Pop a Pill

My poppa had his knee replaced mid-October. His recovery has been remarkably fast: he went from lying in a hospital bed to walking unassisted in less than 2 weeks. During his physical therapy appointments, the experts marveled at his progress given that this man is 83 years young. If you know my dad, he doesn’t roll over and play dead: on the contrary, he’s stubborn, willful and does everything with 110% effort. (I guess the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.)

However, these days he’s been getting night cramps in his hamstrings. If I had to guess, he’s pushing himself a bit too much during therapy and his muscles seize up from years of relative inactivity, only to be worked to exhaustion during re-strengthening exercises.

I recommended that he stretch, get routine massages, perhaps even a bout of accupuncture would do him good.

And the doctor? Prescribed my dad with yet another pill to pop. O yes. Did you know there’s a medication for muscle cramps?? This is absurd!! What a solution: for a week, my poppers dealt with less muscle cramps but side effects that included indigestion, bowel irregularity and nausea. I wonder if there’s a pill for that?