By Sam Trailerman
Pain! Pain! Pain! So much pain, day and night pain, 24/7 pain. Over the last three weeks, it has been a daily dose of pain killers for me.
It was no joke being operated on the same spot, not once nor twice but thrice!
Each time the surgical wound gets bigger, which means it takes more time to heal.
Upon recalling as I was lying on the operating table to be operated by the top surgeon of the colon rectal unit at Sultanah Bahiyah Hospital in Alor Setar, I was still all ears to their conversation about using hydrogen peroxide to pin point where to cut into.
How painful was hydrogen peroxide! If not for the spinal anaesthetics they gave me, I would have sky-rocketed onto the moon before India’s Chandrayaan-3!
Spinal anaesthesia is a neuraxial anaesthesia technique in which local anaesthetics is placed directly in the intrathecal space (subarachnoid space) somewhere on your spine.
Within minutes, everything below your belly button is numb. I couldn’t feel anything there but was still conscious enough to hear or see the surgeons singing a very familiar Malaysian tune.. That is one of the best reasons why I love Malaysian doctors and surgeons!
Three hours later, the bell rings and you are pushed to the waiting area for you to be monitored just for the slightest movement of any of your toes. And it is back to the normal ward to lay flat for six hours before you are allowed to move, drink or eat.
As the effect spinal anaesthetics start to ease, your stomach starts to grumble as it has been more than 12 hours since your last meal.
Now I am on to my fourth week and things are looking better. I decided to heed the advice from A.R Rahman, a famous Indian music composer, through a song from his 1996 hit film, Khadalan — Urvasi, Urvasi Take It Easy Policy.
This expression is a more casual way of encouraging the person not to take things too hard, rather take some time to relax. Drink more espresso and start working on the keyboard.
So much truth in the lyrics. For example, one of the lines says: If you’re thin as a needle, you don’t need a pharmacy. Which literally means if you watch what you eat, the need for medication will be zero.
So, why worry about what is on your breakfast, lunch or dinner plate? Just have a Take It Easy Policy.
To be truthful to the saying, you are what you eat, right? The last line of this song translates into – no point in enjoying at 60 when you haven’t at 20.
Being more than 60, one’s immune system is not at its peak anymore. The slightest wrong food intake could land one with a tummy infection. And it might be also be a visit to the nearest clinic from where they could refer you to a specialist at the district hospital if they can’t fix things there.
There will be a long list of blood tests, renal failure tests, colonoscopy, endoscopy, where an instrument is introduced into the body to give a view of its internal parts. It doesn’t stop there: Throw in the MRI for Magnetic Resonance Imaging as well. It is a medical imaging technique that uses a magnetic field and computer-generated radio waves to create detailed images of the organs and tissues in your body and to see if any tiny gremlins are in your body having a fiesta.
By then, it will be serious case for reference to a senior surgeon at the general hospital who will be assisted by other relevant surgeons. They will decide if you had to be put on the operating table or otherwise. Not to worry much by now instead of worrying as the Take It Easy Policy may be running through your blood system.
When you fall in love and get rejected for the first time, the whole world says the first cut is the deepest. But I beg to differ. In my case, the third cut was much, much deeper!
Well, deep or not, a cup of espresso and sipping it down with painkiller will kick in the Take It Easy Policy one more time.
And now, it feels so good to be back home, whacking away on my wireless keyboard. It is certainly much better than laying on a sick bed and seeing a nearby diabetic patient about to have a limb amputated on your left.
On your right, you have a stroke patient with tubes running all over his nose, hands and every visible part of his torso! Straight ahead in front of you lies a teenager with plaster casts with all sorts of steel rods and screws on both of his legs.
The positive side about these patients is that they have a steady flow of visitors at visiting time while I try to have that Take It Easy Policy by reading by Noel Barber’s The War Of The Running Dogs for the 10th time!
Trailerman Sam, a popular silver-haired living soul from Lunas, Kedah, is much sought-after for his ways of the world and views. When not helping the young, middle-aged or old, he is writing feverishly, drinking plenty of coffee or probably star or planet gazing. He can be reached at trailer17@hotmail.com
The views expressed here are that of the writer’s and not necessarily that of Weekly Echo’s.