I was staring in shock at my health reports. My heart was pounding with fear, eyes were moist and brain was not able to accept it. There was a brief flashback to my childhood when I had similar issues, but with lower severity.
It all started in 2000-2002 when my parents had consulted doctors regarding my low physical stamina and anemic tone of the skin (have a look at my childhood picture attached with this blog). I always had a low immunity and used to suffer frequently from sore throat and laryngitis (in simple words, inflammation of the voice box located in the neck). My health reports had shown the presence of 3+ levels of RBCs/Blood (termed as hematuria) in the urine while haemoglobin levels were only 7 gm%. These low hemoglobin levels were observed due to the massive loss of blood through the urine. Fortunately, we did not observe leakage of proteins (viz. proteinuria) through the urine during childhood. Further, we consulted with my grandfather who owned a hospital at Miraj (Maharashtra, India). He directed us to my maternal uncle who is a gastroenterologist at Hinduja Hospital, Mumbai. With this, we began with a plethora of medical tests and appointments to find out what was wrong. Thankfully, I did not cry and complain for frequently pricking me with sharp needles.
One day, an expert team led by a nephrologist (viz. kidney specialist) and a urologist (viz. a specialist who deals with urinary-tract system) along with my uncle Dr. Anand Joshi (a gastroenterologist and my family doctor) thought of doing a cystoscopy. Cytoscopy is a minor surgical procedure which allows doctors to examine the lining of our urinary bladder (where the urine formed by kidneys is collected) and urethra (a tube like structure which leads to the excretion of urine). However, it did not reveal any insights into my issues. After an intensive study and discussions, they found out a functional connection between the tonsils (a soft mass located in the throat that protects us from several infections) and the kidneys. They asked us to remove my tonsils (medically termed as tonsillectomy) which happened successfully at Karad (Maharashtra, India). While I was happy that I could eat a lot of ice-cream for several days after the cystoscopy, my family was relieved that the surgery led to significant reduction in the hematuria.
We repeated my medical tests after a few months or so and what we saw was unbelievable. RBCs were yet again present in 'abundant' numbers in the urine. It just left my family in a state of shock. After reading the reports, my mother sat down and cried her heart out worrying about my health and future.