Write-A-Letter ( Post 1)
Calcium and Vitamin D Deficiency
Dear, you,
Hope you are keeping well. Especially, in such times of Covid.
I, for one, have been on a rocky path recently.
My little brother was diagnosed with rickets. You might be knowing
this, but rickets is a softening and weakening of bones in children, usually
because of extreme and prolonged vitamin D deficiency. As a former rickets
patient myself, it has been a series of intense flashbacks and extreme stress
and concern for him.
It all started about 6 months ago when he started complaining that he had severe pain in his legs. Somewhere deep down my parents knew that it
might be rickets, but they didn’t want to believe that it was happening all
over again.
I still remember that when I was 5 years old,
I used to complain to my parents about the pain in my legs. It was so
excruciating that couldn't even stand up, let alone play. My parents took me to a doctor, and he diagnosed it as rickets.
As for my brother's case, my parents decided
to wait for a week and during this time they made my brother sit in the sun
extensively and give him all kinds of Vitamin D food supplements available in
our kitchen.
Once they realised that the pain was not
ending and their ways were not working, they decided to take my brother to Dr
Desai, our family doctor who had gotten me through rickets before.
He confirmed what we all had feared. My 5-year-old brother had rickets. When I heard it, I broke down, it all came back to me, the fear and the anxiety. Dr Desai wasn’t sure of the reasons if it was hereditary or was it because of any other factors, but after checking other parameters, such as his growth and motor skills, he assured me that his case wasn’t as severe. That was the first wave of relief we had all felt in days.
Dr Desai prescribed him Vitamin D and
calcium supplements along with plenty of sunlight and calcium filled diet. He
further decided to make a chart to monitor his growth. It looked similar to the
one that I once had.
The fact that he would miss out on a carefree
normal childhood, like me, is something that will always trouble my parents.
One is now burdened with intense stress and the responsibility of being
cautious.
Rickets never really goes away, Somewhere the weakness always persists, be it in the
bones or the mind. But one gets through. Most of the times.
Hoping to write with more positive news next
time!
Warm regards,
XYZ.
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