Friday, November 16, 2012

Time - The Teacher - PART II


Doctors said that there is infection in his lungs which is stopping it from working to its full potential, thus lesser the intake of oxygen, and indirectly it was making the heart and the system weak. Reason for this was heavy smoking during the young days. My dad quit smoking almost 20 years back but the initial impact was still there. I have request for buddies who have this habit, please don't take your kid to the cliff for fear for silly pleasures, not everyone will get people like I got to shoulder the situation.

After the breathing trouble, the only option left was doing a bypass surgery and dad's condition demanded him to be in ICU till he is fit enough to stay away from the external support. As the condition got bad, the cost of solution went up. Now more monetary arrangements needed to be done. I told mom that there is a change in the situation and hence change of plan. She timely called my dad's childhood friend, Mani Uncle, at Mumbai and informed him about the problems. Parallel, my sister called her childhood friend, Anu, at Bangalore and asked for some help. Within few minutes they called me enquiring about dad's condition. Uncle told that he would deposit an amount in my account and Anu told that she would ask her father-in-law and dad to come to hospital with whatever is necessary for hospital expenses.

With people helping us timely, the inner voice told me that God is with dad. By this time it was almost one week in the hospital. I too didn't go home ever since I came to GKNM. With the cute member at home, mom had a hard time managing household chores itself. Baby used to sleep during day and cry the whole night, so my mom already was serving a 24 hour service at home.

In the mean time, my manager, Ranjith, came for a visit to the hospital. He enquired about the condition and asked me if we can go out for a walk. When we reached his car, he handed over a pouch to me with some gold. There were four bangles and a necklace in it. He advised me to make use of it when needed. Whom should I thank? Should I thank all those wonderful souls or the almighty for paving a life where these souls are part of!!!

I don't think I would have ever had that courage to do the same if I were in my friends' place. There wasn't a second thought by them whatsoever. I would like to also remember my friends' wives too, as without their support I don't think it would have been practical for them too to rotate such big amount.

Before that crucial day, we had to make arrangements for blood. At this time, my friend, Sathyaseelan, made a visit to the hospital with his friend and handed me with 10K. Just an enquiry to him if he knew anyone resulted in chain of phone calls and within few hours we saw a gang marching into the hospital for blood donation. I was really taken back. I don't know who and all were involved in the phone call and information sharing but it was stunning -- the response time.

The all important day came and the surgery was conducted without much trouble. It was lengthy and tense one. Since the path to recovery was slow, dad had to be in the ICU for longer time than normal. He was in the ICU for nearly 20 days since he was dependent on external support. Later he was taken to the ward. It was tough for him as the lung's condition made it difficult and he had to be oxygen-supported all the time.

Being on the water bed inside the AC during the days in the ICU made it hard for him to sleep as the muscles and body was finding it uncomfortable. Every second was uncertain. There was a lot of worry beneath on what next as there was an initial experience of health worsening and going back to ICU. The biggest solace came in the form of Ward Nurse Elizabeth who was very patient listening to us, caring and helping. 

The doctors worked together in deciding the medicines and injected antibiotics that gradually brought down the infection level and he was able to breathe independent of the mask. Though dad couldn't do the physical exercise as the normal patients were asked to, he was feeling far better and improved than the initial days. We could sense that there was some sort of fear undergoing the toughest days of his life. Now he is far improved and fit, back to the routine.

Looking back I really wonder if it was a dream or reality that we faced. Time had frozen for nearly a month teaching very important lessons of life. One important point to notice here is about the people who helped us liberally, emotionally, morally as well as monetarily. People whom we counted a lot turned out to be Siva, Mani uncle and Mahesh and Ramesh Bai - all the four used to call me daily asking for updates and injecting positive energy. And every other friend was whom we never expected to play such a vital role in a situation like this. One key learning is the real nature of people around you will come to light during crucial time. Never expect a person to support you just because he/she talks too much sweet and at the same time never misunderstand anyone just because they are silent and not expressive.


SATHISH N

2 comments:

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