Vishalakshi, Karaikudi

My name is Vishalakshi Veerappan. Our home town is Karaikudi. We first lived in Salem for seven years. I had severe joint pain. For about ten years I had joint pain. It began mildly in the left leg. It grew so bad that it was unbearable and I could not walk. For seven years we sought treatment in many places. We tried acupuncture treatment. We saw a doctor in Salem, and we went to Madras and had tests done with a big bone doctor. At that time he took an X-ray, looked at it and asked me to stand up straight. He said, for standing, there is a gap right in the middle, so from now on it has to be an operation. You cannot stand straight in the middle, it has to be an operation, he said. After that I took all sorts of tablets and pushed on for seven years. After pushing on, now the other leg has begun to hurt as well. Then I went to temples and so on. My relative, my uncle's son, saw me and said, what is this, you have been walking like this for a long time now. He said, I went there myself for my son — back pain; he could not stand or walk or do anything, could not even get up. He had fallen somewhere. There is a hospital here called AVN, there is an AVN Arogya hospital in Madurai; be seen there, it will come right. They will freshen you up a little and it will be good, he said. I agreed, and we came here a month ago and saw Dr. Sridevi ma'am. When she saw me she spoke well and explained things well. She said it would come right for me. I asked her, how much, ma'am, will it be 100% right? Some people would say it will be 100% right — she did not say anything like that. She said about 80% would come right. I liked what she said very much. I was very happy — I said, even that is enough for me, even 50% would be enough, that is fine. I took the medicines and came away. They said, you will need about two weeks; be admitted and we will see. I agreed, took the medicines and wenthome. I took the medicines for a month and then came back and stayed two weeks now. Within about ten days half my pain had reduced. It is much less now. The physiotherapist does it well too. After that, over these fifteen days, they gave good treatment. The young women who do the massage — there seem to be a great many people here, some twenty boys and girls working. Everyone's maintenance is such that we can stay on our own and be treated; the rooms are good as well. When I first came to stay I stayed alone. My husband did not come with me. I was here by myself. The people who gave the therapy treatment in the hospital talked nicely and did it without any difficulty for us at all. First they apply oil all over the body. Then, having applied the oil, they do the oil massage one day. After that they pour oil, pour oil on the joint. They leave it about ten minutes and then massage, and after that they do a powder massage. They do it talking and laughing pleasantly. As soon as they did it, half our pain reduced. My weight likewise — when I came here it was 88 kilos. Now it is 84, only 83.5. It is 83.5 kilos. My weight has reduced nicely; I had not expected this much at all. And the pain is half reduced now. The nurses are all good; if you call, if you just press the bell they come to the room — it is enough even if you are staying alone. I stayed alone for a week. I was not afraid at all of anyone. It was pleasant and good. The treatment is good now too, and I am very happy.