All about a (Non) Mover and (Non) Shaker!

All about a (Non) Mover and (Non) Shaker!

By the ripe old age of twenty four,

She had seen life with all its gore!

Her wonderful spouse,

(Who was nothing but a louse),

Inflicted such violence,

That her neck lost balance.

Bless her, she had the courage

To annul an abusive marriage…

But only after suffering intense pain

And efforts to reconcile went in vain.

She consulted an Ortho well-known,

And told him that she lived alone;

That she was a single working parent

With a pain in the neck apparent!

He said, she had a dislocated C-spine

And that she would have to lie supine

For three months after a major surgery

And life thereafter would be drudgery…

Her condition had a grand name,

That earned her quite some fame,

As the one having Atlanto Axial Subluxation,

That needed an Occipito Cervical Fixation!

Many a Neuro and Ortho came to see

And study her Cervical Spine C1 to C3!

The surgery was considered quite rare,

With chances of survival 50-50 to fair!

A day before the operation,

She was given Skull Traction -

A hole was drilled on each of her temple

(That was by no means a procedure simple..)

For inserting a contraption like a bucket handle

On which a 10 Kg weight was added to dangle!

The major surgery was six hours long,

As surgeons could let nothing go wrong.

A piece of bone, removed from her hip,

Was grafted to fuse her broken neck,

To stop its further movement

And perhaps, to relieve her torment…

Post surgery, she spent in ICU ten days

And challenged death in many ways.

She was later shifted to the room,

Yet, with a sense of impending doom.

The rehabilitation was painful and slow.

Then one day, the docs permitted her to go.

“But, remember”, they said

“No walking, remain in bed!”

She was declared physically disabled

And was often (in) differently labled,

Thanks to the cervical collar she wore,

That, to many, was quite an eye sore!

Another issue she manfully braved,

Was a head that was kept shaved

For more than a year

To keep infections in the clear!

Disability or otherwise,

Glances of pity or bias,

She had a life to lead

And two mouths to feed –

Her own and her son’s,

Her priority, at once…

As fast as she possibly could,

Whether she felt bad or good,

She quickly stood up on both her feet

And returned to her bank manager’s seat!

Life was really not that easy,

As she was always very busy,

Both at home and at work,

With transfers always on the lurk.

Blackouts, aches and pains,

Injuries, sutures and bloodstains –

All became a part of her life,

But was it all only tears and strife..?

No! Her son became her backbone,

Never letting her feel down or alone!

He was her sheet anchor and life boat,

Supporting her always to remain afloat.

He grew up into a fine young man –

His mother’s now his biggest fan!

For, it was from him she learnt

To always smile and be patient.

Despite a fused cervical spine,

She managed her life pretty fine

And also a job from nine to nine

With a smiling face and a V sign!

With her head held highshe stands proud,

Her “stiff neck” marks her out in a crowd.

Finally, she is sixty+ and (almost) done,

And believes, hurdle race is great fun!