From Braces to Bravery - A Satirical Take on my Surgery

Nobody wants to get injured or have surgeons, practice their art of medicine on their mortal bodies. But , when it happens , the experience is redefining at so many levels. Given that, I have my own private nest in this online jungle , (my cherished blog) , I wanted to put to words my experience and the 'lessons' that dawned  on me out of this knee surgery i had - I have ensured to make it a light read. Do not assume it will be sympathy seeking sorrowful one, but rather, an eclectic usage of words to describe an experience satirically :) 

Warning, there will be some graphic descriptions, however encapsulated with some humor for the benefit of the reader.

It all started that bright sunny day when I was engaging in some sporty activity ,an organizational effort in an extension of promoting bonding among colleagues outside the confines of the otherwise mundane office interiors. The inevitable happened, at the least expected time when I injured one of my crucial ligaments carefully hidden between the complex knee bones. I understood something was amiss , but thanks to my mental composure, i didn't throw a fit. I realized , this was not one of those things i can carelessly dismiss as "i will be alright , imma superman" etc and relieved myself from the ground to directly visit a local ortho hospital near my home. The doc assessed to my relief that it was not a bone fracture but a muscle injury which should heal itself , given that I didn't do any stunts with my legs. While the news of a non-fracture was gratifying , the unknown muscle injury , the suspense and the pain, the occasional buckling of knee made my mind lose my peace and the logical me was back in the hospital to put this to rest. The Doc said, only an MRI could confirm the injury , its extent and further action though he correctly identified the root cause. An ACL injury. It's sheer genius and miracle of the larger force, how aesthetically constructed our bodies are, with all the blood, bones and muscle each holding the insane human mind in a mould of flesh meant to be around just for a 100 years. 

Some official mail swaps, requisitions, financial planning and other formalities were underway when the day of the operation came. Thankfully, I was positive and undeterred by the fact that a trained surgeon will be drilling holes in my bones and practicing medical tailoring of my muscles that gave away due to fate.  The support staff came and started prepping me, firstly the operation gown. Whoa. it dawned on me that I was a patient . The medical gown is a strippers dress basically , giving a good glance of your body to any curious eye.The pressure of being prepped , wearing this semi-nude gown and being on a stretcher imposed on me the will to be more patient, when i was a patient already. I swallowed my pride, climbed onto the medical bed covering some pride i had left, and was being rolled out to the Operation theater to be greeted by an insanely cold antarctic atmosphere. For medical reasons, usually the theaters are maintained at cold temperatures. But, you can imagine how it will be for a Chennaite who literally can make omelettes in the air due to the heat, to be rushed onto such a cold place. I didn't know I can do snake dance so gracefully as i lay down shivering, the entire body from top to toe , thanks to my glamorous outfit. The anesthetic surgeon administered an injection( i must say , if i was a water balloon , i would be leaking all over the place for the amount of injections i endured in this experience.) , post which the lower half of my body became numb in seconds. I was stumped both by the medical marvel of how that happened and freaked out when i realized i will have no idea what was about to happen below my waist, given that i was still lying in a stripper gown. I am not mincing words here, but i was literally made to feel like the Christian God Jesus. My hands were outstretched to the sides, my legs apart and my body covered with some shoddy clothes , with needles at random places, people holding my feet and bright colorful lights blinding my eyes, but good enough for the docs to operate on me. The humor trait in me , is what keeps me going , as i was mentally blessing the doctors from the uncomfortable position i was lying down to perform the surgery successfully. I tried to not listen to what they spoke, but I heard every sound, and my heartbeat skyrocketed when I heard the surgeon once say 'somebody check the flap, it's not working'. It was a circus of emotions and realizations. While i lay there, with all medical instruments latched on to my body, i realized how all my acquired identity out of my daily life was snapped. My gold rings, my religious threads, my body hair that was shaved for not contacting infection . It dawned on  me that, eventually I am just another mortal human being and none of the various identities that i added on myself due to force of birth, habits,lifestyle, choices or circumstances  will last long when the last breath escaped from my body. 

Anyway, as much deep that was, let me re-shift focus back to the snake dancing semi nude young man who was at the mercy of the trained medical souls. The surgery happened for like an hour or something, various instrument sounds,medical gossip between the surgeon and the support staff, my own heart beat and body dancing to the cold temperature not to forget that my eyes were covered by a see through cloth and nose by an oxygen mask. I have never felt so powerless and weak as i was at the mercy of my own karma, power of my prayers and the skill of the medicine studied by the surgeon. I didn't feel a thing, as all the magic happened, and finally my knee wrapped up with medical bandages and braced by a tight but comfortable support brace. I was being rolled out of the theater as i heard the surgeons speak about the next incoming patient and almost felt insulted that my send off was not being recognized. At least wait for me to be out and taken care off yall ! Ha-Ha. Jokes apart, the team was very careful, skilled and trained and took good care of me, as the nurses who took a big liking for me kept plugging sachets of medical fluids every once in a while through the injected needle on my left palm. 

I lay there back in my room, unable to move my right leg, as my left leg was asking me to go out for a walk. I was physically dependent on my people for supporting from food  that went in to the body and food that went out of the body. I was humbled , grounded and administered a good dose of reality as I realized that, indeed just like anyone else, i am just another person and everything disappears immediately when my time comes . And that all the physical and worldly yearning were up to no good and that what matters is how effectively i am putting the life force inside me to its best use , that helps those around me through my existence. Merely, any one can make use of a gross physical body , taking pride in its gifted physical appearance and taking pleasure out of it's capacity to enjoy pleasure , but the universe didn't blow life into our mortal vessel just for riding through life across a span of 100 years.  We are alive for a reason and while we are alive, it only serves its purpose when we realize what matters most in our life and fulfill the same, instead of chasing success, sex, name, fame, glory , pride and all acquired parameters out of this existence. 

Now you all wish me a speedy recovery and let me also wish everyone reading this article, a life full of good health and purpose :) !

Until next time !