Page 12 - First cut

Divya Pai
Surgery
to recovery
t all began quite a few days back... when a
pain in the neck decided to become a very
REAL PAIN IN THE NECK.... so much so
that the rest of me paled out of existence
Iand only the neck with the pain seemed
to exist.
Though am very conscientious doctor, I have
never liked playing the role of a patient.
Since childhood, the most uphill task my
caregivers have had to face has been making
me swallow THE PILL. Somehow, despite so
many modern innovations, that wonderful
gadget hasn't yet been created which will
help people like me swallow a pill. The size,
shape, color and flavor of the pill is immateri-
al, I just can't figure out why, the way to my
throat is the unchartered territory that every
pill is terrified to undertake. Every attempt to
negotiate it down the right track is thwarted
and it makes it's way back into my mouth. Still
I sent hundreds of pills that way, by a sheer
show of undaunted courage just in the unlikely
event that they might give some respite to my
ever complaining neck. When pills failed, I
tried applying entire tubes of those pain relief
ointments which burn up every nerve on the
skin so much so that you no longer are capable
of feeling any sensation at all. When all else
failed, the in-house neurosurgeon doctor
husband decided that it was time for an MRI
scan to figure out what my problem was.
2K1 MBBS, Trivandrum Medical College
Ever been inside an MRI machine? Amazing
thing it is... Maybe it is the medical version of a
mini "House of Horrors" game. They asked me
to lie down still inside something that looked
like a coffin and pushed me into something
which looked like a grave. I tried looking brave
as the technician smiled a gentle smile, telling
me it will take just around 15 to 20 minutes.
Then it seemed like all the spirits in the MRI
machine jumped into action producing a
wild symphony of sounds... TRUMMM....
PRUMMM.... TUNNN... Just as I would wonder
if they had stopped, they would set forth with
another new set of notes... and so it went on
and on, till someone was kind enough to again
pull me out of the grave. I stepped down
telling the machine, "Yeah!! I'm alive!! You
thought you would scare me, huh?? You have
to bring better stuff next time!!" . I went into
the reporting room.
My husband was watching the films. You see,
the perks of having an in-house neurosur-
geon. Even before I step out of the machine,
my films are being read!!! He was looking at me
with a funny expression. I suddenly felt scared
that he would now scold me. Like the parent
scolding the naughty child for faking some
illness just to avoid going to school. I felt he
was about to say, "Your MRI is perfectly good,
and you were giving me hell of a time all these
days!!! Come home you naughty wife!"
12
12 13
12
2K1 MBBS, Trivandrum Medical College