Sunday, May 6, 2012

On the occasion of 'World Lupus Day'.

It was a hectic day despite the fact that I keep my Sundays comparatively free and light. We'd been invited to the AIMS(Amritha Institute of Medical Sciences) on the occasion of the 'World Lupus Day' which, incidentally, falls on 10 May.

Actually, we'd been sounded much earlier by Lekha's doctor, the dedicated and affable Dr. Padmanabha Shenoy during our visit to him last month for review. The meet was a conglomeration of SLE (Systemic Lupus Erythematosus) patients organised by the Rheumatology department of the hospital and the afternoon began with a 'breaking the ice' soft drink which resulted in a free and frank interaction of the participants with one another. What touched a deep chord was the experiences shared by the patients on their road to recovery. On a personal level, Lekha and I relived those horrible days when the illness had struck our small, little world and the superb efforts of Dr. Joseph Kurien, at the Lisie hospital, in bringing her back to normalcy.

SLE has the following characteristics:-

   (a) It is usually seen to be active in girls between the ages of 20 and 40 yrs.
   (b) The ratio of occurrence is about 1:20,000.
   (c) It's difficult to diagnose and could lead to damages of the internal organs leading to death.

Experts, present at the meet, outlined the salient features of the ailment that added to the knowledge quotient of everyone present. The interaction of the cine actress, Reema Kallingal, with the patients and their relatives brought out poignant stories of families that had gone through the trauma of the illness and come out of it all to lead a near normal life. Veteran journalist, Leela Menon's narration of her personal travails was an inspiration to the audience about living life to the full, despite adversities. There was a one man skit, wrapped in humour, towards the end which we'd to unfortunately forego due to prior commitments.

An afternoon well spent. Thanks, Dr. Shenoy for giving us the opportunity to participate in such a wonderful get together. Here's us wishing you the very best in all your endeavours!


Tailpiece.

Lekha narrated her personal agony and her fight with the illness. She has picked up quite a few friends from the gathering who've become her admirers after hearing her story. She also got an autograph from the actress for my li'l niece, Ammu as both of them have been thoroughly impressed by the young lady's sensitive portrayal of the main character in the recently released Malayalam movie, '22 Female Kottayam'.

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