Bloggus Interruptus - Substitute Writer

When last we met, Laurie left you with the juicy coming attraction: 'Cloud's treatment changes and continued progress!'...Well, I know you have all been patiently waiting with baited breath, so here goes:

The first treatment, which started out more slowly than Laurie's to begin with, got even slower the second day because of my body's inability to handle what they were trying to do with it.  For example, I have not had any steaming done since the first treatment as Dr. Gajanan said that my skin was getting red and blotchy from it and was not ready to be getting the steam because of its sensitivity (yes, I am a sensitive Western male).  Also, along that same line of thought, the pressure used to initially massage me was dialed back the second day due to extreme sensitivity and pain in my superficial tissues throughout my body and the obviously intense abdominal pain; especially the left side (the colo-rectal part of the intestinal tract).  To Dr. Pendse's thinking, the presentation of the abdominal pain, which began to show itself a few weeks back in earnest (after the systemic spread of my condition), is the dis-ease unmasking itself at its true core; this being the root cause area and origination of the problem.  As he has previously explained to me, the issue at hand in his mind is that my body has an innate inability to properly metabolize heat in various manifestations (foods, climate, stress, etc.).


After having dialed back the intensity of the treatment after day 1 (on day 2 for me, instead of briskly massaging my feet and ankles, warm medicated oil was poured over my legs just above my ankles while my foot would hang horizontally over a plastic bucket, then be slowly scraped off with the edge of a business card), Dr. Pendse gave the go-ahead to incorporate two more added procedures starting with the fourth treatment.  I now am the happy recipient of both the rice fomentations (absolutely fabulous stuff) on my back, legs, feet and ankles, and a daily enema of medicated oils ('nuff said: other than the fact that there goes my enjoyment of the wonderful complimentary buffet breakfast at the hotel which ends at 10 am - I can't eat now until about 11:30 am).

Nand Kumar - our daily Rick-Shaw driver (lovely man, very pious, speaks no English)

As to the massage pressure, that has increased as the treatments go by, along with the temperature of the rice fomentations.  Over the past 14-15 years, since I first developed this condition (Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy in the States) I have not been comfortable with very much touch and/or pressure to my left foot, ankle and leg.  These guys have gone further, deeper, and brisker in their touch in the last five days than anything I have been able to allow to happen in that area since the onset of my condition.  The have been peeling my muscles and tissues back layer by layer to expose pain that I didn't even know existed; trapped at various levels of depth throughout my body.

Dr. Pendse initially gave me a much more guarded prognosis for overall improvement than Laurie while here (Laurie 40 - 50%, me 25%) and stated that my condition was more complicated and entrenched, but he has been pleasantly surprised by the initial progress we have both shown with the treatments.  

Nand Kumar close-up; immediately after the photo he broke out into a broad grin (must be cultural)

Speaking of Laurie, the reason you are getting me on this blog is she came down with a rather vicious cold that included quite a fever; not to mention the accompanying muscle and nerve aches from hell in her face, back, and legs. Dr. Pendse actually called off her treatment (now yesterday) and she stayed in the room all day.  Matter of fact, we ordered room service (new one for us) and watched part of 'The Fellowship of the Ring' on a DVD we brought, on the computer, to distract her from the pain.  After lunch, at about 3 pm, I completely crashed out (with Laurie soon after me) and woke up with Laurie's help at 4:10 pm to call Dr. Pendse with an update on Laurie (fever broke, pain subsiding).  I immediately went back to sleep, still in my clothes (hadn't changed from my treatment) until 10 pm (I don't know if I'll ever get the timing down while I'm here...slow learner I guess) while Laurie slept, tossed and turned, read, repeat cycle.  We both woke up, me finally showering and Laurie having some more to eat (they give large portions here, food is great, though a bit on the spicy side for the likes of my system).  At the moment Laurie is snoozing again and seems to be over the hump (hooray!!!).

Monsoons hit last night and today (now yesterday)

Real wet...street plumbing patterned after L.A. (or vice-versa)

On your marks, get set...

Back to treatments:  Unlike Laurie's, my treatments start out with medicated oil rubbed into my scalp (and when Dr. Gajana does it my head gets patted too; I guess he wants my head to be flatter), and a few drops of the thick red oil get dropped in each ear.  I found out today that they want me to only shampoo my hair once a week (Laurie has taken to calling me 'Greasehead') and use very little soap (aren't you glad we're in India and not close by).  The idea is to allow for the oils to absorb as much as possible into the pores and do their work (which apparently doesn't include sleeping at the proper local time).  As to the herbs, ghees, and medicinal concoctions, I have a hard time keeping up with the amount and schedule that the doctor has laid out.  Laurie is much better at it than I am, especially with the VIR, a concoction that is very good at inducing the gag reflex.  Late the other night I awoke to a gag fest in the next door bathroom and thought the poor guy had decided to down an entire bottle of the stuff at once...I considered going next door and offering to give him mine as well.  I asked today if they could include the VIR with all of the other herbs they use for the enema (they weren't buying it, though they did find the question rather amusing) instead of the oral approach.  Matter of fact, Friday is teacher / guru appreciation day and Dr. Pendse's staff are planning to shower him with flowers.  When we met with him the other evening I told him I plan on gifting him with my remaining VIR (he laughed rather heartily at the suggestion).

By the way, my condition, in case it hasn't been clear, involves the sympathetic nervous system; which is part of the autonomic nervous system (controls fight and flight, body temperature, etc.).  Unlike most people (consider yourselves very, very lucky) my sympathetic nervous system tends to run amok, on its own, rarely, if ever, shutting down.  The word 'relax' has a uniquely special meaning to me because when the rest of me decides to shut down and call it a day, or generally choose to relax during any part of a day, my underlying sympathetic system continues to run; hence causing everything to go out of whack, pain pathways to develop, and the muscles, tissues and bones to go thru some chemical and physiological alterations.  Time can move quite slowly during these lovely little episodes; with this latest one (of the past few months) seeming like an unedited trilogy from Tolstoy.

Anyway, we're still hoping for the best, taking things as they come, and definitely putting our faith in Dr. Pendse and the entire scope of the thousands of years of the Ayurvedic study of medicine.  

I wanted to let you all know that the love, support and kind words are greatly appreciated and do help tremendously; we consider ourselves very fortunate to have you all as family and friends.  We also look around us daily, especially here, and realize over and over again how lucky we are, and yet how much we can learn from simplifying aspects of our lives as well to gain a sense of happiness, fulfillment and contentment.

Thanks for allowing me to substitute; your regular writer (teacher) will most likely be returning very soon with a new installment of 'As the enema holds...(the story of the 20-30 minute bumpy rick-shaw drives, post internal oil inducements)'...Cheers