One September morning last year, I woke up with a sharp pain in my lower back. I thought the pain was on a short visit to my spine, like other times, but no, this time it came as an uninvited resident guest, sending waves of electric pain down my left thigh, leg, turning into prickly pins and needles in my feet and toes.
I could hardly get out of bed and when I tried to walk, I was walking like a professor with a tonne of books under his armpit, walking at an academic angle, every step a piercing punishment of excruciating pain. My use of a walking stick for support only intensified the seething pain. In the days and weeks that followed, back pain had become my first, middle and surname-pain, pain, pain- something hard to understand unless you have it.
I went to hospital in Nairobi. An orthopaedic surgeon- looked at my MRI pictures and said, "It’s a slip disc pressing on your central nerve. I recommend surgery. It’s an emergency!"
My mind went to a classmate and friend from Form 1 to 6, through Marsabit Secondary School and Kangaru School Embu: Said Goto Osman, now a Doctor of Medicine (MD).
As hard work, indomitable endurance and Lady Luck’s benevolent smile would have it, Dr Said, from humble beginnings in Moyale in Marsabit county, rose to become a world-renowned orthopaedic surgeon, in a class of his own. He is today, the attending orthopaedic surgeon in Advanced Spine Endoscopy and Pain Institute, Frederick, Maryland, US.
He had his medical training at the University of Nairobi’s medical school, went to Scotland, becoming a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh both in general and orthopaedic surgery, and later to the US, becoming fellow of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.
Dr Said’s clinical practice includes the spine, joint replacements of the hip, knee, shoulder, elbow, wrist and those of the hand. Other areas of his clinical practice are sports medicine, foot and ankle and the management of orthopaedic trauma. He has research interest in the development of artificial intelligence in endoscopic minimally intrusive spine surgery and has widely published on endoscopic and endoscopically assisted topics in medical journals.
Oh! A sting of debilitating pain in my back takes my mind to my slip disc, and my hand on to my left hip. I e-mailed the MRI pictures of my spine to Dr Said. The answer was an immediate phone call.
While the spinal pain wracked my brain, A Passage to India, a novel by E.M. Forster I read in Form 6 at Kangaru School raced through my mind. Now it’s my passage to India. In Forster’s time it was a passage by sea. Now it’s by air- A Flight to India.
The preparations- a medical e-visa, return air tickets for two- one must travel with a medical assistant- mine was no other than Mrs Wario, a letter of referral, passports, Covid-19 and yellow fever certificates just in case, a multi-currency visa credit card, hotel bookings and a pickup by taxi from the airport.
But the pain is still there-sometimes dull and nagging, at other times sharp and prickly, and yet at times silently throbbing.
Dr Naresh Kumar, director and CEO of the Asian Spine Hospital in Hyderabad took us through the steps on how to get to India. He wrote a letter to the India High Commission in Nairobi for me and my medical assistant to be given a medical visa. His constant concern and phone and e-mail communication, booking the hotel for us and arranging a taxi pick up from the airport cleared our flight to India. To him we are most grateful.
The surgical procedure on my spine was conducted by five consultant surgeons led by Dr Sukumar Sura, chief brain and spine surgeon, assisted by Dr Abhinandan Reddy, consultant orthopaedic and spine surgeon, Dr Tulasi Ram, brain and spine surgeon, Dr Dheeraj Manikanta, consultant ortho-spine surgeon and Dr Rajendra Reddy, orthopaedician and fellow in endoscopic spine surgery.
The next day, on November 29, to my pleasant surprise, I was discharged from hospital, free of pain.
What method of surgery did the surgeons use?
It is called minimally intrusive endoscopic surgery, a method whose technology had been developed by Dr Said. It involves the use of an endoscope- an instrument inserted into the body to give a view of the inside. The advantage of this method is that it will minimise the size of the surgical wound, avoid cutting muscles and bones and address the cause of pain directly.
The traditional method of open surgery causes surgical trauma; there is risk of damage to normal structures including muscles and bone, large amount of blood loss and a long stay in hospital, besides a long recovery period and risks of possible complications and chronic conditions of pain and perhaps disability.
Most back pains do not need surgery, some may be relieved by simple exercises or physiotherapy. Awareness of spine care- a good sitting, walking and sleeping posture, bending on your knees and keeping your back straight to pick up things from the ground, avoiding lifting heavy things all go a long way in the prevention of slip discs and back pain. Mine was aggravated by lifting heavy things.
Is my story one of destiny? Was this my road to Damascus moment? Was I destined to go to India to banish back pain so that others with back pain in Kenya and probably across Africa may benefit? Through discussions with Kenyan medical fraternity, Dr Said and the Asian Spine Hospital, I am taking a leaf from my diplomatic experience in mediating talks that my lead to the realisation of what is now a dream.
The dream is the establishment of the Africa Centre of Excellence in Spine Care in Nairobi, so that people with back pain do not have to travel as far as India and young surgeons are trained in new endoscopic techniques and technologies. And don’t all great achievements start with a dream? It is possible to realise the dream. So, help us God.
The writer is the chairman of the Egerton University governing council