Jean's Journal: More medical tourism tales

By Jean Farrell

We are in Carrick-on-Shannon, on our boat, as I type this. The weather is perfect and by that I mean that we do not have a heatwave!

I am never again going to complain about ordinary Irish weather. (Note to self – remember this!). I’m not supposed to say that I hate the extreme heat, but I do. And, I know that I am not alone in this.

‘Medical tourism’ is a new phrase I came across recently. People travel for different purposes. I wrote about Teresa who travelled to the sun for her ‘Turkey teeth’. I wrote about a man who is very happy with his ‘Belfast knee’. Indeed, I meet many folk who are very happy with their ‘Galway hips’.

An aside: do you know that dogs and cats also get artificial hips?

The latest article I have read regarding ‘medical tourism’ was about ‘Istanbul hair-farms’. A 31-year old bald man wrote of his experience going there to get a new head of hair. He heard that it was thousands of pounds cheaper than anywhere else in the world. When he arrived in Istanbul he saw, “Many balding men in cafes, sipping tea, with bandaged heads and bloody scalps.”

He handed over £2,280 in cash to cover the procedure and then went to his hotel. He didn’t sleep a wink with worry the night before. Interestingly, he wrote, “I couldn’t shake the feeling that this was a fool’s errand, just another sticking plaster on problems that would never really go away: my self-worth, vanity and anxiety about ageing.”

The man arose when he heard the morning call for prayer echoing from a nearby mosque.

When he arrived at the ‘hair-farm’ he commented that, “It was like an assembly line, with numerous procedures taking place on numerous trollies, on numerous heads.” He had a translator who informed him that he would be under a light anaesthetic - awake but asleep!

The procedure lasted six hours. The transplantation process consisted of having 2,950 grafts inserted onto his scalp.

He flew home the next day. “I was just one of many bloody scalped men carrying luggage through the airport. No-one there passed any heed on us. I can’t expect any real results for six months to a year.” Let’s hope that all the grafts on his head are taking root as you read this, and that they have solved all his problems!

We crossed Lough Ree last week in wind and rain (I’m not complaining!) A man, this morning, told me that he had just returned from Lough Derg. It turned out not to be the Lough Derg, on the River Shannon, that I was thinking of. He was in the other Lough Derg!

I’m writing about medical tourism, and we are constantly told that we must look after more than just our physical health.

Doing a pilgrimage in Lough Derg is about one’s spiritual health. Their website tells me that visitors to this Penitential Island, “Undertake the pilgrims’ programme of prayer and quiet reflection in bare feet, keeping vigil and maintaining the fast.”

Now, if you regularly go to Lough Derg and find it beneficial, I’m happy for you. You might skip the next paragraph!

I have never been, but a good friend has. She told me that she went there to have time and space to reflect on her life. However, she was quite unable to “empty her mind and listen to the whispers of the Lord”, as promised by their brochure. All she could think about was (1) how hungry she was, (2) how exhausted she was and (3) how much the stones hurt her, as she walked barefooted around the place. There was no space left in her head for any reflection at all.

I KNOW that I would be exactly the same.

The good news is that you and I can find all the above on our beautiful River Shannon. Water is very calming and peaceful. I regularly walk along its banks, in Athlone, and “empty my mind to listen to the whispers of the Lord.” I don’t have to go to Lough Derg to do so.

Our mental health needs minding, this we know well. On my annual trip on our boat I unwind, relax, and de-stress. However, it takes a while to do so.

“De-stressing can be stressful,” I read recently and indeed it can be! Have you ever tried to meditate - to sit doing nothing and think about nothing? A lot of us get uncomfortable in this situation. Our minds race remembering all the things we have to do. Maybe it’s because we have been brain-washed for generations (by our church and our mothers) into believing that doing nothing is wrong.

How wrong this is! Relaxation is vital for our mental health. I was very pleased to read, recently, that we don’t need to be actually idle to relax. Pleasant activities that “involve a single focus which keep distractions at bay” help us relax, according to the article. These include gardening, cooking and reading.

I got five excellent books from the book-box in Lanesboro and will return them on our way down-river. What a pity it is that our book-box in Coosan Point is beginning to fall apart.

As we cruise along the beautiful river Shannon my busy mind slowly quietens. The boat moves slowly, as does the flowing water all around us. I read many books and I manage to stop talking!

I am a medical tourist afloat, refreshing my soul!

jeanfarrell@live.ie