Originally circulated on 3 July 2020
Hi fellow Ruminants & Groupies in Lock Down Level 3
Greetings from day 98 of lock down. Events in my own life this week spurred this week’s submission. This week’s topic is more self-indulgent and narcissistic than is usual for Ruminant Pink Friday’s ™ . Apart from being self-indulgent some may perceive the topic as morbid and pessimistic rather than irreverent and humorous. If you are not in the mood for this delete immediately. This submission is also a bit longer than usual.
As part of an effort to keep some semblance of fitness going during lockdown my two boys (16 &19) and I have a 11h00 Saturday morning Zoom session with a personal trainer. We have been doing this throughout the lock down. It is fair to say that I have found the 60 minute sessions extremely demanding. Lots of forward, backward and sideways lunges, crunches, planks etc. I end them in a pool of sweat lying flat on my back staring at the blue winter sky and the huge Jacarandas in our garden. Taking a few minutes to recover, while also fending off Bailey (3 year old Labrador retriever) who is trying to lick my face. Extremely stiff and sore the next day but diminishing as the weeks wore on.
My right calf was sore on Monday, worse on Tuesday and even worse on Wednesday. At the rightful insistence of my wife Nerine, off to the doctor on Wednesday. She sends me for Doppler scan of my leg. Torn muscle in my calf and blood clots in the veins of my calf. Technical term – Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT). It is now evening GP says this is serious must see a specialist the next day.
Off course, as one does, copious consultation of Dr Google now occurs. What stands out immediately is a 30 day mortality rate of 5%, arising from blood clots breaking loose travelling to your lungs causing a pulmonary embolism which can be fatal or cause permanent damage. Start pondering my mortality.
Thursday morning involves intense effort to find a specialist who will see me immediately. Initially get nowhere but then start networking seriously with doctor friends and acquaintances and the offers to help stream in and have multiple appointments some of which I need to cancel. Saw the specialist and he prescribes blood thinning medication (Xarelto) for 6 months. Takes time to extremely carefully and patiently answer all my questions and explains prognosis, treatment alternatives and risks exhaustively. I will not bore you with all the details but it is very unlikely that calf blood clots will travel to your lungs. 4 week recovery and 6 month treatment with low risk of recurrence. Gives me his cell phone number and says to phone immediately at any time (24/7) should I have chest pain or shortness of breath. I cannot fault the professionalism, patience and humanity of this man.
Yesterday involved some serious pain and discomfort and Myprodol. Minimal hobbling around the house for now but ready for Teams meetings but prefer not to sit at my desk. Myprodol no longer required.
This brings me to the book, “Being Mortal: Illness, Medicine and What Matters in the End” by Atul Gawande which I read a couple of years ago and I think is a thoughtful book to read once you reach middle age and it dimly begins to dawn on you that you are not immortal. https://www.amazon.com/Being-Mortal-Medicine-What-Matters-ebook/dp/B00JCW0BCY
Dr Gawande points out what should be inherently obvious that it is quality of life that counts and not prolonging life as long as possible and that the medical definition of what constitutes being alive is not meaningful.
Death is not a medical problem to be fought at all costs but it is part of the human condition and needs to be dealt with by appropriate medical intervention tempered with compassion and respect for quality of life
From next week I hope to be back to shorter, more humorous and irreverent topics.
Please keep the submission ideas flowing.
Regards
Bruce
Ruminant Pink Friday 