So
the other day, I climbed a mountain and broke my back. It was my first...
Brokeback mountain moment. :P
Yeah,
I was using a walker for weeks.
Jokes
aside, I was indeed using a walker for a couple of weeks because I sprained my
back due to heavy lifting.
After
a Total Lockdown of almost 3 months, our family was running on our very last gas
cylinder and we were starting to panic a bit! And so when our YMA announced
that it was our turn to get gas, we were overjoyed.
For
my non-Mizo visitors, let me tell you that in Mizoram, most of the people
depend on the local government for gas supply. In my locality Chaltlang, our
YMA is in charge of gas distribution, but in other localities, the Local
Council can be in charge of it as well. The YMA (or LC) usually has a designated
distributor who supplies gas for a particular locality at a subsidized rate. And
yes we have other private companies too, but they are more expensive.
Now,
to prevent people from crowding up at the gas distribution center and creating
long queues, each locality is further divided into different sections, and each
section has its own "distribution point" where the supply truck stops
to distribute the gas. This ensures that people don't have to walk very far to
exchange gas cylinders.
Every
resident has their own gas passbook with a unique serial number for each gas
cylinder, and then an announcement is made by the YMA (via WhatsApp group and loud speakers) that people of
ABC section with serial numbers from XXX to XYZ can now come to collect gas.
For
large households with more than one gas connection (hence multiple passbooks)
their passbook serial numbers are usually in sequential order so that they fall
under the same bracket when such announcements are made. While making the
announcement, the YMA also mentions the cost of each gas cylinder (which
fluctuates a bit now and then) and people are asked to bring the exact change
with them.
And
so that was how I ended up exchanging three gas cylinders that day.
I
mean, I admit, I am no Superman. I didn't carry those three gas cylinders with
my bare hands while sweating and oozing out macho manly testosterones. No. I
pushed the cylinders in a makeshift trolley. :D At the distribution point, my
niece went to settle the bill with the YMA volunteers, and once they put a
stamp on all three passbooks, I placed the three new gas cylinders on the
trolley and pushed it back to our house.
At
home, it was during the time I was putting the new gas cylinders inside our
store-room that my back problem occurred. As I was trying to make space arranging
the items inside our congested store-room, I happened to lift two cylinders at
the same time, no idea why I was in such a hurry, and then my back suddenly
went "phraacckk"!
Aaaargh
I had never felt such excruciating pain in my life (except maybe the time I
dropped my hard-disk and it broke into pieces). I immediately fell down to the
floor, sprawling in pain, with a little bit of drama and flair of course.
I
mean, I am no stranger to physical injuries. I had played a lot of sports back
in school and college, especially basketball. I had fractured by left wrist as
well as both ankles, requiring surgeries, not to mention the multiple sprains
and ligament tears on my limbs, neck and back. It was something I had to live
with for a couple of weeks, adjusting to the situation like limping for a few
weeks or using my right hand to wash my bum :D :P, until it healed eventually.
But
this one was different.
I
couldn't walk at all, couldn't sit down properly, and worst of all, couldn't
sleep. No matter what position I was sleeping in, I was in deep pain.
Fortunately
for me, when we rushed me to the clinic, turned out, it wasn't very serious, as
in, I wasn't crippled for life. The doctor prescribed a lot of painkillers
along with thyroid meds etc.
My
back was in such bad shape that I was even prescribed "Pregarest"
which is apparently a pregnancy related medicine, but since I'm 40 years old
now, the chances of be becoming pregnant was quite low. :D :P
I
suffered for the next 2-3 weeks. Even while lying down, I wasn't comfortable in
any position, and when I was finally able to fall asleep (thanks to the
painkillers), I would wake up in pain in the middle of the night if I had changed
position involuntarily. A part of me was thinking if this was what the rest of
my life was going to be like...
I
mean, I was already feeling pretty useless after returning home to Mizoram, you
know, now that I am no longer doing the two things I was getting paid to do -
advertising and designing games, my two professional skills. But to become an
"invalid" on top of that made me feel even worse.
But
I just suffered silently, and I exercised daily by walking around the house
using a walker.
After
around a month, I was finally able to walk properly again. Soon, my walker was
starting to get in the way of my regular life, you know, like how it was really
difficult to climb a tree to pluck mangoes while using a walker...
To
conclude, this is definitely a rude awakening to let me know that I am no
longer that fit and young person I once was. Back when I first started writing
this blog 16 years ago, lifting two full gas cylinders would have been a
cakewalk. A walk in the park. Now it is "a walk in the park, and then
across the park, until you reach the clinic".
NKOTB
once sang "Age is just a number", and I now realize the number
they're talking about is the number of times you'll suffer from backaches and
body pain after lifting something heavy. Ahhh, what a revelation it had been.
So
until my next post then, cheers everyone.
Stay
safe.
