One of my friends, a couple,
recently made a trip to the US. This being their umpteenth trip to that country,
the excitement associated with visiting a new country, the eagerness to see
places, and the wonder and amusement of experiencing a new type of life had all
evaporated. The only attraction in the US now, was their grand child who was two
years old. They returned last week after enjoying the company of the child for
three months. The highlight of their visit : Potty training of the grandchild.
From what I heard, I
understand that the child was never without a diaper during its two years of
existence and was only aware of the diaper being changed by the parents when it
felt wet. The child had no idea why and how the diaper was getting wet.
It seems the grand parents
spent a considerable time noting down the frequency at which the child got wet,
timed it, and patiently sat in the bathroom by turns with the child, explaining
how the diaper was getting wet and showing it to the very inquisitive child.
The child, who I believe, was quite skeptic about the process in the beginning,
soon got the hang of things and ultimately let out a joyous shout (I quote)
“Yes, granny! You are right. I can feel it! It is coming. It is coming!”
My friends returned to India
with the satisfaction of a job well done and feeling that the trip was very
fruitful and worth every paisa spent!
I could appreciate the
euphoria of the grand parents very well and to some extent could also imagine
the excitement of the child at its newfound talent. But an unexpected personal
development, which happened around the time, put me in a much better position
to appreciate the feelings of the child!
You see, I had to undergo a
surgery in my foot to treat a minor ailment. The surgeon decided to do it under
spinal anesthesia, meaning that they would stick a needle in my back and I
would go numb below the waist. I was quite apprehensive about this ‘sticking a
needle in the back’ business. But I was lucky to have a wonderful anaesthetist and
all I felt was a butterfly alighting on my back and taking off. Since I was
awake during the surgery, the anaesthetist kept me occupied with small talk.
When they were about to finish, he said
“Let us know when you feel like passing urine. Rather, make an effort to
pass urine. If you can’t, I will have to catheterize you and I don’t like to do
it”.
I was wheeled to the ward and
shifted onto the cot and I lay there looking at the third bottle of IV fluid
flowing into my body. After sometime the anaesthetist’s words started bothering
me. It was the third bottle, meaning, that a litre of IV fluid had gone into my
body during the past two hours. But I was not feeling an urge to empty my
bladder. Was anything wrong? I did not want to end up with a tube to empty my
bladder.
I was thinking about this
when I vaguely felt a little wetness on the sheets under me. I wasn’t sure. My
body below the waist just felt like a big lump of sponge. And I could not check
anything as my hands were immobilized by the IV needle and the monitor
leads. I called the duty sister who
confirmed that the sheets were wet, and in a matter of fact way, arranged for
the them to be changed.
The fact was that, along with
all my other senses below the waist, my sphincters were also out of action due
to anaesthesia. Hence, urine was passing out as and when it got collected in
the bladder with out waiting for my permission! I was alarmed. The
anaesthetist’s words “Try to pass urine. I do not want to catheterise you” kept
ringing in my ears. I decided to invest all the physical and mental faculties
that were still under my command in to the process of feeling some sensation in
my bladder and gaining control of the sphincter.
I waited another hour and
knowing by experience that at least a part of the bladder must be full, decided
to do something about clearing it. I asked the attendant for a urine can and
with his kind help, put in a concentrated effort trying to feel my sphincters
and making them obey my command.
After may be some five
minutes, which felt like an hour - as the saying goes - I realized that it was
not working. I was tired with the effort and was disappointed. I despaired and having
resigned myself to having a tube in my body, was about to give up. But just
then I felt a vague sensation of something happening in my abdomen and felt a
faint feeling of something passing through some tubing somewhere there. After another long minute, I could hear a
faint sound of liquid trickling into the can.
Oh, what a pleasure it was!! Well,
I did not actually shout “It is coming, It is coming” like the child did. But I
was almost there!
