Thus, she was treated for her swollen eye
By JIRARA
© JIRARA, October 2022, Published by JIRARA on matrubharti.com
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Disclaimer: It is the same as in my previous articles published in matrubharti.com.
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, and our son Mayur who had taken immense of care of my mother during this phase (2017-2022); and to Dr. N. Ramakrishna (CMO, NAL-HC), and Dr. L. Prakash (medical officer, NAL-HC) for their tremendous support and treatment during this phase of my mother.
Acknowledgements: This story, and subsequent medical treatment related stories are profusely dedicated to our family doctors: NAL-CSIR doctors (in Bengaluru): Dr. D. Amaranarayan (CMO), Dr. N. Ramakrishna (CMO), Dr. Mrs. Swetha Desai, 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 fact, due the treatment that we had received, our health-index had been very high.
We are also grateful to some doctors of Narayan Netralaya (NN3, Bangalore) for correct initial diagnoses of my mother’s eye problems.
For sometime in the year 2022 my sister, Mrs. Kailasba M. Kumpavat, and her family members took care of our mother in their own house, and presently since February 2022 my second younger brother, Pradipsinh R. Raol, and his family are taking care of her in Jamnagar.
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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.
Thus, she was treated for her swollen eye
It was some time in the year 2017, that one morning we found that my 92 year old mother’s left eye was fully swollen and red, and puss and blood had come out. In fact, this eye is not good, she only can see with her right eye, and also can hear with only one ear, i.e. the left one.
Some years ago, both the eyes were operated for cataract, and no implant lens were put, since those days no such practice was prevalent, so, she used to wear thick glasses, and she was just comfortable with this arrangement. Once, I had taken her to a mission hospital to see if now some artificial lens can be put in her eye, but the doctor told after examination that in her case the structure that would normally hold the lens itself was removed while she was operated for the cataract; and any further operation might jeopardise her existing good and conveniently working conditions.
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Because the swelling was serious, first we showed her to NAL-HC, and then to NN3, and after the examination, the ophthalmologist prescribed the eye drops, tube, and some antibiotic-tablets for five days; after the treatment her eye became alright (for which we had again gone to get the medicines from the NAL-HC the same day).
Of course regular dressing was required to be done, though it was painful for her, she tolerated it with lot of patience.
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Relapses of the swelling
We thought that the situation was under full control, but the swelling occurred again after about three months, but this time it was not severe, and I went to NAL-HC, and described the situation, and the doctor gave the same medicines again, and after the treatment her eye became alright.
And, then the situation reoccurred, so once we bought the medicines from outside, and again once more from NAL-HC, and then I thought this is a tedious process, and also it was suggested that we should not go for any kind of operation or any other treatment except the one already prescribed by NN3; because the allopathy medicines have worked; so, I decided to try some ayurvedic drops, and to daily put in her damaged eye every day twice; and when the swelling occurs, to put drops three/four times in the left eye, and twice a day in the right eye also for the sake of precaution.
We also kept the allopathy course ready in stock with us, in case the ayurvedic treatment did not work.
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What has happened so far for last 5/6 years in respect of her eye treatment?
a) We have been using Jiva product Ayunetra drops regularly twice a day, we always keep stock of these bottles, by ordering these from their web site on regular basis now for last several years.
b) In case, she complains of pain in her left eye, we give her a Dolo-650 tablet for a day or two.
c) In case there is a mild swelling in her left eye, then we put drops in both the eyes, three/four times a day, until the swelling reduces.
d) If the swelling is severe, we give the antibiotic-tablets (Novamox LB 500), three times a day for five days, otherwise not; the occasion of this has occurred so far only three times in last 5 years.
e) Sometimes, only antibiotic tube (Ofloxacin, or Neomycin-Neospirin cream) was found suitable, and the tablets were not required.
This course of action had worked very well for her, and has saved lot of hassle for us as well as for her, in that she did not have to take so many antibiotics tablets for so many years. Being very old lady (now 97 years), and being able to see only with her right eye, she is not able to keep good hygiene of her left eye which in any case is a spoilt eye for now several years; the infection had/has been a regular occurrence for her; and despite telling her and cautioning her several times, she is not able to do much; however, the present situation is reasonably just fine, given her age and marginality of her alertness.
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