Close Brush

I have been having back aches for a long long time. But that has never stopped me from doing what I love. Anything and everything. On Wednesday, I had quite a rude awakening from my old friend the back pain.

As a habit I sleep very late. And usually I would carry my cute wifey to bed when I go in to sleep. There are days where my back hurts so badly I cant do it. Wednesday was one of those days. I had finally lay myself down to bed to tried to sleep. Like an old house, I could feel my bones start to creak as my muscles relaxed to end the long day. It had become a norm the past month that when my back relaxes, I would not even be able to move myself horizontally but I tried slowly.

This time, it hurt too much so I stayed facing up for awhile trying to fall asleep. I decided to turn to her to hug her and then it hit. The first sharp grinding pain. It hurt so badly I grit my teeth but still groaned quite loudly. She didn't really wake up. I turned to the other side the grinding pain had attacked me again. Once again I had groaned really loudly, this time it woke her up.

We were sitting in bed awhile and I had decided it was time I went to the doctor. As I was trying to get out of bed, my left leg was hanging in mid air and it was hurting so badly I was screaming in pain. As I was trying to lift it up to put it back, it hurt even more, so there was nothing I could do but scream "lift it up!!!" several times… I am glad she was there.

After helping me up, I found a way to stand up and I did. Realizing that I could not put any pressure to my left leg. We had rushed to the emergency ward of Hospital Ampang Baru and sat there while half baked stoned doctors are loafing around doing nothing. After some time of waiting, we were told to have an X ray and was advised to sit around while they do nothing again. After a longer time of waiting, the doctor told me (in a nutshell) she didn't know what was wrong and I should see the specialist that will only be open the next morning.

The next morning, thanks to the lack of sleep, I went to the specialist to hand over the referral letter and was told that they will call me on Monday (this is Thursday morning btw) for an appointment. Suffering through the lack of sleep through the rest of the week and over the weekend, Monday came. No news; as expected. I called the hospital and they told me that the doctor will only look at the referral letter at the end of the day. After a lot of yelling and screaming, they called back for an appointment for 29th November 2010. which means it would be another month before I can do anything. After complaining to the doctor herself, she told me I should go to the emergency ward which I had clearly stated I CAME FROM THERE YOU MORON!!! I told them to screw themselves and started making calls to my HR department. I was advised to go to Gleneagles. Once I had decided that, I had advised my supervisor that I will be on MC on that day. He had happily said " why didn't you go over the weekend? Why cant you just go early in the morning and come to work?" I had replied to him asking him if he is asking me to choose my company over my health? If he had been rude to me, he would have heard no end of this.

In the evening, we had a good "last meal" of nasi kandar and satay (worrying I may not be able to eat anything anymore if admitted) and went to the doctors. Gleneagles was a treat to be in. Everyone was so friendly and had a big smile on their faces. A nurse even asked me if the needed nurses in WHO and my attending GP asked me to pimp her car.

After the XRay again, we were shocked to see one of the spurs on my back looked collapsed and could have been the cause of the pain. Being the GP, she referred me to the specialist for further investigation.

After arranging the appointment, I had went along on Wednesday (this makes a full week since the first incident) and had some issues with billing once again. I had to contact the head of HR while she was on holiday in Vietnam for advice and had sorted that out.

The doctor had said that the thing that looked like a collapsed spur was actually some shadows so that was not anything to worry about. What WAS worrying was that he found several other issues. Some white stuff on the joint between the pelvic bone and the middle section of the lower back, 2 slightly squashed spinal disks and that my back bone was slightly crooked. The last one he said could be caused by the Xray being taken with me lying down.

I was given some meds, a follow up appointment and also a referral letter to a physiotherapist. I went there to ask what "electrotherapy" meant, and was advised that in a nutshell they were going to microwave my ass to warm it up. After asking when I could arrange an appointment, they had told me there was one for that afternoon.

After taking a nap and having lunch (nasi lemak for 10.50 man!! Wtf) I had gone to the physio session. It was then that I realized what electrotherapy was. They locally electrocuted my ass instead of microwaving it. After it was done, the had plastered up the spot I got my treatment with some blue tape. Now my butt looks like a cartoon.

That night, surprisingly, I had gone to sleep with much less pain and woke up today about 12 hours later. It is the best sleep I have had in a long time.

My brush with being a paraplegic had really given me a shocker. With that light brush of my almost fate, it had brought me to realize so much. What things in life I have not done, how much my wife loves me. How much she cares. How many people around me were concerned. In the process of all of this, I had decided to stop all half projects I had and concentrated on one which I loved a lot. Rebuilding Grim. I had planned to slowly complete it but now I am determined to finish it. Why? Because with the motley crew I had met, they can see what I have dreamt up and I would like this to be my legacy. Even if the hardcore design of Grim would hasten the fact of my already damaged back, I would want it completed and ride it just once. I just wanted one of my great plans realized. Now that my back is confirmed fixable, I still want to do it. And show my wife, the world that I see. For riding free is my world and she has made my world so much more beautiful.

By
Vy