Saturday, May 1, 2010

Is ignorance a bliss?????


Recently, one of my close friend was complaining of  severe stomach ache.  The pain was unbearable and extended for more than a week and it was not subsiding with painkillers. There were numerous suggestions and kitchen remedies pouring in and dutifully, she observed everything but in vain. I strongly suggested that she should stop self medication and visit a doctor soon. After a couple of days of me making the suggestion, when I called her, she was a bit reluctant to speak about the subject and began to give me excuses for not having visited the doctor yet. I was quite upset by her sluggishness and decided to take the first step of escorting her to the hospital myself.

She was too scared to even think she would have any problem. After the physical examination, Dr.wanted a few tests to be done. The basic tests were OK with her but when it came to ultrasound, she out-rightly refused and would not budge. After so much coaxing and advises, I took her for the scan. When the results came, they diagnosed a growth in her uterus and further investigations need to be done. I cannot describe the night when we received the result. She decided that she is having cancer and that is the end. No amount of consolation or cajoling was working with her. It was just sobbing and crying. I felt really bad for the situation but things had to be done. A Hystoscopy was conducted and we were awaiting the biopsy result. The results were to be got after a couple of days. When we called the hospital, they conveyed that the Pathologist wanted a couple more days in stain to get the exact result. This again raised the blood pressure and tension of all of us at our homes, and you can imagine the plight of my friend. She was throwing tantrums, would not eat but just keep telling what she would be missing in life, especially the marriage of her children, etc etc. (Now, she had reconciled to herself that she is having cancer and she could remember someone in her family had similar symptoms too )

Finally, when we received the result, it was a benign growth but had to be operated upon. On hearing that it was not malignant, I can still remember her sobbing of relief. There was the happy ending with the surgery and she is recovering well.

As we have the desire to get educated of various symptoms for various diseases either through hearsay or thro' the net and television, when we have a simple health problem, immediately our minds work faster and co-relates to the extremes like cancer or any such major illness. This induces so much stress and pressure to the self and the family till the results are obtained. No doubt, we should be alert of any abnormal symptoms of our body and get diagnosed at once, but this acquired knowledge proves to increase mental strain and unwanted tension. So, now I am pondering if Ignorance is bliss but at what cost????? Confused !!!!!!!!

"We live longer than our forefathers; but we suffer more from a thousand artificial anxieties and cares. They fatigued only the muscles, we exhaust the finer strength of the nerves. ~Edward George Bulwer-Lytton"

38 comments:

  1. //when we have a simple health problem, immediately our minds work faster and co-relates to the extremes like cancer or any such major illness. This induces so much stress and pressure to the self and the family till the results are obtained// yaaa, thats true.....

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  2. Hi Chitchat
    Loved your write up .This happens .Sometimes we correlate simple health problems with extreme illness.

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  3. very true...its just human tendency that we began thinking of entremes for simple things and complicate our lives..cant help it..

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  4. My mom is quite like ur friend, she always goes for self medication but fortunately once she came to Paris, she have to go through doctors to get her medicines..This happens everywhere..These situations brings so much stress to the family for the sure..Glad she is doing well now...Lovely write up..

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  5. Thats very true !! Nice write up !!

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  6. Every word is true.... It does happen.... There is a very popular saying in Kannada... which means closing your eyes towards something, does not mean that it does not exist.... We just run from the fear to face the truth..... But sometimes we, at least I do....I do feel that sometimes it is better to believe the other way round....

    Ash.....
    (http://asha-oceanichope.blogspot.com/)

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  7. an eye opener.. good post Ms.Chitchat..

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  8. Really a good post. There's a message in it too. Not to ignore things and at the same time not to go overboard also by un necessary anxieties.
    Recently my cousin was detected with breast cancer and it is difficult to see her suffering. Just coming to terms with the condition. I had written a post on 'Wear it Pink' about breast cancer during the world breast cancer day.

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  9. Jaya,

    Yes we get unnecessary tension due to all extra checkups, still it is needed. In my mom's case diabetics was found out only in the later stage, but for my hubby they found out during a routine checkup. so I think ignorance is bliss only in certain cases not always.

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  10. Very nice post.Good to know that your friend is feeling better.
    These days I feel ignorance is bliss than unwanted scary knowledge.An ignorant person who is dying lives happily till the last but a normal person with too much outward knowledge dies every second thinking and assuming about the little problem they have.

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  11. Wonderful and lovely post. In most of the time we all try to think in a complicated way though the case may be the most simple. It is the tendency of human being. If bad situation arise we should face it boldly rather than getting fear.

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  12. well-written. It is sad to see even many educated people are very anxious to go to see the doctor on time. I am happy to know that your friend is recovering now. :-)

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  13. good post. it happens. i pray god for your friend's good health

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  14. Very nice post,well written...and hope your friend is feeling better now. hope she gets well soon

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  15. I hope your friend is doing ok now. This is a very thoughtful post, personally I too feel it is better to get diagnosed then wait if there is something feels different, it is always listen to your body, it will tell you if anything is out of the ordinary, at the same time I feel there is no need to rush to the doc for small things :)

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  16. Oh..poor friend of yours! My get-well wishes to your dear friend:) Lesson learnt! I always aggrandize things even before visiting the doctor even for a backache! I guess, I should stop being a lunatic and just believe everything would be fine & everyone should. Makes life simple and stress-free:)

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  17. Nice writeup ! Happy to hear that your friend is doing well now.

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  18. :o
    Where is the comment I posted??? Guess it got missed in transit. Never Mind, very nice post Ms Chitchat. Eye opener.
    Faith Heals. I believe in this.

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  19. I have to learn this lesson,that one should never do self medication.I am suffering from dry cough since last 1 month,goggled for home remedies took antibiotics but didnt get relief and i was wondering there is something wrong with me.Then went to doc and got a proper prescription and cough is gone within a week.
    Sometimes it is good to be ignorant but not always.
    Hope ur friend is doing good.

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  20. We are lucky to be in this age,where information is available on the platter. Knowledge helps us to understand the positive opportunities and identify negative consequences.

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  21. Nice write up..gald your frd is well now..

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  22. May God bless you for helping your friend.I wish everyone has a friend like you.

    An award waiting for you.

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  23. may god bless ur friend chitchat nice writeup dear ..

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  24. I'm so happy to know that ur friend is doing fine and recovering well..Its true that when situations like ur friend's arises our minds do think the worst and extreme scenarios...I guess its TMI..TOO much information floating around...In fact many a times I do the same as well...Good write up..Will remember not to stress myself and others...LOL.

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  25. Actually these kinda things happen... nd we start relating things which have no ends.... loved the bit of it :)

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  26. This self medication happens in all family,but sure your friend is too scared to face the reality and agree that every one will be having some king of fear to know the truth but,in this case a bit too much,but thank god she is not with any such kind of the imagined things !

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  27. very very true, for each and every small illness, nowadays we tend to check the net and the info available there is sometimes totally wrong and very dangerous if one believes it totally!

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  28. Good to know that ur friend is feeling better now.. and also this write up surely a brings awareness to others too.

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  29. well written.Lookin forward 4 d next post.

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  30. This happens with 99%ladies they take care of every body in the house and not them selfs... nice writeup dear.

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  31. I loved this write up!Yes, it is so true that we assume the worst and do not want to face our fears!

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  32. Nice write up..When my dad was sick I was so miserable.Fortunately or unfortunately being in the medical field,I imagined all sort of things we would have to undergo in terms of medicine and treatment and after 10 days of anxiety and more than a dozen expensive tests the doctor pronounced him 'healthy'!!!!I wished I had a little less knowledge in this field.But a couple of days ago with this 'same' knowledge I told my SIL her health problem and later the doctor said I was rite!!!Now what can I say!!Sometimes ignorance is bliss,sometimes is otherwise..[Sorry to use so much of ur space here]

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  33. Well said and written...Yah I totally agree with you..Happy to hear that your friend is recovering...

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  34. Well said, some people over react to every silly thing. Self medication for prolonged pain is pathetic and not all tumours are life-threatening, we really need basic awareness about our body and health. There are few people who avoid seeing doctors altogether..simply scared, they also deny the existence of some deficiencies etc.

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  35. Thank God your friend is doing well. We women are so absorbed in taking care of others that we forget to pay attention to what our bodies are trying to tell us.

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  36. how true! I agree..it sometimes better to be ignorant and lead an idyllic life than to know too-much-for-your-good! glad to hear all's well with your friend :)

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  37. Thanks for dropping by.Lovely and Informational post.

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  38. Nice post...In this day and world where there are contradictory opinions on every topic out there -Is Ignorance a bliss?-It is a personal choice we have to make...

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