Saturday, September 06, 2008

What Goes Around, Comes Around.

Of all the things that scares the living daylight out of me (including heights) the biggest nightmare comes from what is called Nosocomephobia (fear of Hospitals), I hate visits to local clinics and hospitals, the smell of phenol and spirit makes me nauseated , maybe thats why I keep postponing my trips to the hospital even when I am in a really bad shape, I instead try to opt for self treatment – how bad things could be, I mean, if you have fever ,you can counter it with a Crocin or a Paracetamol tab let, bad stomach, you can face it off with Eno, Pudinhara , Diagene, Lopamide or Dipendol, you have barf attack and you have Stemetil for that, for Pain you have Brufane and for common cold there is another set of medication that you can buy without prescription from you local medical shop..So if I look at my medical history, Its only once in past 8 years that I had to make a trip to hospital or even to a local clinic - which I see as quite an achievement.

4 years ago, on my way back to my home from my office, in Hyderabad, I met with an accident, no bones broken, only a couple of bad bruises and a swollen leg..i treated it my self, it took me a month to walk and took another month to loose the limp, but I was allright- Yes Sir..!! I was..!! No doctors, no medication this time again..self help and my determination got me back on my feet , for four years , I used to boast to people about how good I am at survival..not knowing that one day the tables will turn on me and this phobia that I have, is going to do a full circle and bite me on my arse..

I had this reoccurring pain in my lower back and leg for quite a while, I kept passing it off as a usual strain, something that is a reciprocal action of my sitting posture, and once in a while when that pain became excruciating, I will take a pain killer and forget about it, until last week, when the Pain became so much that I was not able to concentrate, sit, stand for few seconds without shifting weight from one leg to another, the pain was so high and so concurrent that it made me cringe and left me with fever, so I figured, another trip to the hospital is in order..the first doctor I saw, regarding this was a physician, who saw the swelling on my ankle, threw his hands up in the air, frowned and told me that I should go to a Orthopedist instead..well I had no choice but to follow his advice and therefore there I was , the next day, holding my breath, gripping my chair with fear ..sitting in front of the Orthopedist , he started his examination, and then it went on forever..he will twist my leg in the most awkward way and ask me if it hurts and I will think to my self that why the hell not, I mean he should try doing it to himself and he would know wether it hurts and how bad it hurts, but then being a gentleman that I am, I braved all his nifty little tricks he did using my leg, with a straight face..and then he tells me he will need my blood sample, now this gave me the heebee jeebees ..as I have always assumed , that when you venture into a orthopedic ward ,you are asked for a x-ray , blood test some how doesn't fits the picture..
As the fate will have it, I am being diagnosed with a thing called Sciatica -The term sciatica describes the symptoms of leg pain and possibly tingling, numbness or weakness that travels from the low back through the buttock and down the large sciatic nerve in the back of the leg.
The vast majority of people who experience sciatica get better with time (usually a few weeks or months) and find pain relief with non-surgical sciatica treatment. For others, however, sciatica can be severe and debilitating.
It turns out, I belong to the second category of individuals..serves me right, now that I look back in time, I have overlooked the earlier symptoms, paid no heed to the warnings, and in order to avoid a few trips to hospital , I have put my self in a situation where I will need to make a lot many such trips, I will be on high dose of Dexrabeprazole Sodium and Indomethacine for a very long time now, and this list of medication is only going to grow.. I have no idea , how long is it going to take me to completely recover from this situation, the prescribed painkiller are not effective, the pain never goes away,so much so that now I get a feeling that when , one day I will get back to normal, I am going to miss it (the pain)..as it has become so much of a part of me now.

Also looking at the brighter side, I think in next couple of months I will be able to over come the biggest of my fears , as I have quite a few trips to Hospital lined up..Well, there I have learned the lesson the hard way, and the reason I shared this in the blog is , to impart some wisdom to the readers who think they are invincible :) and are above the prescribed medication..trust me we are not, we are humans weekend by our mortality and vulnerability, so the next time you experience anything out of ordinary, that lasts longer than you expected it to- make sure you make a quick trip to the local clinic instead of burying it for so long that it rises it head like a phoenix.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sciatica can often times seem impossible to cure. The pain can be so severe that you cannot function and perform your work duties and it even can interfere with your social and recreational activities. Stretching and strengthening exercise along with spinal decompression therapy were the keys to curing my sciatica and leg pain.

aroop said...

Thanks Doc... thats a lot reassuring..i know what you mean, when you say it interferes with your social activity..i have just missed a wedding reception..right now i am on medication, no stretching or psychotherapy has been suggested, the medication works well till a point of time but once there effect wears off..the pain is back.. :(

R Kamal said...

Prevention is better than...?!?!?!wish and pray for your speedy recovery friend.take care!

Vijay Amarnath Super Easy Drawing Course said...

wish and pray for your speedy recovery friend.take care!

aroop said...

thanks Kamal and Vijay..

Phani Tetali said...

get well soon!

and listen to this...

once you recover and gain in confidence and everything is okay, you will get back your faith on your invincibility.

That's what happens to all of us.

We never learn, do we?

aroop said...

hahahahahahaha...there is a possibility of me doing that..i wont deny it..but, i guess, for the next couple of years, i would follow Kamals advice.."prevention is better than cure"..lesson learned the hard way , i presume.. :)

Thanks for your good wishes..i am a little better now.

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