Another Disheartening Doctor's Visit

Tuesday, May 14, 2019
Bombay

Another Disheartening Doctor's Visit

     Namaste from Bombay!
     I had been dreading this week for the ominous news it could bring. Yesterday's visit to an orthopedist in the city was encouraging because it indicated that sometime, down in the line, in the distant future, Russel could get hinged knee replacement surgery and, hopefully, be able to walk again. Today was just the opposite. It is enough to wring the mental equilibrium out of one and I am finding this see-sawing of emotions doing a real number on my endurance.
     But first things first. I am having trouble sleeping with all the lousy news to which I am being subjected. I am waking at the unearthly hour of 4.30 am--which is how early I used to wake up when I first arrived in Bombay, if you remember--and finding it impossible to fall back to sleep again. I keep tossing, turning, brooding, worrying...I guess a lot has to do with the fact that I have to return to the US again and I keep wondering how my Dad is going to cope with my brother through so many surgical procedures that lie ahead. And every time things look up, they start looking bad again.
   I had my breakfast of muesli and coffee and began working right away--work is the best therapy for me. It is a distraction, it helps me take my mind off the uncertainties of the future and it enables me to meet my daily goals. So at least I am not allowing these daily developments to hamper the pace of my work. I finished re-reading and editing the last three chapters of my book to get it ready for pitching as my Indian agent Mita is keen to get it out to the publishers. I was all done by lunch-time.
     Stopping for lunch, I had Valerie's delicious chicken curry, white pumpkin with lentils and one chapati. I have decided to eat the cutlets she has sent me for breakfast with parathas which I had ordered last week and frozen. It made a delicious lunch while I finished watching Line of Duty (simply scintillating) and began watching The Flowers, a really absurd family drama set in England and starring Oscar-winner Olivia Colman.
     I then got down to sending off my manuscript to my agent and when that was done, I made a few calls to the ambulance driver and the doctor's office in readiness for my brother's visit to a clinic in Dadar to actually be physically seen by the orthopedist with whom Dad and I have had two visits so far. When I was sure that everything was on track for our visit, I went in for a shower, then got dressed and left for Dad's place.
     The ambulance arrived on schedule at 4.15 and Russel was taken to the clinic with Dad, Rohit and me accompanying him. We had a bit of a wait once we got there as the doctor had a room full of patients. He came and had a look eventually and asked Russel to walk (which he did with his walker). He also took a look at his leg and at the small wound that has been treated by our GP for the past three weeks He had sworn it is not an infection.
     Well... guess what? This orthopedist pronounced it an infection! He asked for fresh x-rays to be carried out while Russel lay on the bed and he told us that once the film was developed, he would see us in his office. Accordingly, we had to wait for another half an hour before he did see us. When we looked at the x-rays together, he told us that the bone-grafting has still to be done to bring the bone that is not set yet back to normal. But he said that he could not do anything until and unless the infection has healed. This means going back into the operation site, assessing how far the infection has gone, cleaning it up and using what he called 'anti-biotic granules' to cause healing. This entire process will involve two sets of dressings spaced out with five days in-between each and a minimum stay in the hospital of 10 days.
     We had set the surgery for this coming Saturday on the assumption that the bone-grafting would be done then and that Russel would be discharged in four days. With this new diagnosis pronounced in such dire tones, we have no choice but to get the infection taken care of first. As I am leaving for South America in ten days' time, Russel cannot be admitted to the hospital on Saturday. We shall have to wait until I return from South America--which will be after June 8. The doctor said that waiting will have no negative impact as Russel is being treated currently with anti-biotic tablets and local ointment. Hence, we will have to keep everything on hold for the next three weeks.
     Russel will have some respite but, after that, things will move pretty quickly. I am still uncertain about when I can return to the US and I would like it to be sooner rather than later--but eventually it is Russel's situation that shall dictate my schedule.
     Naturally, Dad and I were both disheartened by the time we returned home in the ambulance. I find myself roller-coasting in terms of my emotions and it is all proving extremely stressful for both Dad and me. I told Llew all about our doctor's visit on the phone and kept him informed. We are all now on the same page that things will have to wait until I return from my next set of travels.
     I completed watching Line of Duty before I went to bed--I badly needed to take my mind off the events of the evening and this excellent serial was therapeutic in that sense. I also did some reading before I eventually called it a day. But, as you can imagine, I had trouble falling asleep as I keep feeling haunted by the doctor's words.
     Until tomorrow...