Getting Acquainted with Dad and Russel's Medical Personnel

Monday, October 1, 2018
Bombay

Getting Acquainted with Dad and Russel's Medical Personnel

     Namaste from Bombay!
     I broke away from routine this morning as Dad told me he needed to go, early in the day, to the Reserve Bank Colony at Santa Cruz to pick up medication supplies for him and Russel.  As both of them had worked in the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), many decades ago, they are entitled to medical benefits that allow them to receive their medication free of charge (in most cases). In some cases, they have to buy their supplies from a local pharmacy that is affiliated with the RBI and will get reimbursed at a later stage.
     As it is my intention to now take over a great number of my Dad's burdens, I told him that I would accompany him to the RBI Colony so that I could learn the ropes.  Hence, I awoke at 5.30 am as usual and spent a while responding to email and planning my day. But by 7.30 am, without eating my breakfast and with just a cup of coffee to sustain me, I reached Dad's place. We took a rickshaw and reached there by 8.30 am when the doctor is supposed to make an appearance.
     Of course, to our rotten luck, we were kept waiting for a whole hour. He showed up only at 9.30 am. I am getting used to this peculiarly Indian trait of not respecting people's time. I always carry something to read because nothing makes me more insane that having to stare at walls with nothing to do while waiting for someone.  Dad showed me where his and Russel's files are kept. He retrieved them and kept them ready for the doctor.  We were Number Two on line. The first person took barely five minutes.
    I met the doctor, one Dr. Rakesh Tekchandani--a very personable man. He knew Dad well and kept referring to him as Uncle. I realize that this is a term of respect in India, but I find it hard to stomach. Anyway, he renewed prescriptions for Russel and Dad and within a few minutes, we were out of there.
     The pharmacist on the outside at a counter then filled most of the prescriptions for free.  The ones that she did not carry we needed to pick up from a pharmacy close by. We hopped into another rickshaw and reached there in less than ten minutes.  Those medications were also purchased very quickly and painlessly.  We had to pay up front but the pharmacy has an arrangement with the bank that allows them to be reimbursed in a few weeks.  It is a perk for which my Dad and Russel are deeply grateful.
     With both errands done, I felt confident that I could handle it myself--but I did tell Dad to take me along with him again, three months from now, when he goes to replenish his medical prescriptions as they are given for three months at a time.
     Back home, I wolfed down my muesli and coffee for breakfast as I was starving. I then took a shower and got on with my work on my computer. Right now, most of what I am doing is setting up appointments for meetings with folks I intend to interview.  I have gone back to making my lists and putting my contacts together. Emailing also took a lot of time.  Furthermore, I am working on a publishing grant application that will, hopefully, provide me with some money for publishing my memoir for which I already have a publisher. These tasks, most of which involve drafting of letters, took most of my time.
     I stopped for lunch and for a change had a very different meal.  I warmed three slices of multi-grain bread and spread them with peanut butter, Nutella with chopped almonds and cheddar cheese with HP Sauce respectively and really and truly enjoyed them.  They made a change from the curry and cutlet meals I have been eating for a month now--while they are delicious, I do crave variety and this made a nice change.
     I then took a power nap and got back to work. I have also made contact with other Fulbrighters from America who are in Bombay and have discovered that three of us live right here in Bandra.  We now have made plans via email to meet at the Bandra Gymkhana on Friday evening for drinks and dinner. I am also meeting other school friends for tea at the same place on Thursday evening. It is wonderful that the 'Gym' is just around the corner from where I live. Llew and I were very wise to have taken out an annual membership to this private Members Only Club as we can now use it to socialize since my studio is so tiny and does not lend itself to entertaining.
       At 6.00 pm, I left my studio and walked across to Dad's place to do the dressing of Russel's knee wound as it had been a few days since Dr. D'Lima had done it and had shown me how to do it.  It turned out to be a very easy task indeed and I felt very much up to the challenge. The little wound is healing and drying up well and I am pretty sure that a scab will form on it before long.  Russel continues to remain in good spirits, is sleeping well, having quite successful sessions with his physiotherapist and keeps himself entertained with TV programs. It is good to see him looking happy and Dad much less stressed.
     At 6.45pm, Dad and I left, as usual, for the 7.00 pm Mass and had to hurry back as we had another doctor's appointment later in the evening. I had my dinner at Dad's place and then set off again with him. This time, we were headed to Lilavati Hospital at Bandra Reclamation to see Dr. Sushil Raina, who is Bombay's leading urologist.  This visit was occurring three months after Russel had been diagnosed with an overactive bladder--a direct result of aging. With the tablets that the specialist had prescribed, his condition had been brought under control, but he still had the urge to urinate more often than normal.  The doctor changed his prescription--he removed one set of tablets and added another (to minimize the need to go). He told us to return in another three months to tell us how Russel was doing. This is about the fourth time that I have seen Dr Raina and by now, he knows me well.  In the future, it is my plan to see these doctors without Dad--to relieve him from the burden of doing all these visits himself.
      The visit to the doctor finished much earlier than we expected.  Our appointment was for 8.30pm and we were out by 8.45pm.  Dad and I found a rickshaw to get back home.  I hopped off when we got to my building. As I did not need to eat dinner, I helped myself to some fig ice-cream which I ate while watching CNN on You Tube. Anderson Cooper's 360 show about the Kavanagh Hearings and the decision to undertake an FBI investigation was quite absorbing.
      But by 10.30 pm, I was ready to call it a night after what had been a day devoted almost entirely to medical personnel and medical matters centering around Dad and Russel.
     Until tomorrow...