Near Miss

Playing golf at Wellington which is at about 6500 feet AMSL is great fun and the course is challenging both in terms of physical effort because it involves some steep climbs and golf skills. On 14 May 2008, we had finished playing 12 holes and stopped for a cup of tea at the WGC. As usual I lit a cigarette with my tea and soon resumed the game. But something didnt feel alright. I felt my neck muscles and tendons a bit stretched and the chest felt full as if the lungs were inflamed. There was no pain so we continued and finished the remaining four holes, spent some time at the club house and returned home to my friend Harry's lovely house.

Had another shower but the 'odd feeling; remained. My Dr wife checked my BP which was alright and so was the pulse, but had no appettite nor felt sleepy. Finally at about 4:30 PM that is some four hours after the discomfort began, went to the MH and the ECG confirmed that everything was not alright. The Dr called it coronory insufficiency and I was diagnosed as suffering from 'unstable angina'. After spending five days in the ICU with the usual ration of medicines that are invariably given in such situations I was transferred to AF Command Hospital at Bangalore, which we reached at 1430 on Monday 19 May but there being no bed in the ICU I waited at the casualty sitting on a plastic chair for over four hours before I was finally in an ICU bed. All this while I was completely asymptomatic as the discomfort/neck muscle stretch had disappeared the second day at MH Wellington.

I was scheduled for an angiogram the next day. The stern no-non sense type of Nursing Officer asked if I was prepared for the procedure to which I said ,'yes'. But little did I realise that 'prepared' was a euphemism for getting rid of all the body hair as the cathetar is inserted in a vein in the groin. So off I went to the staff bathroom and did as told and after a cold shower came back to the bed. Thank God I am a man. Cannot imagine what women go through routinely depilating whatever areas of their bodies they want. In fact the whole experience is so humiliating. Ugh.

The angiogram is a simple procedure but the room and the apparatus looks intimidating. Within minutes of inserting the cathetar the Dr had announced that the circumflex artery of the heart was totally blocked. Another one was less than 60%' and the rest were normal. The good news was, collateral arteries in fact capillaries had begun supplying blood to the affected area quite efficiently. When it came to putting a stent to open the block, the Dr found that the plaque that was obstructing the circumflex artery was just too hard and so he had to leave it alone. Since the collaterals were so efficient I did not need a bypass and conservative medicine would be enough. The blockage had apparently happened some years ago and I was blissfully unaware of it. The only symptoms were a mild ST wave depression in the ECG/TMT and mild hyper tension for which I was on medication for about four years. I was soon wheeled out and told to take all medicines, pace out my daily routine and walk as much as I could comfortably do, carry a Sorbitrate in case of emergency. Change life style!! But how does one do that at 62? I don't drink nor eat meat, used to smoke four to six cigarettes a day for over 44 years but usually remained resonably active with lots of walking and golf. And thats what saved me I think!! Luckily there was no infarct and hence no damage to the heart. Moral of the story: DO whatever you like but in moderation and avoid smoking. The medicines especially Ecosprin that is given for thinning blood causes GIT upsets, Ramipril bad cough and Clopid, Statin and Metroprozol have their own side effects which one has to live with!! I am trying to find some suitable alternatives though!!

So I am back in circulation in Pune and hope to play as much golf as possible. My Guardian Angel saved me. Finally the day after the episode, I experienced a unique sense of liberation, a feeling of freedom. Been there done that has acquired a new meaning altogether.

Lecture on BBC

Yesterday, that is on 19th Jan, I heard a very interesting lecture on BBC World by J Craig Venter in the Richard Dimbleby series. It was not only thought provoking but also very informative and inspiring. The Doctor, the founder of J Craig Venter Institute that has been doing great work in the area of human genome mapping, said that the current century will be the DNA century and scientists are close to further developing ways of using microbes and synthetic genes to produce bio fuels that will go a long way in meeting the challenges of global warming and environmental concerns. Some may, however, baulk at the idea of using synthetic genes and artificially created microbes for mitigating problems created by us human beings.
Dr. Venter also emphasised prevention rather than cure. He said the scientist must find new ways to use science to prevent disease and other problems than spending huge amounts og money on healthcare. How would the world cope with the estimated 9.5 billion people in the next fifty years?
A lecture well worth watchng. Any views?

Day-To-Day Problems

Like most people I also face some daily problems that need attention and immediate correction.
The biggest one is the ever increasing traffic that is becoming almost impossible to negotiate without losing my cool.
I live on the Eastern end of Pune in Keshav Nagar near Mundhwa a bustling congested village and although our locality is really clean and green, outside it is a different world. The roads are bad, crowded with cyclists, vehicles of all types including dumpers, concrete mixers and JCBs, and above all large herds of buffaloes that take their own time to clear out. The main road joining the Solapur and Ahmed Nagar highways passes close by. Towards Magarpatta a fast burgeoning locality the road is choked with parked taxies and heavy vehicles carrying construction materials and of course the ubiquitous three-wheelers. Towards Kharadi another fast developing area the traffic is equally bad as you get close to Ahmednagar highway. The third way out is to go through Mundhwa village through Ghorpadi which involves negotiating two railway level crossings or through Koregaon Park North Main Road, the entrance to which is blocked for road repairs for almost two months. To add to my woes, the main Solapur highway from Hadapsar to the Race Course sports a so-called BRTS, short for Bus-Rapid-Transit-System, which has reserved the two central lanes, one each way for busses only which means that for long periods of time the two designated lanes are practically empty while all sorts of vehicles and others jostle for space on the two outer narrow lanes that are left for road users other than PMT local buses. If a road roller, bullock cart or a slow tractor decides to enter this melee then it takes up to fifteen minutes or more to cover a kilo meter or so. Everyone around is usually impatient to cross this slow moving traffic jam while two and three wheelers are trying to overtake from both the left and the right side. At night almost all cars and trucks and of course buses speed blazing their headlights on full beam blinding the oncoming traffic, a sure recepie for disaster and road rage. The authorities are not bothered simply because they live in another part of Pune. The least the PMC can do is to force car and other drivers to drive on 'dipped' headlights and post at least two cops at every crossing point. Prohibiting veavy vehicles during say 8AM to 9 PM may also help immensely. The filling point near the Hadapsar police station where scores of water tankers queue up to fill their tankers and the 'weigh bridge' near Noble Hspital on Magarpatta road where numerous trucks turn in and queue up for weighing are two major nuisance areas that daily cause huge traffic jams. I believe it is time we collectively raised our voice to do away with the BRTS that gives priority to buses at the cost of other legitimate road users all of whom have an equal right of passage. I invite residents of these areas to respond with their suggestions and ideas to improve the situation. With regards and safe driving. Please dont lose your cool!!!