An indescribable pain.

Initially, I got a health check-up in 1989, but it was so far about being a normal exam
after what I felt. Nobody knew what my real illness was, so I needed a specific test. The date
was set, so when I arrived at the laboratory with my mother, the corridor to the examination
room was dark, cold, dismal, and large. My mom told me that it was going to be a casual
exam like all others, but then, nothing could prepare me for what I was going to live.

My mother, as always, was so over-protected with me on account of I was born with

an illness, Hirschsprung’s disease. This disease is a genetic illness that occurs in about one
in 5.000 born. Unfortunately, I was that one, and my childhood was not normal. In that
moment, nobody had discovered what my real illness was, so I really needed that exam.
I went from doctor after doctor without a successful answer about my problem. Finally, a
doctor sent me for a conclusive test… a biopsy. The doctor said to us that it was a normal
exam, so we should not be worried about it. He was so wrong.
My entire life I had suffered from exam after exam, from test after test without a clear
response.

I entered into the room, and I started to tremble when I saw all the medical
instrument on the table. My mom tried to give me confidence, but she couldn´t. Even the
doctor said this was going to be a routine exam, nothing to be worried about. I saw the dark
face of the doctor when he said to me: “Lay down on the stretcher.” I saw how the doctor
prepared all the instrument for the biopsy, but from the beginning the entire situation was
uncomfortable, even when I did not notice nothing strange. Suddenly, in the middle of the
procedure I only heard and felt like a knife cutting me from inside. It was the most terrible
experience, and the pain I felt was indescribable. Finally, when the exam finished, I still
could feel the cutting inside my body. I was in pain, crying, and my mom was trying to
comfort me. She was so affected like me, and for a little while she was complete speechless.
After a week of waiting, we got the results, and finally I had my answer, Hirschsprung’s
disease.

In conclusion, I was only 5 years old, and after that experience I learnt to stand all
the medical situation, and I think I became stronger. Standing exams, needles, blood tests,
surgeries, procedures until 2002 when I had my very last surgery. My view about life
changed due to that experience which was horrible and traumatizing situation my social
behaviour changed at all. The terrible is, after 34 years since that experience, when I
remember that moment, I still felt the cutting inside me.

Narrative Essay - An indescribable pain

- A little moment in my life –
by Mauricio Guzmán Armijo