07 June, 2009

Caesareans

My sister-in-law had her first baby on Friday. A bonny baby boy called Wylye, named after an English town, his father's home town, I think. The birth was a caesarean or C-section as Americans say. I've had three of these. Someone laughed at me the other day when I said that caesars are fine if you have good pain medication. And it is absolutely true. My second son was born in Japan and they gave me very poor pain medication. My recovery was slow and, yes, painful. We spent 10 days in hospital too (standard in Japan after Caesar). My third son was born in Australia (after #2 son, I wasn't keen to do it again in Japan). I quickly became my doctor's favourite patient when I thanked him for the great pain medication every time I saw him. Guess what - my recovery was fast and the pain was not unbearable, even though it was my third! I think the 'humble' pain killer is taken for granted in Western society. We demand pain free lives and complain more readily that necessary. In reality it is a luxury, and one only recently enjoyed by a minority of the world's population. So I stand by my statement. Caesareans, if you have to have one, are fine and not to be dreaded, as some seem to think. Especially if you live in a society which values good pain management. My main advice would be to avoid getting a cold with a cough soon after your prescription medication runs out. THAT really hurts.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Ken Rolph wrote this:
Some time ago I was in a discussion about the gifts the wise men gave to the baby Jesus. Gold, frankincense and myrrh. These are not random, but have specific meanings. I was discussing with a group of people what presents the wise men would give Jesus today. An English doctor suggested a hypodermic syringe. He suggested that this was symbolic of the real relief of pain and suffering that was now possible with modern medicine. I don't remember what we decided the other two gifts should be.