Readers would remember that I had set myself three tasks to be done on Thursday, 20th March, 2014. Accordingly, I set off for KAASH - the hospital where I had had my shoulder MRI done about ten days ago. I collected my report, then went to the OPD section, where I looked around for a consultant orthopaedic surgeon. The man I found was one Dr. Faisal Shafiq. A Pakistani doctor, he was extremely patient while I showed myself to him. He quickly reached a diagnosis of Frozen Shoulder, and mentioned that it might be a good idea to go in for a steroid injection into the affected shoulder joint.
I decided then and there to go ahead with the injection, as the pain and limitation of the movements I had suffered for the last several months was something I was not willing to endure for a still longer duration. Dr. Faisal asked me to wait outside his OPD for some time as he had a backlog of several patients he had to see. I relaxed outside for some time, then went back to him. He said he had just one vial of steroid (Depot preparation of methyl prednisolone, 40 mg), but it would have to do for the time being. No anaesthesia was needed. He combined the steroid with a local anaesthetic and injected the full substance in two portions - a larger one in front of my arm and a smaller one at the top of the shoulder (this is a technical thing, and I request my non-medical readers to simply overlook the detail).
The actual act of injection pained very little. He called me in again after twenty minutes to reassess my shoulder. After this, I went to meet Dr. Md. Ragab to collect guidance material on my flash drive. His office is located behind the new King Faisal Hospital (KFH). Unfortunately, he was not in. When I called him, he asked to speak to one of his other colleagues Dr. Baher. The latter switched on Dr. Ragab's computer and opened the folders where Dr. Ragab said the material was stored. It turned out that the said folder was EMPTY. I was dejected but helpless. Dr. Ragab promised to send the material by email to me.
Returning from here, I went straight to Choudhary Shabbir's car workshop. Over the next few hours, I got some other things in my car repaired or looked at. It was too late to go to the Muderiya to ask about Dr. Narendra. I returned to my room, then killed the rest of the evening doing this and that.
Over the evening, the injection site had started hurting more and more. By the time I went for dinner, the shoulder was hurting really bad, and I had to swallow pain-killers to just be able to move my arm. The injection site itself looked healthy, so an infection seemed unlikely. I called up Dr. Faisal, and he, at first, alarmed me that the pain would persist for the next few days, and only then decline.
At about 9 p.m., Shabbir came over with a friend and picked me up to go to Kababjee's Restaurant for dinner. I had invited him this time, and we had a mixed tandoori platter with rice and salad, and a side-order of minced-meat samosas. The meal was delicious. After dinner, we all went to a coffee shop where Shabbirbhai treated me to a Chocolate with Ice coffee. I returned to my room at about 11 p.m.
Friday was a day without agenda. I relaxed the whole morning in my hotel room, going out just for breakfast and lunch. The pain in my shoulder gradually improved over the day, but I had to swallow pain killers almost every four hours.I left for Al Muwayh after 4:00 p.m., reaching my home at a little after 7 o'clock in the evening.
I spent the rest of the evening sorting my stuff, writing the last few blog entries, watching the TV, and so on. Eventually, I retired after mid-night.
I decided then and there to go ahead with the injection, as the pain and limitation of the movements I had suffered for the last several months was something I was not willing to endure for a still longer duration. Dr. Faisal asked me to wait outside his OPD for some time as he had a backlog of several patients he had to see. I relaxed outside for some time, then went back to him. He said he had just one vial of steroid (Depot preparation of methyl prednisolone, 40 mg), but it would have to do for the time being. No anaesthesia was needed. He combined the steroid with a local anaesthetic and injected the full substance in two portions - a larger one in front of my arm and a smaller one at the top of the shoulder (this is a technical thing, and I request my non-medical readers to simply overlook the detail).
The actual act of injection pained very little. He called me in again after twenty minutes to reassess my shoulder. After this, I went to meet Dr. Md. Ragab to collect guidance material on my flash drive. His office is located behind the new King Faisal Hospital (KFH). Unfortunately, he was not in. When I called him, he asked to speak to one of his other colleagues Dr. Baher. The latter switched on Dr. Ragab's computer and opened the folders where Dr. Ragab said the material was stored. It turned out that the said folder was EMPTY. I was dejected but helpless. Dr. Ragab promised to send the material by email to me.
Returning from here, I went straight to Choudhary Shabbir's car workshop. Over the next few hours, I got some other things in my car repaired or looked at. It was too late to go to the Muderiya to ask about Dr. Narendra. I returned to my room, then killed the rest of the evening doing this and that.
Over the evening, the injection site had started hurting more and more. By the time I went for dinner, the shoulder was hurting really bad, and I had to swallow pain-killers to just be able to move my arm. The injection site itself looked healthy, so an infection seemed unlikely. I called up Dr. Faisal, and he, at first, alarmed me that the pain would persist for the next few days, and only then decline.
At about 9 p.m., Shabbir came over with a friend and picked me up to go to Kababjee's Restaurant for dinner. I had invited him this time, and we had a mixed tandoori platter with rice and salad, and a side-order of minced-meat samosas. The meal was delicious. After dinner, we all went to a coffee shop where Shabbirbhai treated me to a Chocolate with Ice coffee. I returned to my room at about 11 p.m.
Friday was a day without agenda. I relaxed the whole morning in my hotel room, going out just for breakfast and lunch. The pain in my shoulder gradually improved over the day, but I had to swallow pain killers almost every four hours.I left for Al Muwayh after 4:00 p.m., reaching my home at a little after 7 o'clock in the evening.
I spent the rest of the evening sorting my stuff, writing the last few blog entries, watching the TV, and so on. Eventually, I retired after mid-night.
No comments:
Post a Comment