone a message with the four sentences you see in the accompanying image, which pretty much sums up the “raison d’etre” of all those who teach.

- I met many people who professed to reading my Atmasvasth pieces and this blog. It was nice to know that so many radiologists like my non-radiology writing. Thanks for the positive feedback.

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