Dad came home on Thursday - day before Diwali. We had decided to beat the media rush at the hospital.
Chetna, Abu and Raju joined the gang of front office support staff. A promotion from back office logistics support :).
Vanita Di, Pawan Jijaji, Kamal Aunty, Tanya and Nikhil dropped by - all in their Diwali-compliant dresses - decked up and ready to roll. Our dress code on the other hand was barely civilization-compliant.
The first couple of days at home have been rather tough - the realization that this is for the long haul - and not just a deadline driven trip to be taken - is sinking in. The physios, ward boys, speech therapists are on a Diwali break - man, do these guys take this break seriously or what.
Dad meanwhile has developed a small pressure sore on his right leg. Nidhi, any fundaes on what could be a good treatment plan. We are already doing "change sides every two hours" and applying an ointment named Betadine ("topical microbicide"). Also giving the bony parts of the body a eau-de-cologne rub.
The support staff starts Monday/ Tuesday and more on that later.
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Monday, November 5, 2007
Talk to me
Dad is rather eager to test his growing verbal abilities. Never knew that he loved talking so much. He has been asking us to get the usual suspects to call him - Veens, Anu, Rakhi, Nidhi. Wonder why its always the nieces and never the nephews. But then again, nobody can claim to understand what Sheens says on the phone in any case (well, maybe Kanchan can).
The number is +91 22 6799 4570. Sometimes he picks up the phone himself - so be prepared for a very gruff "Hullo".
The number is +91 22 6799 4570. Sometimes he picks up the phone himself - so be prepared for a very gruff "Hullo".
Goodbye Monique, Namaste Marina
Uncle is settling in. Well, that is what everyone calls Dad. From the nurse to the watchman. And the Docs as well. That's a change from "Juggatt". And Mom is Aunty. Hell, even I am Uncle. Painful. No more handshakes here for Dad. The nurses prefer a namaste. That is one change that Dad will need to handle - doing a one handed Namaste is not easy. Usually gets mistaken for the start of a karate move. Side effects include a vanishing nurse.
Dad got his MRI, echocardiogram and chest X-ray done Saturday morning itself. The provisional MRI report - which did not change later - showed no tumour and the possibility of a clot. They plan to repeat an MRI after 3 months to check for clot dissolution progress. No tumour has been a big relief. To the extent that we have started thinking that he is back to normal. His speech is improving, the right hand is showing very early signs of tonality. But there is long way to go.
His medicines are changing - some of the drugs he was on are very US/ Canada specific and one does not get them here. They are also weaning him off steroids - slowly. Nidhi, any clue if NSAIDS - non steroidal anti inflammation drugs - are as good/ better/ worse in effectiveness? What about side effects? Am not getting too much on the net. His cough is improving - again, slowly. He had a suction done to remove phlegm/ mucus and that has led to some relief.
Physio and speech therapy are in progress. They also tried to get Dad to stand up a couple of times. The right leg has not shown any recovery yet - so standing up on his own has not really been possible.
Thing to watch out for is a secondary stroke - apparently highly probable in the first week itself. The web also shows a rather high number for "within the first five year" period. Will be discussing that with the Doc here and more on that later.
Dad got his MRI, echocardiogram and chest X-ray done Saturday morning itself. The provisional MRI report - which did not change later - showed no tumour and the possibility of a clot. They plan to repeat an MRI after 3 months to check for clot dissolution progress. No tumour has been a big relief. To the extent that we have started thinking that he is back to normal. His speech is improving, the right hand is showing very early signs of tonality. But there is long way to go.
His medicines are changing - some of the drugs he was on are very US/ Canada specific and one does not get them here. They are also weaning him off steroids - slowly. Nidhi, any clue if NSAIDS - non steroidal anti inflammation drugs - are as good/ better/ worse in effectiveness? What about side effects? Am not getting too much on the net. His cough is improving - again, slowly. He had a suction done to remove phlegm/ mucus and that has led to some relief.
Physio and speech therapy are in progress. They also tried to get Dad to stand up a couple of times. The right leg has not shown any recovery yet - so standing up on his own has not really been possible.
Thing to watch out for is a secondary stroke - apparently highly probable in the first week itself. The web also shows a rather high number for "within the first five year" period. Will be discussing that with the Doc here and more on that later.
Saturday, November 3, 2007
Last Scene, Act 1
If AI still has passengers and it still flies full, it is all down to its crew. Not its bureaucracy, not its crafts, not its in-flight entertainment - its straight down to its crew. And they are outstanding. You look for good connections, good food, good movies when you want to fly - but when its real serious stuff, you only want people you know around you.
Could not have asked for anything more. AI cabin crew pulled out all stops - I was upgraded to First Class to be with Mom and Dad. We were given permission to stay in the craft when everyone else deplaned at Frankfurt. And we were given enormous leeway in looking after Dad during the flight. Cannot thank the team enough.
We reached Bombay at 1 am in the night. One of our neighbours, Reema - who works with AI was in the craft minutes after it landed - with God alone knows how many staff members ready to transport Dad throught Customs and Immigration. Before we knew it, Chitranjan Uncle had walked in - got us out and into the ambulance. Checked into Wockhardt, Dad settled in and we called it a night - 4 am into bed. Home. Feels good. Bad traffic, too many people, too much muck. Smells bad. But feels good.
Could not have asked for anything more. AI cabin crew pulled out all stops - I was upgraded to First Class to be with Mom and Dad. We were given permission to stay in the craft when everyone else deplaned at Frankfurt. And we were given enormous leeway in looking after Dad during the flight. Cannot thank the team enough.
We reached Bombay at 1 am in the night. One of our neighbours, Reema - who works with AI was in the craft minutes after it landed - with God alone knows how many staff members ready to transport Dad throught Customs and Immigration. Before we knew it, Chitranjan Uncle had walked in - got us out and into the ambulance. Checked into Wockhardt, Dad settled in and we called it a night - 4 am into bed. Home. Feels good. Bad traffic, too many people, too much muck. Smells bad. But feels good.
Windsor Metropolitan to ORD - 301 miles, 4 hours 41 minutes
That's the distance and the time Yahoo says you should take to make the trip. If your first name is Michael and last name is Schumacher, maybe yes. It took us 7 hours and 30 minutes.
This would rank as the most memorable trip that I have ever undertaken. Not memories that I would treasure but definitely unforgettable. The day started on a good note - Dad was feeling okay and we had managed to get a go-ahead on travel from the Air India Bombay Medical team. The PTS van checked in at sharp 11 am but it was noon, Detroit time before we set out. The flight was at 8 pm, Chicago time and we planned a six hour journey. Thought we would arrive at 5 pm, Chicago time.
We made good time for about half the journey - a diaper change set us back by half an hour - but nothing worrying. The fun started when the PTS van blew its right rear tire. Blew it. No tyre left - just the rim. But no damages - Dad was fine and so was Rajat. In ten minutes, we had a cop car. When the cop realised that there was a patient on board and the driver could not change tires (How freaky is that, they drive for a living), he set about doing so himself. Amazing!!
Since that was taking time and we were running out of it, we transfered Dad, mattress and all to Ashish's Ark - a wee bit smaller than the original Noah's one - but not by much. It had Ashish and self in the front. Mom in the middle, Dad on a stretcher at the back with Rajat and four large bags and two handbags. Make that Rajat ON four bags and two handbags. Rajat with a very sore neck. By now it was 3:30 pm, Chicago time and we had run out of all buffers.
Jeej pressed on the gas only to hit peak time Chicago downtown traffic. We crawled for close to an hour and a half and reached the airport at 6:40 pm. An hour and twenty minutes to take-off time. We made it to the craft with quite a few minutes to spare. All down to supreme co-ordination - Jeej went after the luggage check-in and locating the "Wheelchair Man". Nidhi looked after Mom while Rajju and Vineet handled Dad and did a round of diaper change for good measure. What did I do? Got the boarding passes and signed stuff - more on that later.
A note of thanks to the "Wheelchair Man". He breezed us through Security, through the gate, located an aisle chair and Dad was in his seat.
Through this time, AI Chicago's requests went from painful to absurd. They had started off by saying that they would need permission to fly Dad from their Bombay Med team - if he was not flying stretcher class. Permission came with a caveat that a catheter be used. We refused. Tough to get a catheter while driving from Detroit to Chicago. They came back with a requirement that the passenger then needs to walk to the toilet. From insisting on a stretcher to making him walk - these guys were therapists beyond belief. And then came another punch. All documents requesting for travel needed to be notarized. I wonder who comes up with these things - there has to be a large bureaucracy in both heaven and hell - mankind won't be able to handle either otherwise. So accustomed are we to this shit.
In any event, AI kindly consented to arranging for a notary at check-in counter. Bureaucracy with a smile, if you please. And thats what I was signing.
And there ended the last but one scene of Act 1.
This would rank as the most memorable trip that I have ever undertaken. Not memories that I would treasure but definitely unforgettable. The day started on a good note - Dad was feeling okay and we had managed to get a go-ahead on travel from the Air India Bombay Medical team. The PTS van checked in at sharp 11 am but it was noon, Detroit time before we set out. The flight was at 8 pm, Chicago time and we planned a six hour journey. Thought we would arrive at 5 pm, Chicago time.
We made good time for about half the journey - a diaper change set us back by half an hour - but nothing worrying. The fun started when the PTS van blew its right rear tire. Blew it. No tyre left - just the rim. But no damages - Dad was fine and so was Rajat. In ten minutes, we had a cop car. When the cop realised that there was a patient on board and the driver could not change tires (How freaky is that, they drive for a living), he set about doing so himself. Amazing!!
Since that was taking time and we were running out of it, we transfered Dad, mattress and all to Ashish's Ark - a wee bit smaller than the original Noah's one - but not by much. It had Ashish and self in the front. Mom in the middle, Dad on a stretcher at the back with Rajat and four large bags and two handbags. Make that Rajat ON four bags and two handbags. Rajat with a very sore neck. By now it was 3:30 pm, Chicago time and we had run out of all buffers.
Jeej pressed on the gas only to hit peak time Chicago downtown traffic. We crawled for close to an hour and a half and reached the airport at 6:40 pm. An hour and twenty minutes to take-off time. We made it to the craft with quite a few minutes to spare. All down to supreme co-ordination - Jeej went after the luggage check-in and locating the "Wheelchair Man". Nidhi looked after Mom while Rajju and Vineet handled Dad and did a round of diaper change for good measure. What did I do? Got the boarding passes and signed stuff - more on that later.
A note of thanks to the "Wheelchair Man". He breezed us through Security, through the gate, located an aisle chair and Dad was in his seat.
Through this time, AI Chicago's requests went from painful to absurd. They had started off by saying that they would need permission to fly Dad from their Bombay Med team - if he was not flying stretcher class. Permission came with a caveat that a catheter be used. We refused. Tough to get a catheter while driving from Detroit to Chicago. They came back with a requirement that the passenger then needs to walk to the toilet. From insisting on a stretcher to making him walk - these guys were therapists beyond belief. And then came another punch. All documents requesting for travel needed to be notarized. I wonder who comes up with these things - there has to be a large bureaucracy in both heaven and hell - mankind won't be able to handle either otherwise. So accustomed are we to this shit.
In any event, AI kindly consented to arranging for a notary at check-in counter. Bureaucracy with a smile, if you please. And thats what I was signing.
And there ended the last but one scene of Act 1.
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Dad was better today. More alert, ate properly, managed to drink through a straw. We also went out for a car ride for about an hour and a half.
The lung report looks good - his cough seems to be caused by an irritation in his throat, rather than any infection in the lung. The inflammation in the brain looks large - managed to have a look at the CAT scan - and the inflammation shows up as a mass of black squeezing the right ventricle. The doctors have increased his dosage of steroids - hopefully that has an impact quickly.
Friday evening is very very eagerly awaited.
The lung report looks good - his cough seems to be caused by an irritation in his throat, rather than any infection in the lung. The inflammation in the brain looks large - managed to have a look at the CAT scan - and the inflammation shows up as a mass of black squeezing the right ventricle. The doctors have increased his dosage of steroids - hopefully that has an impact quickly.
Friday evening is very very eagerly awaited.
Some of the results came out yesterday itself. The chest x-ray looks reasonably OK. The physician feels that there could be some fluid between the lungs and the chest cavity (nothing inside the lungs) but the respiratory doctor feels that that too might not be there. Its just his cough that is a little troubling but the lungs seem to be holding up fine.
The CAT scan has been viewed and reported by the radiologist. Not directly by the neurologist yet. Hopefully that gets done today. The radiologist feels that while the bleed has gone down i.e. not so much blood in the brain, the edema (inflammation inside the brain) seems to have gone up. That is not good at all. Especially since 16 days have elapsed since the stroke. Let us see what the neuroloist says and if he changes Dad's medication. Dad's current state, though is in line with increased inflammation - very drowsy through the day, inactive, not speaking much. Not good.
So dust out your Gods, guys and start praying big time.
The CAT scan has been viewed and reported by the radiologist. Not directly by the neurologist yet. Hopefully that gets done today. The radiologist feels that while the bleed has gone down i.e. not so much blood in the brain, the edema (inflammation inside the brain) seems to have gone up. That is not good at all. Especially since 16 days have elapsed since the stroke. Let us see what the neuroloist says and if he changes Dad's medication. Dad's current state, though is in line with increased inflammation - very drowsy through the day, inactive, not speaking much. Not good.
So dust out your Gods, guys and start praying big time.
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