What You Put into Your Body

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by Arundhati Basu

There is no fancy photo to go with this post. If I had to fish out a photo, it would be one of the inner workings of the human body and I do not quite like the idea of putting it all out there. Sometimes we just do not need the graphics of it all. Sometimes photos can take a backseat and they shall in this post.

The thing is I am bothered and confounded as is my family. You see my father-in-law has been unwell for some time now. This strong military man laid low is a strange thing to envisage because apart from being a toughie he has always been an active man, given his background, but even after retiring he has been going for his walks, playing golf…the works. Yet he fell ill recently. It turned out to be an oesophageal tear. What is that you might ask? I did too. I could not even imagine that it could quite serious till I learned that if not treated within 24 hours it can be fatal.

Firstly, the oesophagus is the tube that travels from our mouths all the way down to the stomach, so it can get ruptured if there is some kind of physical injury to the neck, violent vomiting, ulcers caused by reflux or even tumours in the throat. But he has had a few endoscopy tests and all has all been ruled out, except that he did undergo violent vomiting initially. The tear was stapled and yet there is dark blood still seeping out from some part in the body. The doctors are confused. Now they are going to run a colonoscopy to figure out what it might be.

It is awful to not know what is going on and even more so when you see the doctors’s brows furrow up in thought. The helplessness is frightful.

The point of this post is not that I want sympathy from you. Far be it from that. It is a difficult moment that wakes you up to the frailties of the human body. So my dear friend, please take care of the best thing you will ever own. That is your body. Please tone down the spices (imagine an Indian saying that and here you can roll your eyes at me), lower the chilli quotient in your food and eat well. If you have reflux, get it shown and do something about it, because nothing matters more than taking care of yourself. At the end of the day, that is all that matters.

 

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Arundhati Basu

The great affair in my life is to travel. I count myself immensely fortunate that my partner shares this passion. We are a team that likes to spend time planning and plotting out places to go. Destination check, flights check, accommodation check, cheesy grins check. Off we go.

83 thoughts on “What You Put into Your Body”

  4. I am sorry to read about your father-in-law … the whole family must be dreadfully worried. And I thank you for the reminder to one and all to take care of the most precious thing we each have – our bodies. That is well thought and well received advice. Take good care of yours too, please xx

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  8. Thanks for the post,we need reminders once in a while to take care of ourselves first and not take everything for granted, hope all goes well for your father-in-law. Take care .

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  10. your life is the possibility of everything you will ever have, and the total of everything you have ever had. without a healthy body, all life is meaningless. thanks for the reminder. I hope your father-in-law feels better.

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  14. I hope things get better with your father in law! It’s so true what you’ve said though, we really do need to look after our health and our bodies. A lot of us don’t think about it too much until something like this happens, either to ourselves or someone we care about…Thanks for the reminder *internet hugs*

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    1. Thank you Angela. It just feels alarming when it is closer home you know. And we almost start thinking our bodies are invincible and nothing can ever go wrong. But well reality has a way of doing a strange check. Hugs back xx

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    1. Thank you Lars. We are all trying. Humour is the best medicine isn’t it, no matter what happens. A little laugh carries you a long way. I am unfortunately away from them, my husband is there, so it is all a matter of technology helping us here.

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    1. Is everything alright, Jen? Poor choices and wrongly perceived invincibility. Isn’t this the thing youth is about? It is just that we keep learning and this is a journey called life. But it is good that we learn. I will wait to hear from you xx

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      1. Thank you. I’m just stressing out about my teeth. I tried so hard to take care of them, but I think I have a bad diet and it has damaged them despite my best efforts. Now I’m trying to figure out if I can repair them and make them nice again…

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      2. Teeth issues can be troubling. But you know what a good dentist will bail you out, I am positive. I think you should just make the appointment. I have bad teeth btw. The positioning is awry because my parents tried to get me to finish a treatment when I was a child and I refused to complete it like a stubborn bugger. I used to go to the doctor’s only because there was a damn good street food stall outside the building!

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  20. I’m so sorry. I’m sure this has to be hard to watch. He’s probably scared and to see that in a strong man adds to it feeling wrong. I hope they find what it is soon. In my experience, and I’ve a lot of time with parents and grandparents in hospitals and doctor’s offices, trying to solve a mystery. They are looking for things they have seen before. Common things. Once they start thinking out of the box they’ll figure it out or one of you will. Take your own notes and you may come up with something to guide them in the right direction.
    Hugs to you. Have faith that a curable reason will show up soon.

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    1. You are absolutely right. I cannot wait to hear about what the results are from today and somehow I can’t get through. It is scaring me but I know now that if any this is the time to be strong as strong as my father-in-law is. You got there with the fact about ticking boxes. Now it has become a process of elimination. My brother is a doctor though he is in Lagos but he is a big help in explaining things. I am just waiting that is it. Thank you ifonlymommy. You once invited the world to be your child. Well you did a good job here xx

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      1. I hope the results lead him in the right direction. That’s cool you have your brother. Send him the results if there are still no answers. It never hurts to have a new set of eyes ?.
        Haha. Yes, I’m mommy to the world ?❤️??!

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      2. He is actually constantly updating himself with my father-in-law’s treatment and tests because he is quite fond of my in-laws. My brother can be quite an alarmist or maybe he tries to annoy me but in this case he has been a gem. Funny how you underestimate your siblings.

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  22. I’m sorry to hear about your father-in-law. We recently found out that my mom has a rare for of lupus, and I experienced some of the same emotions. I’m sending all of the positive vibes your way! xx.

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    1. Thank you Kali. I had to look up lupus even though I had heard of it. That does sound upsetting and it makes you realise how the human body is a machinery that can confound you at the best of times. I am sending love and positive vibes your way too. Your mother needs you to be strong for her to be strong xx

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      4. Well I do hope you do not go around collecting heads to string on a garland but that apart the strength of Kali is inspiring. She is quite the feminist if you think of her. I hope your name takes you to places from where you can take on life’s battles all too well xx

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  25. I totally agree with you about the importance of health. I tend to take my health for granted until something goes wrong (thankfully only minor things). I wish all the best for your father-in-law.
    As you can tell, I am way behind in my reading and look forward to catching up on at least some of your posts. How do you manage to find the time to write so many beautiful, thoughtful posts!?

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  26. I’m so sorry that happened to him; I hope he gets better soon. You’re absolutely right – we never think too much about our health and what we put into our bodies until they stop working properly x

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    1. Why thank you so much the thought 🙂 Appreciate it. He has just gone home today but they are still awaiting his final results tomorrow. So we are keeping our fingers crossed.

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    1. Hey Virgina, the test results came in today and he has finally been declared alright. Apart from the oesophageal tear of course which will heal in time. But he can return to golfing soon. So we are all a relieved and happy lot. My husband returned the night before because we are on our last legs of moving. Thank you for asking 🙂 How is your NY move possibility coming along? xx

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      1. I am very content that your family is back on the healthy track. Before I go to sleep, I always think how grateful I am for my healthy body and try to take care of it every day. I empathized with your last paragraph 🙂

        Still looking at flats and thinking with the heart rather than our pockets 😛

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      2. Oh the pockets, do not get me started on that. We are fabulously broke at the moment. A few months shall be needed to tide over this present state. Nothing is more important than our well being, isn’t it? It is only when wake-up calls like these arrive that we tend to sit up and think xx

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    1. Yes Mary. It just does not end. He has been again taken to hospital because there has been an incomplete diagnosis clearly and we have no idea what is happening. Thank you for the wishes.

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