Itching, blood, pain
hoto: iStock-1432161025
More than forty years ago, I was on the rack at Van Tongeren Physiotherapists because of a whiplash injury I sustained while playing tennis.
Physiotherapist René, a teammate, really took care of me. René always had music playing during treatments, and that evening it was the recently released live song "In the Air Tonight" by Phil Collins. Because we were alone in the building at Van Renesselaan 2, the music was blaring, and together we sang along, me screaming in pain. Yes, René wasn't gentle. During the live performance, Phil Collins sat behind a huge drum kit and played a fantastic drum solo. You should see and hear it at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYV6KZpnEak&list=RDdYV6KZpnEak&start_radio=1
René was also known for saying: Itching is fun, blood is good, and pain is good.
• Itching is fun can be enjoyable if you can reach the spot where the itch is. But if it's deep in your leg cast, for example, it's no fun, and itching is certainly not fun if you have dry skin, allergies, hives, eczema, or scabies. You shouldn't scratch and have to use a greasy ointment, cream, or sometimes a medicated ointment.
• Blood is good if it flows through the veins in your body, but not if the veins are punctured, the blood doesn't clot, for example, due to a nosebleed, a wound, or if you have anemia.
• Pain is good, I can also contradict this from my own experience, having had eight hernias in the past four years. When I was with René, I would scream in pain, but for the past four years, having suffered several hernias in my neck and back, I know what pain really is. A herniated disc is a bulging intervertebral disc in the back, which can put pressure on the surrounding nerves. This pressure can lead to pain, tingling, or even loss of muscle strength. Herniated discs often occur in the lower back, but can also occur in the neck or mid-back. Nerve pain is truly the worst pain imaginable, and that pain can only be managed with strong opiates like oxycodone, pregabalin, morphine, or morphine sulfate. They can also inject the affected nerve with an anti-inflammatory drug that prevents the pain signal from being transmitted to the brain. Now that even all that doesn't help me anymore, hernia surgery, with an 80% success rate, is the last resort to ensure the pain truly disappears permanently. Incidentally, my L3-4 hernia is 90% of the most common hernias in humans. A glitch in evolution? But stay strong, it will work out. Andiamo, go ahead!
Surgery
This week I had surgery at the DIAK Utrecht, completely unexpectedly and seven weeks earlier than planned. When I was wheeled into the operating room, it turned out to be a celebration. The neurosurgeon and anesthesiologist were retiring together, and I would be their last act. I had informed myself about the neurosurgeon beforehand, and after reading that he had also performed these surgeries at the Utrecht Medical Center for over twenty years, I was reassured. Everything would be fine. Andiamo, all right!
Here in the operating room, too, the music was blasting, and the surgical team was in a jovial mood. They were going to take care of this, or rather, relieve me of the pain. After a shot of painkiller in my back and two breaths through a mask, and before I could even ask if Phil Collins could be played, I was off. 110 minutes later, I was in the recovery room, an hour later I was back on the ward, and the next day, almost pain-free and with thirteen staples in my back, I was back home. This speed is amazing, isn't it? For the next six weeks, I'll be in rehabilitation under the supervision of physiotherapist Kees, and the Opiate Tapering Clinic will guide me to prevent unnecessary pain as I reduce my morphine sulfate, pregabalin, and paracetamol. It's also to prevent me from becoming dependent on pain medication, because after taking it for so long, I'm an addict, and it's not wise to suddenly stop taking it. Furthermore, I'm not allowed to lift a maximum of 1 kg, and I'm not allowed to drive, cycle, or use public transportation. For the next few weeks, my love, the walker, the cane, and two dogs—one of whom recently had an eye removed due to glaucoma—will be my guides to hopefully a pain-free 2026 and retirement after four years of pain. It will be alright. Andiamo, onward!
Fun fact:
Before Van Tongeren Physiotherapists moved into the building at Van Renesselaan 2, it housed a nursing home for the elderly. Even before they moved into the building, a tunnel was dug from the vacant building, leading to the adjacent NMB-bank building on the corner of Utrechtseweg 88. The tunnel was discovered before the bank was robbed, and the curious thing about all this is that Van Tongeren Physiotherapists has been housed in this former bank building for quite a few years. In 1948, this building housed the office of the NV Nederlandse Buurtspoorweg Maatschappij.
Zeist is so beautiful, and we're so lucky to live here.
Arnie Della Rosa
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