A MARCH to remember

Oh my dear March !!!!

 March is my birthday month and so I was beaming with happiness as I was going to be in Kerala to celebrate my thirtieth. The mere thought of being surrounded by loved ones and celebrating my thirtieth birthday filled so much joy in me , I was eagerly waiting to fly to Kerala. Being in a tight project schedule, I literally had to beg for a week's holiday. Finally after cajoling and imploring, the huddle of leave sanction was done.Then on the day of travel when we reached the airport , our flight was cancelled. The next flight we got was on Monday. Spent the Saturday and Sunday killing time and cursing the airlines, I waited impatiently . And once the flight landed Kerala, I was jumping with joy. No matter how bad the weather is , how gossipy the people are , I love Kerala.

When we reached home , Daddy told me Amma was not feeling well since few days. She is suffering from some gastric trouble. Minor gastric issues and I thought she would be ok soon. Later after lunch while we dozed off, Amma and Daddy went to the doctor as she was feeling unwell. Amma was resting the evening , for dinner she had just a morsel of rice and started vomiting post dinner. As she was getting weaker , we decided to rush her to the nearest hospital where my bro-in-law was also admitted for his kidney stone surgery. So mom was admitted that night in the hospital and the doctor suggested an endoscopy in the morning. I , M and the kids (Little R and my sis's son ) were home, anticipating Amma would be fine soon as the hospital staff would provide saline drip to rehydrate her and would identify the cause for the digestion issue. So Amma was taken for endoscopy early in the morning. I reached hospital around 11 AM in the morning. Severe nausea had drained all energy of Amma. The doctor came and said Amma has an ulcer in her food pipe which might take 6 weeks to heal and has to take care of her diet and eating habits and can be discharged that evening. We went home with his assurance and came back in the evening, but to our dismay Amma was lot more weaker than yesterday .We brought kanji from the canteen. I fed her 2 glasses of the same and left for home , hoping to discharge her the next day morning. We were hoping that the weakness may fade away sooner and she  will be fine. Next day was my birthday, with Amma and Daddy in the hospital, I didn’t feel any better the previous night. Still I was hopeful we would celebrate with a scrumptious lunch and a dinner out. Birthday morning, everyone home wished me a happy birthday. We were getting ready to visit the temple en route hospital and bring Amma , Daddy home. Daddy called around 8:30 AM morning, instead of wishing me, he told in a panic-stricken voice , that Amma has been vomiting continuously last night. He and my cousin sis R were all awake entire night. The hospital staff were of no use at all. He said we had to shift Amma immediately to another hospital, else things may worsen.

I immediately informed my sister and told them to head to the hospital, while I will wait at home. They went to the hospital, collected the reports and went to another physician who told even after being in the hospital, if the patient is not showing any signs of progress, then there can be some severe trouble. He advised them to take her to another hospital which was bit  far-off from the city. Thank God , we listened to him. Amma, Daddy and my mammy went to the hospital along my sister and bro-in-law that afternoon. My sister and bro-in-law left, hoping to come later in the evening with us. That afternoon, Amma got fits and we were lucky and blessed enough as we had my mammy sitting beside her stroking her figures while she started twitching her hands and legs, developed seizures and became unconscious. Because of my mammy's alertness , She was unconscious , mouth slightly dropped and was shifted to the ICU. Her sodium level went down to 108 whereas the ideal is between 135 and 140. When I reached the hospital, I saw Daddy all lost and sad because of all these events. Mammy later told me Daddy cried his heart out when Amma  was taken to the ICU. Daddy and Ponni went in , met Amma and she recognized them. That was a great sign of progress. Amma was taken for a CT scan to analyses, the doctor came later and told us the report looks good. Thursday and Friday went in ICU with different tests and check-ups. Amma's sodium level was being brought up. But the liver was slightly swollen and there seems to be some issues with her lungs. So Friday they told , Liver issue is also being rectified. Now it’s the lungs and it seems Amma is having pneumonia. Adding to it , her WBC is increasing to resist these infections. But higher WBC can lead to issues such as organ failure and they are checking on it. Friday when they took Amma for Echo test, We moved with the stretcher and met Amma , spoke with her and she looked so fragile with sunken eyes and pale skin. She was happy to see her noisy grandkids. The kids too happily moved around without knowing the whereabouts of their Ammumma. The EEG test also said there is no cardio issues. Though everyone assured that Amma will be fine sooner, sadly I left for home that evening. Had she been shifted to room, I could be happily going to Mumbai. Saturday morning, before I was to leave to Mumbai, I was allowed to visit Amma in ICU(Thanks to my nurse friend Deepthi). She looked much better, spoke lovely and was eating iddiyappam. I told her I will come back next week once R's admission is done. She said no need for that, as my work would get affected. But I assured that I will be back.

With pain in my heart , I left the ICU hoping to see my Amma in all her glory the coming week. Half way on our journey to Mumbai, M told me that as Amma’s WBC went up to 20000 and is having severe pneumonia so they shifted her to KIMS in Trivandrum. Anger, frustration and helplessness gripped me that moment. Tears rolled down my cheeks , but M assured me that she would be fine soon. Little R too was quite understanding, helped me stay strong throughout our journey to Mumbai. Saturday and Sunday was the most painful days away from home . While I was hoping Amma will be brought to the room soon, she was shifted to another hospital ICU. Monday I called my sister who told Amma is better and  we went to the school for R's admissions. His admission process went smooth and mechanically went to office with no passion. The fact that Amma was in the ICU for the 6th day made me numb. But still I was optimistic I will hear some good news soon. I stayed strong and confident throughout the day, calling Daddy or Ponni  in between. As we reached office late, we decided to leave late that night. M and I had dinner together and Ponni called. She told Amma has been brought to the room. Within seconds , I was talking to Amma. M grabbed the phone from me and started speaking to her. I have never seen him this happy talking to my parents. Relief, happiness and gratitude filled our souls that night. On our way back home, we both were speaking about how thankful are we to the almighty for bringing Amma back. Today 28th March Amma is getting discharged , finally after 10 days in 3 hospitals. Throughout this phase, it was my sister and bro-in-law who stood strongly with my parents, reiterating to my Daddy and me that Amma will be fine soon. The assurance that they are there for Amma ensured me to come back to Mumbai for R's timely admissions.

Little did I know that a minor case of indigestion and gastrointestinal problems were bringing us a week long surprise .But how would we ever know what life has in its pack of surprises for us. This indeed became one birthday that I will never forget. I really didn’t have the strength to write this , but I am recording this to tell myself how the family braved these 10 days and bringing Amma back to life. How lucky we are , that we had moved Amma in timely intervals to the hospitals that assured proper care. Thanking all the Gods for the kindness and love. Salute to Daddy for his eternal love and care for Amma. Ponni, you are the best daughter Amma has, so committed and selfless. Both the son-in-laws were exemplary support pillars. Heartfelt thanks to my mammy, Ani auntie and all other wonderful relatives for keeping Amma in their prayers. Now it’s time for Amma to  recuperate and come back to her strength :)