Rising to the Challenge Amid It All
HAVANA TIMES – I asked a friend how she manages to give herself injections when she has a migraine attack. I need to learn how to inject myself. When severe headaches strike, pills no longer do any good. And an injection of dipyrone (or any other injectable painkiller) is what brings me relief.
The last time I rushed to the emergency ward at Vladimir Ilich Lenin Hospital because of a migraine, none of the three young doctors could prescribe a painkiller injection for me to receive in the nursing station, because there was no medication available at all.
I wasn’t as lucky as I had been the time before, when, by chance, one of the doctors had a vial in the pocket of her white coat and kindly gave it to me.
The hospital is close to my home, about five or six long blocks away, but the neighborhood has become dangerous. And in the early morning hours, during the blackouts, walking even that short distance can be frightening.
That’s why I asked my friend for help. She explained how to inject myself in the buttocks or thighs. It doesn’t seem that difficult. I prefer the injection in the middle of my thigh, wherever I can find the most muscle. Now I just have to find the medication, cotton, needles, and syringes.
The hardest thing to find for this do-it-yourself treatment, as far as I can see, is rubbing alcohol. I wonder if I could buy myself a small bottle of whisky for the purpose?
Read more from the diary of Lien Estrada here on Havana Times.