Silence Can Kill The Lamb

I dont know if it is a blessing or a curse to have a high threshold of pain. 

I have noticed that a basic simple question....."So, how are you?"  generally elicits three kinds of response from 3 types of people.

The first kind......have a low threshold of pain.  

And  they will give a blow by blow account of all the aches and pains in their head, shoulder, knees, nose and toes which may take an hour at the least (if not intermixed with their family affairs!). 

May the good lord help you if bump into them in a hurry, for they will not let go of you till they have finished relaying their dukh-dard-ki-kahani. They will cry for help at the slightest pain or discomfort and make everyone else's life uncomfortable till they get comfortable. 

(In the long run, they may turn out to be the wise ones.)

The second kind, are the wiser lot who listen and understand their body, take good care of themselves without any fuss. They will be honest about the physical state of affairs.   

And the last kind (may not be many, but the stupidest of the kind!) have a high threshold of pain.

They will fake good health even when they are terribly sick and in severe physical discomfort. These are the ones who have to be taken to the hospital immediately if they say they are slightly unwell because by now are in grave danger.

(I am sure there must be a fancy name for this psychological disorder in the USA.)

The last category is the one about which I want to express......because of 2 reasons

1. I am one of those stupids from the third category.

2. Their silence and stupidity can almost kill them!

     (But they seldom learn.)   

So, this is for all the pain-bearing "fool"hardy ones who always go about grinning and bearing it lame !

It is time that they (and me) realize that Silence can kill the lamb.

For me, my high threshold of pain is definitely hereditary as the stupidities of my father and me (during sickness and accidents) are alarmingly similar. I also agree it is highly troublesome and irritating for the family. But some congenital defects are hard to rectify. 

We put up a brave front through sickness, weakness, fractures and torture !   

WHY ??? 

I don't have the answer.

It is only in hind sight when I have lived to retell the tale, I realise that all the signs and symptoms were so blatant but I phoo-phoo-ed, suppressed and ignored it all so that I am not elevated to the first category!

A similar story happened recently (28-09-11) when I was recently bitten by the Anopheles.  

No, it is not a a snake or an animal. The anopheles is the amazing and much abhorred mosquito. 

(And the snake bite is another story of.....er......stupidity altogether.)

It started with a slight body ache and low grade temperature on sunday.  Come monday and there's no time to rest. 

It was the start of the week......kids, school, home work, house work etc have to keep rolling thru the week. 

I kept the myself in super action with the aid of the popular analgesic "combiflam". The body ache persisted through mon, tue, wed, thurs, now accompanied by a headache and slightly higher temperature. On thursday Fj returned from work and saw me in bad shape (like an old lady). He yelled at me for my stupidity and took me to the doc. (I agreed to visit the doc because I was scheduled to go to Bangalore for work over the week end). 

The elderly doc asked me some general questions as to how I was feeling. 

 "Fine, not too bad, just slight body ache" I said with a half smile, sitting like an old hunch back.    

So he suspected it to be a case of viral.      

The initial blood test showed low plateletes. Dengue could not be not ruled out nor confirmed. So he prescribed some medicine. 

Once outside the doctor's....."JAS!" Fj fired me, "how can you lie that you are fine when you are looking like an 80 year old?"

With a hunched back, aching body and no energy to reply, I crawled back towards the car like a reptile.

Friday was worse with severe body ache, nausea, temperature and occasional vomiting. 

I was supposed to leave for B'lore tomorrow (still hopeful of getting back in action by tomorrow.) 

On friday, we went to another doctor. 

Tests for dengue were redone. 

Test Result : Negative. 

A different set of tablets were prescribed. 

Friday afternoon for the first time I felt cold and shivered. A blood sample was given during the shivers. (As malaria may not always show up otherwise.)  

Test Result :   P. Vivax    -    positive

Primaquine tablets were prescribed. But my hepatitis (inflamed liver) just did not allow me to injest the strong medication. I kept puking. 

The vomiting and retching had gone so severe that even my internal organs like the stomach and intestines tried their best to come out ! 

"Hospitalize immediately", the doc instructed. 

So, instead of Bangalore, I detoured to the hospital and intravenously the medicine started its miraculous work while I stayed put on the bed like a sick lamb for 3 days.

Inquisitive relatives and guests of other patients would drop by my bed (starting with a peep thru the door, followed by a smile with searching eyes and then a question about my health).  Their interest in my health was superficial. They were more interested in knowing my country of origin, country of residence (if I was an NRI) and if I spoke hindi. On hearing that I was totally Indian their interest waned and they exited quickly always leaving the door ajar.

With the doctor, nurses and husband at my beck and call, my condition stabilized. I slept most of the time. My kids came to meet me in the hospital after school. They were excited to see the versatile bed and played with the jack to raise the angle of the bed from front and back (putting me thru different yogic positions). They were impressed with the controls near the head rest, the call bell and the special tray table. Above all they envied that I could enjoy unlimited TV! 

Occasionally I did see a bit of  TV in peace and solitude. 

It had been years since I got a chance to hold the TV remote, surf channels and watch programs of my choice without any interruption of kids squabbles and husband's demands.    

After 3 days I returned home. And felt lifeless for over a week.   

The headache and the hard throbbing pain at the occipitals (above the nape of the neck) persisted till a week later. It was due to the inflamed meninges (the lining between the scalp and the brain), a malaise of the disease. Daylight also continued to hurt the eyes and head. 

Some important facts on Malaria for those who have been spared by the anopheles.

Gone are the days of standard symptoms like evening fever and shivers. The parasite has changed with the times. 

General symptoms include headache, nausea, fever, vomiting and flu like symptoms.

The symptoms are not always dramatic and can easily be dismissed as unimportant.

If fever persists for 3 days, a blood test is advised. 

More cases of Malaria have been reported this year than dengue.

There are 4 types of malaria. 

P. Malariae

P. Ovale (rare)

P. Vivax (most common) is a debilitating disease.  

Medication for P.Vivax continues 15 days after the main dose to destroy the re-emergence of latent parasites in the liver.

P. Falciparum is the most deathly one. Can be life threatening and requires immediate hospitalization. 

(It is responsible for 90% of the deaths from malaria.)

Malaria is curable but delayed treatment can cause a host of health problems.

I am much better now, regaining my strength and stamina, steadily inching forward from lamb to lioness.

Have I learnt my lesson or will I continue to be the one from the 3rd category........??? 

Well.....only time will tell.