A dark week that only got darker...

Has it happened to you too? Everything is fine, till suddenly one by one, bad and worrying things start piling up, and before you know it, you are neck deep in sad and painful things....everywhere you look there is trouble lurking... and when you shut your eyes the only colour you see is black...

Over time some problems get resolved, but then new ones take their place... the general darkness takes a while to lift...

It all began with the news while I was still in Germany, that Upen Khura had had a stroke and needed an emergency operation soon after Rongali Bihu at Nemcare, where they removed a lot of accumulated clotted bood from the brain. The operation went well but the doctors recommended that he stay on in Guwahati for at least a month. I arrived back on the second day after the operation. Since he was in no position to climb steps, we organised for Khura and Khuri to stay in Ma's room downstairs at Panchabati. 

He was recovering fine, but when on Saturday, the 4th May, they went to get the stitches removed they did another CT scan and found that the gap left by removing the clots had not been filled with normal brain tissue. They told us that they would have to do another surgery immediately to rectify that. That was worrying -- another brain operation, so soon after the first one...

But soon I had more reason to worry. On Tuesday 7th May, my son  Amlan called to say that during a routine XRay a huge lump had been detected near his lungs etc. and that the investigations were on. From the form of it it looked like a benign tumor but a whole lot of tests would be required to ascertain all that, CTs, contrast CTs etc were done, a second opinion taken. Because Amlan is so fit otherwise, I was not worrying too much. 

But then on Wednesday when Khura went to GMCH to get a second opinion, he was admitted immediately and the second corrective surgery was planned for Friday. Somehow I had a very bad feeling about it and was very relieved when the surgery was postponed to Saturday. Somehow I had a very bad feeling about Friday.

Soon I knew why. Friday was the day on which I got the news about my closest friend Tithi's condition.  We were told that Tithi, who has been suffering from an acute back pain since end of last year, has multiple myeloma, and that she has a real fracture in her vertebrae, caused by very low bone density. Since then the world has not been the same... 

Khura's second operation was done last Saturday, the 11th, and went off well. This time it was done at the GMCH, and done by the best neurosurgeon in town. The poor 83 year old khura had become like a child -- the only thing he wanted to do was to leave the hospital and go back first to Panchabati and then  to his home in Nagaon. But all that would take time...

Later on Saturday Amlan went to take a second opinion from another expert pulmonologist who he met again on Monday, the 13th. Based on the CT reports they have suggested surgery to remove the tumour (mediastinal Schwannoma). Monday was also the day when  Tithi had her first appointment with the oncologist, who started her on chemotherapy immediately.

So much for medical issues. But there were other problems as well. Suddenly, Priya, our assistant in the shop told me that she wanted to leave our store and that we should look for a replacement. But finding a replacement is not easy. On Monday evening we found someone who could have been right but then she did not take up our offer. So the search is still on.

All in all, the last week has been absolutely crazy. Sadagar Mami died on the Tuesday morning, the day of the election, 7th May, and Rabin Goswami Sir's wife died on Sunday, the 12th May. And on Sunday while driving back after visiting Tithi, I had a small accident with a motorbike. Nothing really happened to either of us but an accident is an accident. And did I mention the heat? Temperatures going up to the mid 40 degrees already in Guwahati in the beginning of May! Just that is enough to make a person miserable.

Hope the madness ends here...I don't think I can take much more...Today is the 14th May... I hope I can end this story here and the rest of it will go well...

P.S. Update on 2 June 2024:

I flew to Bangalore on last Sunday, the 26th May in time for Amlan's operation scheduled for the 28th May. Amlan and Reeya drove to pick me up from the airport. Bangalore is much cooler, at this time of the year.

Amlan's surgery went well on the 28th and he was discharged on the 30th May. They did VATS with a robotic arm and excised a huge tumor, which is in all possibility benign. 

Khura's first review on the 29th went well and they went back to Nagaon  last Friday, the 31st May after 1.5 months in Panchabati. Hope there is no further need for worry there.

There is no real news from Tithi, her chemos are going on and a review will be done after 4 chemos are completed tomorrow, the 3rd May. She is still very immobile and also in a great deal of pain because of the fracture in her spine. We are hoping they will be able to operate on her spine soon so that one problem is at least resolved. The bigger problem of multiple myeloma will not be resolved so quickly.

Amlan is recovering well. He is already walking 5 kms daily and is otherwise fine, except for the discomfort due to the tight bandaging. We will go to meet the doctors tomorrow to find out about whether any follow up action is required, by which time the final biopsy report should also be available [we got the report and the tumor was benign,t hankkfully!]. I am still in Banglaore but am planning to return to Guwahati on Thursday, the 6 June, if all goes well tomorrow with the review meeting.

Because, (a) not only is the shop hand Priya wanting to leave, also our very sweet maid Subola has decided to leave. This time I have not objected mainly because of her husband and the frequent loud quarrels that they have together. 

(b) We thought we had found a suitable replacement couple but the boy's mother is terminally ill and he might have to leave for Bihar in a day or two. So trouble starts even before they have started work.

(c) We still dont have a proper replacement for Priya. For the part time hand Jahnabi we might have found someone, but it is too early to be excited.

And most importantly (d), Jonti, my caretaker and man Friday has suddenly been hospitalised with severe kidney infection and a renal stone. He was operated on yesterday at Apollo Guwahati -- two stents were placed on both kidneys because of the infection and the stone removed. I hope he will be back on his feet soon.

So as soon as some problems get resolved, some don't while new ones arise.... This is life, perhaps.

And there have been some positive stories too, even apart from the fact that Khura is better and Amlan's surgery was successful. And that I have many many good friends, both here and in Europe, who care for me and who have been rooting for me.

I have met some lovely people in the last days, the best is Neha Srivastava, Amlan's senior at work. She is a lovely girl and has been always with us whenever we have needed her. She has driven us up and down to the hospital and back and has been generally there for us. Many of Amlan's colleagues have also visited us in the last days and that has also been very nice. It was also nice to meet again Amlan's friend Yogesh who came all the way from Hyderabad to do night shifts in the hospital!

And then there were my two cousins, Chots in Bangalore who helped with the local arrangements like finding a hotel for us and who came to be with us on the day of the operation, and Bablee in the US who was helping us make sense of the medical reports and interacting with the surgeon regularly.

Finally, the surgeon Dr. Reddy at Sagar Hospital has been amazing. Highly competent but modest, no nonsense, and very down-to-earth. Not just the surgeon, his whole team, actually the whole hospital has been very user-friendly, caring but  also very efficient. There is everything there that a person who is in some physical distress (and his attendants) might need. A very low priced but very efficient cafeteria providing wholesome and tasty food, a medical store, an amenities store, a big waiting area, very polite and helpful staff. And the best part is, they are not after money. They discharged Amlan on the third day after the operation, no medicines were prescribed except for an SOS painkiller. And the bill was relatively modest, only about 1.5 lakhs for an operation where they used a robotic arm and state of the art technology. And the most remarkable thing was that when we returned to the room after the surgery, there was a very pretty get well card on Amlan's bed signed by the President of the Hospital. It is the absolute first time that I have seen any hospital giving get well cards, that too very decent ones, to its patients.

So I should not be complaining, I guess...