TO APPROACH OR NOT?

Those of you who have read my earlier posts, you may recall that I wrote about the patient across my room at the hospital after our TKR surgery.  After chatting with her, I found out that she was approached by a stranger at an airport.  The stranger observed that she was limping badly with her bowed legs and suspected that she may have a serious osteoarthritis (OA) condition.  So she recommended her to seek treatment from an orthopaedic surgeon and gave her a surgeon's contact.  She made an effort to see the surgeon, got diagnosed and went through a bilateral total knee replacement.  And there she was just across my room at the hospital except that she did her surgery one day earlier than me.  She was go glad that she took this step to end her misery.

From this experience, I became more observant of people when they walked.  I discovered that osteoarthritis is affecting more and more younger people.  For instance, there is this Indian clinic nurse who works at the clinic that I usually go to.  She is only 35 and one of her knee is in a bad condition and she walks with a limp.  I was happy to share my experience with her but due to financial constraints, she had a long waiting list at the government hospital to get her knee replaced.  I have two sisters, one aged 48 and the other is 55, both have quite bad OA and its a matter of time that they will go through TKR.

The other day, I saw another woman probably in her fifties walking with a bad limp in a local supermarket.  I could just feel her pain and was hesitating whether to approach her.  Somehow I did not gather the courage to do it.  At the back of my mind, I worry about how she would receive it if I approached her.  She might just ask me to mind my own business or maybe she would be grateful about it.  I really wouldn't know.

But I do know that while most people can see the benefits of doing TKR, the fear is too great for them to overcome.  Just like addicts, there is also a problem with denial for people suffering from OA.   I should know because I was there before.  That's why I had to force myself to hit rock bottom by continuing to be physically active to the point that I could not tolerate the pain anymore. Then I was ready to seek treatment. 

So coming back to the question of "to approach or not?", I think I will strive to do it if the environment is conducive enough.  If I am successful even with 10% of the people I approach, at least I have helped a few people.