Just like Adel 11

I never expected to see Henry in the hospital this quickly, especially with his new medication. His symptoms has reduced so drastically. Adel was sitting next to me when the doctor walked to us. "Only family members are allowed to stay." He said looking at me. Adel held my hand and turned to him. "Doctor Obeng this is Doris. She's our cousin." Adel lied. Holding my hand. The doctor stared at me and smiled all of a sudden. "Ahaa I thought as much. She looks a lot like you but I had to be sure. Henry is awake now. He's fine but we want to keep him here tonight until we get some test results." He said, leading us to Henry's room.

It was a big hospital and everything looked so proper. Adel and I stood at the entrance of his room. Doctor Obeng walked off with a nurse and we stared at each other. "Thanks ." I said to her when he was out of sight. "Oh it's nothing. I'm glad you are here. Henry has really become better since he met you. I'm really glad..." She started but Henry cut in. "And what has Henry done this time?" He said sitting up on his bed. We turned to him and walked into the room.

Adel and I spent all the rest of our visiting hours chatting with Henry. He seemed fine. Then a nurse came to lead us out after several failed promoters. Adel dropped me off at home after we left. She wasn't bad at all. In fact I saw why Dean liked her so much. When I got home I quickly texted Henry to tell him I was home. Just before I put my bag down I noticed the blue notebook Mr. Brock had given me. I pulled it out of my bag and flipped through. There was writings on just one page. "Doris this may be a lot to ask but can you go to Denmark with Henry for his next treatment session? I have spoken to your boss and all expenses will be paid. Please don't tell Henry it is from me." I read aloud. I stared at the note for a while and fell on my bed. All I could think about was how odd Henry's family was.

The next day after work Adel came to pick Dean and I to Henry's hospital. Henry was already dressed up and ready to leave when we got there. When he hugged me it felt different. We all sat in his room chatting. "Did you guys come to pick me up or visit me?" Henry teased and we left. Dean suggested we all go see a movie but Henry didn't like the idea. He kept saying he was tired and just wanted to sleep. I guessed he just wanted to be alone. Adel suggested other things but he refused all of them. "OK we will be leaving now then." Dean said right after Adel dropped Henry at home on his varenda. "Alright. Thanks for everything guys." He said. We all turned around to leave but Henry held my hand. "No not you. I've missed you too much." He said smiling. My heart warmed up. Adel turned to look at us. She winked at me and dragged Dean to her car.

Dean and I spent the night eating cereal and playing video games. I wasn't particularly good at it but with time pulled a few surprises on him. I made a conscious effort not to talk about his father. "Doris, there's something I need to tell you. My time at the hospital got me thinking." He said, putting aside his controller. I turned to face him and he continued. "I don't want to die and have you think I'm a jerk. The relationship between my father and I is a little weird. I'm sure you already know that by now." I nodded and he smiled. "My mother had Orgosis. When she found out, she did all she could to find a cure for it. She did so much research that it makes mine look like a joke. My dad helped as much as he could but unfortunately he couldn't save her. When she died he was a mess. Since then my father gave up. He didn't think there was any hope especially after all the things my mother tried. His best advice for me is to enjoy the time I have left. Something he never got to do with my mother. It disgusts me to be honest. No father should give up like that." Henry said. I could tell it took a lot out of him. "Hey, it's ok. I understand both of you. This must be really hard for you but just remember I'm here and everything is going to be ok." I said, holding his hands. "There's something else you need to know." He said, looking straight into my eyes.


To be continued.... 

Just like Adel 3

"Finally I get to meet Doris." I heard a familiar female voice say. I knew it was Adel. I turned to look at her and froze. I thought I was looking in a mirror. She looked just like me. She was startled too but masked it well. Dean laughed and said he had been waiting for this day for so long. I shook her hand and managed to smile. Besides our skin colour and bust size Adel and I looked too alike. She even wore glasses like me. Dean was about to pull a chair for me when I signalled to him not to. I lied about something I needed to do for my boss at the office. "You work this late?" A slim guy sitting next to Dean asked. I shrugged. I said a quick goodbye to everyone and left.

As I walked out a number of things run through my mind. All the times when Dean's friends thought I was his girlfriend now made sense. I stood in front of the restaurant waiting for an empty cab and saw a familiar face walking towards the entrance. Henry said a quick hello when he saw me. I nodded without even smiling and turned away. I wasn't interested in his unfriendly things at this time. My mind drifted back to my 'twin' immediately. Who knows maybe that was why Dean liked having me around. I shook my head. He was an idiot for not telling me. After 10 minutes of waiting in vain I realised every car that came to the restaurant was a private car. I probably had to walk to the main road to get a taxi. I reluctantly started walking. It was a pretty long walk.

I tried not to think too much about the issue. After less than 5 minutes of walking on the rough road I insulted myself for wearing heels to work. Just as I contemplated walking barefoot a car pulled up next to me. It was Henry. "I could drop you off at the junction if you like." He offered. I hopped into the car without wasting time. "My feet are killing me." I said unconsciously. Henry shook his head and drove off silently. His car was so comfortable, I got a little upset we were nearing the junction. Just then Henry's phone rang and he answered it. "What? How did that happen? I told Maria to wait. Just wait for me. I will be in the office soon. Call Ofori to see if he has another number for them." He said. He didn't look amused at all. "Are you going back to your office?" I asked with my fingers crossed. "Yea I need to get some issue sorted out." He replied. I tried to hide my smile. "Can I get a ride there? I don't live far from your office." I requested shyly. Henry just looked at me and when we passed the junction I guessed that was just his rude way of saying yes.

"You are not much of a talker are you?" I asked, adjusting my seat to feel more comfortable and noticed Henry staring at me. "Ei so the free loader isn't allowed to feel comfortable? " I said and he gave a faint smile. I giggled. "I should have dropped you off at the junction." He teased. I laughed and hit him playfully. "I'm a damsel in distress." I added. He seemed to be warming up to me. "No, you are a damsel who decided to wear uncomfortable shoes." He added. We both giggled and before we knew it had arrived.

Henry dropped me off just in front of his office and I took a taxi home. Honestly I could have walked but my shoes wouldn't have let me. When I got home I saw a text from Dean. "How did it feel meeting your twin?" it read. I rolled my eyes. "Dean, I'll get you on Monday." I said to myself. The best thing about the day was Henry. I was glad he was finally warming up to me. I could smell hope in the air.

To be continued... 

A piece of Julz

It's funny how little we care about things till they happen to us. For a decent number of years before I was diagnosed I used to make jokes about scoliosis. I called and I still call chairs with curved back rests Scoliosis chairs. Back then I had no idea what was going on in my own back. All through high school and Senior high school I had some pains in my back but it was for short periods of time and not severe so I never paid attention to it. You see I was a very sporty person. I played basketball and swam a lot so the muscles in my back were pretty strong.

Having a swimming pool in my hostel during university and joining the basketball team there kept me on a relatively good path. The problem started when I graduated from University and joined the working class. No one ever prepares you enough for that. When I think about how 'stressed' I felt in school as compared to working a 9 to 5, I just laugh. Goodness I sometimes even wish I was back in school.

Moving on, I wasn't exactly carrying bags of cement or bending over to pick cotton, I was doing the usual office administration work but a lot had changed.

l  I was sitting for long hours.

l  I was standing a lot waiting for the bus to and from work

l  I wasn't getting enough time to play basketball

l  I rarely went for a swim because of proximity to the pool

l  I spent hours sitting at my desk on my computer even when I was working from home

Things had clearly changed. The pain in my back got worse until I went to the hospital. I had an x-ray done. Isn't it funny how the person doing the x-ray always hides when he's about to take your x-ray? Lol. A week later the results came and it said there was nothing wrong. I thought “hey, maybe it's my chair at work so I spoke with my boss and we had it changed. The pain also changed, it got worse. My neck also joined in. My mother who is a retired nurse told me to go and see a specialist, an orthopedic doctor so I did with recommendation from my brother-in-law.

I took my X-rays with me. The doctor studied them for a while, examined me and asked if I had certain pains. He was 100% spot on. You know how excited you get when someone describes an exact feeling? I was almost smiling. He diagnosed me with a mild case of thoracolumbular scoliosis. This simply means that between the thoracic and lumber portions of my spine it is curved slightly, in my case, to the left. He further went on to tell me that I didn't need surgery (woohoo!) but I would have to wear a brace :-( , a lumber support to be specific. He also advised regular swimming to strengthen my back muscles. “Why swimming?” I asked and he told me that because of the water it would put less strain on my spine itself while still strengthening my back muscles. Plus it was a cool (low temperature) way of getting a serious workout.

After that day I have had a completely new lifestyle. I wear a lumber support (which makes me a size bigger), I sleep on an orthopedic mattress, I take a decent amount of pain killers, I don't wear heels and try to swim as often as I can. So many things have changed. Scoliosis does that. There are times when the pain gets so overbearing it disturbs my mood and all my plans go out the window.

Rather than feel sorry for myself, I looked for ways to make my life cool and fun again. So I

l  Got a swimming partner :-)

l  Got a tablet to do all my computing needs while I lie down in bed

l  Altered my clothes so my lumber support doesn't look odd

l  Stopped my 9-5 and ran my own business. Check out zedighana.com 

l  Found a number of swimming pools close to me

Living with scoliosis is hard but the honest truth is that when you plan your lifestyle well, the pain will reduce drastically. I haven't gotten to the point where I go weeks/months without aches and pains but I'm constantly working hard to get there. God doesn't give us anything we can't handle :) 

Scoliosis :  a medical condition in which a person's spine is curved from side to side.