Saturday, September 15, 2018
Bombay
Russel's S-(for Surgery)Day!
Namaste from Bombay!
With Russel's surgery set for 11.00 am, today was a significant day for our family. I woke at 4.30 am and swiftly went through my morning rituals--blogging, responding or drafting email and setting myself up for my day. I washed, breakfasted on birschersmuesli and coffee, then showered, got dressed and left my studio at 8.20 am. I arrived at the hospital at 8.30 am--Dad has been there for an hour already.
Russel was quiet, preparing for the inevitable. He knows now that he has surgery scheduled for 11.00 am and he seemed serene. The night attendant had taken time off to celebrate Ganpati with his family. The day attendant did double duty and seems to have tended to Russel well. I am not a fan of his although I do like the night guy. Still, I suppose to have one good attendant and one not-so-good one is the best one can expect in the circumstances.
A Word About Holy Family Hospital in Bandra:
Having spent most part of nearly a week in Holy Family Hospital, I can tell you a thing or two about it. Overall, it is a very nice place. The staff are friendly and polite. Everyone is kind and helpful--except for the nurses who, in my opinion, need to go back to medical school and take Nursing 101 in which they will, hopefully, learn this time, that Nursing involves well, actual nursing. They are mainly Keralite girls--I call them girls because no one looks older than twenty! They jabber away in Malayalam among themselves (which I have always thought very rude). Today, one of them called me "Aunty". She got the shock of her life when I told her, "Excuse me, please do not call me Aunty. I am not your Aunty". She responded, "Sorry Ma'am". And I said, "Thanks, That's better." I do believe that just as they and their attitude seems out-of-whack to me, they have probably not come across anyone like me and must think me the strangest oddball.
All they do is sit on hospital phones and make calls--whenever you ask them to do anything, they 'outsource' the task to someone else by picking up the phone and calling, as it were, for reinforcements. If it were not so irritating, it would be hilarious. They also say that they will do something "just now". And an hour later, your task is still unaccomplished. Yesterday, I put on my best professorial (i.e. stentorian) tones, marched up to the counter and said, "Excuse me. But you told me you would do this in ten to fifteen minutes. It has been one and a half hour now. This is not a joke and I am not laughing." They were in shock. One of them said, "Ok, I will do it right now"And she sent someone into the ward, pronto! And my job was done!
Dad told me that this is a common complaint with this hospital, i.e. the nurses do not nurse. Relatives are expected to do everything. They will occasionally undertake medical tasks such as taking temperature or blood pressure. But other than that, you are on your own or expected to hire an attendant to get things done. They do not even dispense medicines--they will hand you over a strip of tablets and say, "You have to give this after dinner". I was aghast. Hello? Aren't you the nurse? Why am I being asked to give a patient's medicine?
In the evening, Dad lost it with them and yelled his head off--and boy, you do not want to be at the receiving end of one of Dad's rants! After his surgery ended, Russel was supposed to have been fasting for 3 hours--i.e. until 6.00 pm. But they had not given the order for his dinner to be brought in and he almost went without it. Dad went to see what was going on and the kitchen staff told him that the Nursing Counter had told them he was fasting. Dad really ploughed into the nurses then. He said that a doctor was present and listened to him, but that did not stop him. Good for him! You can get away with a multitude of sins if you have a few silver hairs on your head--that's for sure!
That's one side of the picture. The doctors are great--Indian medical science and health care is among the best in the world (as everyone knows)--which is why Indian physicians are in demand in every corner of the world. Dr. Derrick D'Lima and his interns, Dr. Parth and Dr. Vijay, have been very good--personalities differ, of course, but by and large, they have kept us informed at every stage in the game and taken us into confidence. They have also been sensitive to Russel's mental challenges and accommodated them at every stage. They have compassion and they have understanding and that is what we ask of doctors today--more than just an ability to spout knowledge.
The atmosphere of this hospital is lovely--you see nuns walking up and down the corridors (mainly of them are qualified physicians and many of them are qualified nurses). Priests also can be spied often. The Catholic atmosphere of this hospital is very inspiring. In every room, there is a crucifix or a picture of Christ's Divine Mercy. Posters with quotes from Scripture are all over the place.
The administrative staff that mans the pharmacy, the lab, the cashier counter, etc. are professional, polite and efficient.
The demographics in this place are a study in Indian diversity: you see women completely shrouded in their black burquas--when I was growing up in Bandra, this was a sight I rarely saw. There are men in beards sporting salwar-kameez (again, it was a sight I never saw in Bandra in years gone by--the little suburb's population has changed dramatically). There are women in sarees and salwar-kameez and people speak a variety of tongues--Hindi, Marathi, Malayalam, Gujarati. Catholics mill around, of course, the women wear dresses, jeans, even shorts, all speaking English Most of the doctors are Catholics too. Within a couple of days, I felt very much at home.
Fellow patients are friendly, their family members pass time chatting to each other and getting to know each other. Fellow patients are also tolerant of other patients and their idiosyncrasies. For instance, in the next ward, there is a woman (whom I have not yet seen) who chants loudly and moans for most of the day. Our hearts go out to her but, of course, there is nothing any of us can do. I keep thinking to myself: that could be my mother or that could be me, but for the grace of God.
On the first night, Russel stayed wide awake with anxiety. He kept talking loudly to his night attendant Ram and kept the other patients and their attendants awake too. A sweet lady named Rolanda who was tending her husband Mario on the next bed, came coming up to him and telling him, "Go to sleep, Russel. You will be fine. Don't worry, we are with you," She told me that he kept asking for his Dad. When Russel shifted wards and went to one with just two patients in a room, I apologized to his fellow-patients for Russel's having kept them awake. Every one of them and their attendants told me it was quite okay and they smiled and just shrugged it off. In their tolerance and understanding of Russel, I see God's grace personified. This is what I hope to learn as I go through life myself--to be compassionate and understanding and have good grace when coping with other people's limitations.
The man in the next bed has an inexplicable viral fever. His daughter Priyanaka who is doing her Masters in Commerce is a delight to speak to. Her father, the patient, speaks a variety of Indian languages but not English. In communicating with him and the attendants, my own Hindi is getting a fantastic workout here--I am loving the fact that I can speak without having to think about what I am going to say. Give me another month in Bombay and my Hindi will be something I can actually be proud of.
So now back to Russel:
Dad and I whiled away time till 10.45 am reading--he was with his newspaper, I was on my iPad reading Harlan Coben's Let It Go. At 10.45 am, we followed Russel as they wheeled him off to the Operating Theater. By 12 noon, the surgery had begun. Once again, we sat outside the theater reading. My former student (and family friend) Romanee (the same one who was the stewardess who operated my Air-India flight to Bombay) dropped in for half an hour and kept us company as my sister-in-law Lalita had informed her about Russel's surgery. It was great to see her again and chat with her. My lovely loving cousins (Blossom, Ruby, Bonnie, Veera, Meera and Zita) kept calling to tell me that they were praying and lighting candles for Russel. I told them that he was in surgery and that I would keep them informed. They are mostly Bandra-based and keep inviting Dad and me to their homes for lunch in-between our hospital stays. We, of course, are too preoccupied and have not yet taken them up on their offers. The sort of kindness, support and hospitality that you get from extended family in Bombay, I really and truly do miss in Southport, Connecticut.
For lunch, I slipped out at12.30 pm and walked to Hearsch Bakery. The line there was so long that it took me more than half an hour to get to the counter. I ordered a chicken roll for myself and a mutton hot dog for dad with ginger-lemon drinks for the two of us. I ate my roll and sipped my drink in the shade of a tree in the compound. They were delicious--which explains why the place was mobbed. I returned to the hospital, three minutes away, and told Dad to come downstairs (no food can be taken inside). He sat down and had his roll and drink while I returned upstairs.
At 2.00 pm, Dr. Derrick D'Lima came outside to tell us that "Russel is okay". He said that they had set the fractured bones and removed more than 2 liters of water from his knee--which will be sent, routinely, for biopsy. They also removed the synovec--the layer that cushions the knee but also causes the fluid to accumulate. They do not expect too much fluid to accumulate from now on. He told us that they will have him rest today and tomorrow under observation, after which a physiotherapist will work with him to teach him now to move again. In Russel's case, because of his mental limitations, they will make sure he has bed rest for 2 weeks at least to allow the operation to stabilize. After that, they will teach him to walk with a walker and a stick. Three months from now, when they expect the bones will have been fused together with the titanium plates they have inserted (that will remain inside permanently), they will turn to the knee. Apparently, the tissue between his knee cap bones has worn away and rubbing of the bones together has caused erosion. They will have to put a brace (similar to the one used on the shin bones) to keep them together and prevent dislocation or they will have to put in a caliper. Either way, they will need to find the means by which the bones will stay together to prevent repeated dislocation. The present sutures will be removed in 12 days' time. I got the impression that Russel will be sent home within 4 days, if there are no complications, God forbid, from the surgery.
Dr. D'Lima also told us that for some reason Russel has lost the ability to feel pain--this means that the healing will be much more difficult. The upside is that he will not suffer and we do not have to watch him go through agony; the downside is that it will be difficult to gauge when the bones are actually set, as, in normal people, the lack of pain finally indicates to them that their bones have fused well together. As Russel cannot feel or express sensations, a lot of guess work will have to be done.
Russel was brought back to his ward where he spent most of the rest of the afternoon very restless and wanting to know when they would send him home. It is clear he is quite miserable in the hospital, but we were able to make him understand that they need to monitor his progress over the next few days. The physiotherapist, Lenita D'Souza, who has worked with Russel before on his fractured wrist, a couple of years ago, will take over. She will show him muscle strengthening exercises for starters and then come home to teach him how to walk. She agrees that he cannot put any body weight on his fractured foot for at least 2 weeks.
Dad seems relieved. There is now some light at the end of the tunnel for him. I undertook the task of texting all my relatives about the outcome of Russel's surgery and prognosis. It is amazing how responsive all my relatives are. I am deeply touched.
By the evening, Russel's restlessness grew: maybe the local anesthesia had worn way and although he says he feels no pain, there was probably some discomfort. His friend, Fr. Austin Norris arrived to pay him a short visit prior to hearing Confessions in his church.
At 8.00 pm, his night attendant Ram arrived and took over. He fed Russel his dinner (after Dad made a scene to bring him his tray) and Dad and I left and got home.
Boy, oh boy! Why a day! Did I need a stiff drink!!!! At home, I fixed myself a gin and tonic and sat down to watch Line of Duty--getting more hairy now. Llew told me that it is not available on Netflix in the States. Which leads me to believe that there are different copyright laws for different countries because Midsomer Murders that I was watching on Netflix in the US is not available here in India. Shame! I had my dinner which was delicious and finished off with wonderful Custard Apple Ice-cream from Naturals--because believe me, after today, I could do with every treat in the house!
A long chat with Llew, another long chat with Chriselle followed as my closest family members in the US wanted to know how the surgery and my day had gone--everyone had been praying, of course. And responding to texts from so many of my friends in America and the UK (who had also been praying) kept me awake until well past midnight.
I apologize for the length of this post and my verbal diarrhea--I rarely go off-tangent as much as I have gone in this one. But I am sure you understand that today was an unusually stressful day and I needed to vent. Having said that, I do not for a single second, resent this sudden crisis in my life. As an astute traveler, I will tell you that this is a marvelous lesson in Cultural Studies for me and having gone through health care systems in the US, the UK and France, I can actually see the funny side of health care in India.
And in terms of my family commitments, well, I can honestly say that I feel thankful that the Lord brought me here to support and help my Dad at this time as much as I can. I would go so far as to say that it is a privilege and an honor to be able to lend a hand as a daughter and as a sister and I am so very glad to do so.
Until tomorrow....
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