Thus, I was cured for the clot in the brain
By JIRARA
© JIRARA, September 2022, Published by JIRARA on matrubharti.com
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Preamble: Here (and may be in some future closely related articles) is my personal account of the health care that I and my BA (mother) have/had received from our family (and other doctors) over a period of more than last three to four decades. Here, I am going to mention the names of the drugs/medicines/tubes/drops (where applicable and based on my memory) used for our treatment/s, because it is very important to mention these for the sake of clarity and completion (and usefulness in the future); rather than hiding these names for the fear of adverse or over-publicity or being ‘dubbed’ as an advocate of the medicines and/or their manufacturers; and I want to ascertain here, that I am not the brand ambassador of any of these (allopathy or ayurvedic/herbal) medicines, and this story-article is not sponsored or suggested by any of the doctors involved in the treatment. I am writing a true story related to the health of some individual/s, and hence, it is important that I clearly and openly mention the true names of the doctors and the medicines without any hesitation; and I am not interested in any kind of my personal publicity.
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Dedicated To: My wife Smt. Virmati, our son Mayur, and daughter Harshakumari who had taken immense of care of me during this phase; and in loving memory to Dr. Mrs. K. Lalitha (CMO, NAL-CSIR health clinic).
Acknowledgements: This story, and subsequent medical treatment related stories are profusely dedicated to our family doctors: Dr. Rajpuria (in Vijapur, Gujarat during 1950-1980); NAL-CSIR doctors (in Bengaluru): Dr. K. S. Nanjunda Swami (CMO), Dr. A. Pranesh, Late Dr. Mrs. K. Lalitha (CMO), Dr. Mrs. Swetha Desai, Dr. D. Amaranarayan (CMO), Dr. N. Ramakrishna (CMO), Dr. L. Prakash, Dr. Ms. Malvika; and the physiotherapist Y. Nagaraj; who from time to time had provided correct diagnoses, complete prescriptions of medicines, and proper referrals (including health care aspects/suggestions/treatments) to other doctors and/or Hospitals in respect of me, my BA as well as all the members of my family for several decades.
In this special brain-clot case of mine, the initial diagnoses by Dr. K. S. N. Swami, the diagnoses and treatment by Dr. A. R. Bhat, and Dr. K. S. Bhat (both consulting doctors to Manipal Hospital, Opp. NAL, Bangalore); and subsequent follow up care and the treatment by Dr. Lalitha, and Dr. N. Ramakrishna had been tremendously useful and life-saving.
In fact, due the treatment that I had received, my health-index had been very high, and my life has definitely prolonged by some years.
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Note: As I have said earlier, we all are mortals, and we basically need oxygen, water, and food (hence lot of energy) to sustain our lives on this planet. Most of our food is plant based, and these plants ‘prepare’ food by absorbing energy from the Sun. Even though, the most non-veg food comes from animals, these animals also eat mostly plant-based foods, and hence their stored energy in some form comes to us. Now, if there is any contamination in any or more of these ingredients, in most cases we fall sick: breathing problems, food-poisoning, vomiting, acidity etc. Also, if there is deficiency in any or more of these, we become malnutrition-ed; the balance of food is always necessary for usual and normal life sustenance. We also fall sick due to: i) over work (get exhausted, and weak and our immune system becomes weak, and might lead to other complications), ii) some genetic problems inherited from our parent/s, and iii) in many cases due to bacterial and/or viral infections. There are other diseases/ailments: a) blood pressure (BP), b) diabetes, c) vertigo (Chakkar), d) cancer, and others. Also some problems are related to i) liver, ii) pancreas (diabetes Type I and II), iii) kidneys (stones, failures), iv) intestines, v) eyes, vi) heart/lungs, and vii) brain. There are many more minor or major issues (urinary track infection/UTI, allergies, eye-infections, and so on…), since the human body is a vast system in the number of components it has, and the continuous functioning of these sub-systems and their interactions are so involved that a common lay person cannot understand, except only superficially.
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The medical doctors, in my opinion, are like our own ‘relatives’, and true friends; and the correctly prescribed medicines are our routine companions.
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Thus, I was cured for the clot in the brain
It was in October 2002 that one particular week was earmarked for checking abdomen, and related (renal) organs of the NAL staff who were in their early sixties. We were supposed to drink lot of water, and be ready for the examination in the NAL health center-clinic, where a team of doctors from some hospital had specially come. I had waited for long for my turn to come, but then it was lunch time, and we were asked to go for the lunch, and come again, which I did, since I was staying in the NAL-campus residence. After the lunch my turn came, and the NAL doctor first examined me, and at that time I got a severe nausea and vomited, since there was lot of water and also the food in the stomach; then again I had to drink lot of water for the medical examination; which was conducted successfully; but my general condition was not so good, and I had a severe headache, and the NAL-doctor had said that if the headache does not reduce in two-three days (after the medication), I must consult a neurologist in Manipal hospital. This was a Wednesday, and then up to the Friday no respite was felt; and on the Saturday I had severe headache (mainly on the left part of my brain, it was a clot) and my right-hand- side arm and leg started trembling, and had been partially paralysed, and since luckily my son was at home, he had called Dr. Lalitha (who was staying on the NAL-campus), and she gave some injection, and suggested that I must be immediately taken to the emergency of the Manipal hospital; then my son, my daughter-in-law Gayathri (former), and our neighbour’s son Rahul (Gangan Prathap) lifted and put me in the rear seat of our car Santro, and I was admitted to emergency section.
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There immediately I was treated by Dr. A. R. Bhat, and then I was in the ICU for 20 hrs., and I had started recovering; afterwards I was in a stroke-ward for five days, and then in a special ward, and was discharged on the next Saturday.
Fortunately, it was a reversible neurological disorder: Ischemic stroke occurs when a blood clot blocks or narrows an artery leading to the brain. A blood clot often forms in arteries damaged by the built-up of plaques (atherosclerosis); it can occur in the carotid artery of the neck as well as other arteries. This is the most common type of stroke. It is a serious condition and requires prompt treatment. However, with the correct treatment, most people can recover or maintain enough function to take care of their basic needs (From the Internet).
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I was prescribed drugs to thin the blood, mainly to dissolve the protein globules and totally I had to take five tables per day: Deplatt (75 mg), Ramace (5 mg), Acitrom (10 mg) and two vitamin tablets, of which the first two still I am continuing with.
Fortunately, Ischemic condition has not taken place again.
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I was also asked not to drive a two-wheeler, and not even take ride on it; since if some injury occurred than I would have problem of stopping bleeding, I was also advised not to use any sharp gadgets for any work. Hence, I had bought an electric car Rewa for me; gradually in a period of a few years from then, we sold away the two-wheelers.
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Although, I had recovered from the Ischemic stroke, I had no vital energy, I used to go to work and do just necessary things, I had a breathing problem, and used to feel tired easily. Often, my nostrils were getting blocked, and I had to put some drops in my nose.
Also, my right hand had lost its grip on the objects; and I used to keep a small rubber ball and sued to griping exercise with it; however, my hand writing had worsened; and was barely able to do correct signature; eventually I regained the grip and the hand writing, but not yet totally.
In fact, I had lost interest in life, the energy level was so down, that I often was feeling depressed.
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During one day in the next week after my discharge, when I was walking on the short path way from my house-door to the compound gate, I saw a tiny insect walking around, and I found that it was so feeble, and that it could have been crushed under my feet; and I was pondering over the life, that how on this earth this weakling had been surviving for millions of years?
Then, I got some respite in my life, and gathered courage, and gradually got deeply involved in my routine activities.
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Subsequently, after doing the prothrombin tests, the acitrom tablet was stopped.
Note: The average time range for blood to clot is about 10 to 13 seconds. A number higher than that range means it takes blood longer than usual to clot. A number lower than that range means blood clots more quickly than normal, (ref. the internet).
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On one Friday in July 2003, I had given a three-hour guest lecture at a conference in MSRIT, and then next day, on Saturday I flew to USA to present three papers at the AIAA conference held in Austin.
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