The Year that was...2012

It is more than one year since I wrote my blog  here.  The first resolution that I have taken this year, 2013, is to start writing again here, registering my thoughts and views.  What else to write on the first day of the year, except the summary of the last year....here I go.

2012 was an eventful year...the main points are:

a) Affected by Rheumatic Arthritis
b) Got my first Ph.D. Student
c) Fulfilled Sheila's long standing wish

In January 2012, on a trip to Chennai for a NABET assessment I noticed that my thumb was swollen and it was so painful that I wondered if I could carry out the assessment on the second day.  But to my surprise, the swelling and the pain disappeared once I reached the site of assessment.  I could complete the work;  but I did not realize that that was an indication of  what to follow. In the next few days the pain spread throughout the body, on all joints - knuckles, wrist, shoulder, knee, elbow, ankle, jaw - one after another.  My doctor thought it was a virus attack and treated me with antibiotics; I was OK...only for a few days.  One day when I was at IndSearch, I could not move my leg; I had to be helped to move to the car; on reaching home, I had to be in bed as the pain was unbearable.  My doctor advised rest and to take "combiflam" whenever pain was unbearable; and it did work.  I was OK in a couple of days and started my routine, only to be bed ridden again in a week with unbearable pain in both the knees. Again Dr. Pandya advised rest and said that we would consult a specialist too.  Once I was able to move, I consulted Dr. Parikh, an orthopaedic specialist; he advised me to take a test for the RA factor; the RUBY HALL test report indicated negative for RA factor. Dr. Parikh declared that it was NOT Rheumatic Arthritis.  He asked me to do more exercises and to walk a lot to avoid getting pain in the knee; he confirmed that it was nothing to do with bones.

All the while I was travelling for various purposes; on a trip to Surat I found that I could not sit on a chair; my  shoulder was so painful that I could not lift my arm; I was lucky that at least the other should was OK.  But by the night the pain moved to the other shoulder too.  It was unbearable; but I had to travel from Surat to Baroda, Baroda to Mumbai and then from Mumbai to Pune in one go.  Immediately after returning to Pune, I had to travel to Delhi; while in Delhi, suddenly my right foot got swollen and I could not wear the shoe.  I managed the day with my bathroom chappal and travelled to Pune with chappals on.  After returning to Pune I had again gone through a set of tests and found that there was no RA factor in the blood serum.

At this point I decided to give a try to Naturopathy; I went through a 6 day Naturopathy programme - it consisted of different treatments like full body massage, partial massage, magnetic therapy, wax therapy, mustard padding, steam bath etc.  I had taken a month training programme on Yoga (I could attend only 20 days); I had also taken a week's Ocupuncture treatment.  All these gave me some relief; but they were useful to the extent of managing the pain but not to avoid the pain.  The Yoga training helped to develop a daily regime of exercises for about 30 to 40 minutes every morning.  That did give me some relief and the occurrence of sudden pain in various joints had come down significantly.

In the meanwhile, around July/August 2012, I suggested to Dr. Joshi that I should be relieved from my regular job at IndSearch so that I can take care of my ailment; he readily agreed (probably he was also waiting for such an opportunity !) with a request to continue as a Professor, need not be as an employee.  Once it was agreed, there was a relief all over; all my near and dear have been advising to quit IndSearch as it was not adding any value to my life.

By October I thought I should check for arthritis and approached Arthritis Research Centre in Pune; they confirmed that my problem is Rheumatic Arthritis; their blood test did indicate RA factor.  Till today I am at a loss to know why /how Ruby Hall tests indicated negative RA factor.  If this had been known we would have started the treatment at least four months ago and by this time I would have seen some effect.

Dr. A. Chopra of Arthritis Research Centre appears to be a confident person; he gave me an assurance that I will be OK in four months (two and half months are over now); there appears to be some improvement with his medicines and with the additional physiotherapy programme.  Now I have added the exercises taught to me under physiotherapy into my exercise regime and it now goes for an hour.  I see some improvement in pain management.

That is about the first point...it is a work in progress.

The second point is that I got a student for Ph.D. under my guidance....but it is a farce.  The student is from an influential family and he is not interested in Ph.D., but in Civil Services.  Even though I had two vacancies, I did not get the second one as it is reserved for Scheduled Caste/Tribe and no such candidate had appeared for the interview !  As of now, my entry as a Ph.D. Guide is in a limbo.

This is also a work in progress......I can take up to 8 students for Ph.D. at a time and I have time till 65 to take students  Let me see how this progresses.

The only thing that happened as per plan  is fulfilling the long term wish of Sheila; indeed it had been fulfilled in spite of my pain and her health.

Overall, 2012 had been a average year