In 2002, the year that I graduated from Engineering college, Appa opted for Voluntary Retirement under the VRS scheme announced by the Central Government. We were always cocooned away from the happenings at his office and the announcement did not surprise us. The conditions under which he retired from office were not happy - we heard some stories of an inquiry being conducted against him and some others over a venture that they had begun in 1996 which had had dealings with his company. In any case, I reckon that he was finding it more and more difficult to proceed with his official work given the progression of the disease and took the decision because it was the right one to make.
Like almost all the Engineering college students in Hyderabad at the time, I too had written my GRE exam, had admission in a couple of colleges in the United States and had even managed to get my F1 student visa. I was due to fly out in August to join University starting from Fall of 2002. Appa's friend suggested a new treatment from a Doctor who had supposedly returned from the US, in Pune, who was offering a full cure for Parkinson's Disease using a stem cell transplantation technique which would involve, obviously, a surgery of the brain. We made a couple of trips to Pune to visit with the Doctor who showed us a few videos of some of his patients and the supposed improvements that they had had after the surgery.
Appa decided to go ahead with the surgery which would change our lives further forever. It was in June, 2002 that the date for the surgery was set and we drove up to Pune, taking advantage of the hospitality provided by one of Appa's classmates from college who used to live there at the time. The surgery was performed at the Ruby Hall Clinic. It was a first time grown up experience for me - I was 21 years old at the time and obviously, had better be mature enough to manage the emotional trauma surrounding the surgery.
The operation involved the Doctors placing a device to hold the patient's head in place and then make an incision. Under medication, the patient would be wheeled out of the operation theater through to the MRI scanning center where after a MRI scan, the Doctor would know exactly where the stem cells were to be placed (in the substantia negra, IIRC). I vividly recall the sight of Appa on the stretcher with the paraphernalia around him, being wheeled out of the MRI scan room. He was surrounded by nurses and Doctor and that is when it hit us that this was a serious, major surgery. Amma had her sister and brother over to help her get through the ordeal. My sister was on the phone with her beau, I was on the phone with my friend of the time! We all had our outlets but that sight of Appa as he came out of that room will remain. After an entire day long surgery, the Doctor announced that all was well but of course, he would have to keep him in the ICU overnight as he had just finished a major surgery.
A couple of other memories from that hospital. The first was at the ICU where the incompetent nurses were using his arms like a pin cushion. The number of needles that went into his arm that day for blood tests and IV and God alone knows what else was huge! A day after the first surgery, a CT scan revealed that there was some kind of an air bubble in the brain which would require a second surgery to clear out. One of the quack's cohorts at the hospital performed this second surgery after which Appa was a lot better, for a while only. The second memory was from his room. Amma's brother and I stayed with him at the hospital as caretakers for the patient. He was high on medication at the time - the dosage of his PD medication was increased, ostentatiously, to help with the initial few days while the transplanted cells come on to their own. One of the side effects of the medication is hallucinations, of course. So he got out of bed that night, went out into the corridor despite us trying to stop him - he thought that he was in office and wanted to know what was happening with some task that he had assigned someone.
He was discharged from the hospital soon enough and taken home where the convalescence started. He would struggle to reach the loo on time to relieve himself - he lost control of his bladder. I remember Amma's struggles starting since then. He would not sleep well at night any more - this was probably happening a lot even before the surgery but of course, we did not know as such things were not mentioned to us. I remember he had a lot of hiccups post surgery and that quack who operated upon him asking us to give him sugar to bring it under control, knowing full well that he was diabetic. His counter argument was that his was Type -II Diabetes which would not be affected by sugar intake. As a result, we started using diapers to counter his incontinence. We soon left Pune to return home to Hyderabad. It was a 12-14 hour journey with Amma, Appa and Amma's brother who was, quite simply, a Godsend. I wouldn't realize at the time about the sacrifices and the kind nature of the man in helping his brother-in-law get through the torture. We returned home - in a sign of things to come, Appa asked me what was happening to the "satellite launch" on our way back to Hyderabad.
We arrived home and another scene etched in memory is Amma's brother actually lifting him and taking him to the bathroom and back as he was quite incapable of walk at the time. He even cleaned up after him - what a man! My utmost respect for him for being there. The weeks that followed saw some more drama. A blood sugar test showed Appa's sugar levels reach a dangerously high 350 mark. His local Doctor, another jackass, put him on a diabetic medication that brought it right down. One evening, Appa basically collapsed with hypochondria or a huge fall in blood sugar. We called the Doctor home who, I will never forget, earned my wrath and disrespect for being a complete nincompoop. He did not touch him but asked for him to be moved to the hospital. It was because of his medication that Appa was in that state and his pronunciation was to move him to the hospital and off he went back to his clinic as there were "other patients" waiting for him. A ride to Apollo Hospital and back followed with the ambulance in tow. We took him to that hospital as it was closest to home and they revived him and also took him for a CT scan for good measure. Of course, Apollo is more inclined to make money rather than care for the patient - we moved him out soon enough and took him to another hospital, Remedy Hospital which was on the panel of approved hospitals at his office. He spent a few days in that hospital on two separate occasions which had its own memories. A night time shave by a half asleep orderly to help with the catheter insertion, a relaxing, oblivious of his surroundings Appa being visited by many well wishers, a talk between Mawa and I and another between Amma's sister and I which helped me decide not to go ahead to the US at the time, leading to a cancellation of my tickets, Appa calling sister and me to his bedside for the "last time" as he thought he wouldn't live any more and so on. We returned home after what now seems to be like a very long time. I think it must have not been more than 3 days at a stretch on both occasions at Remedy Hospital.
Like almost all the Engineering college students in Hyderabad at the time, I too had written my GRE exam, had admission in a couple of colleges in the United States and had even managed to get my F1 student visa. I was due to fly out in August to join University starting from Fall of 2002. Appa's friend suggested a new treatment from a Doctor who had supposedly returned from the US, in Pune, who was offering a full cure for Parkinson's Disease using a stem cell transplantation technique which would involve, obviously, a surgery of the brain. We made a couple of trips to Pune to visit with the Doctor who showed us a few videos of some of his patients and the supposed improvements that they had had after the surgery.
Appa decided to go ahead with the surgery which would change our lives further forever. It was in June, 2002 that the date for the surgery was set and we drove up to Pune, taking advantage of the hospitality provided by one of Appa's classmates from college who used to live there at the time. The surgery was performed at the Ruby Hall Clinic. It was a first time grown up experience for me - I was 21 years old at the time and obviously, had better be mature enough to manage the emotional trauma surrounding the surgery.
The operation involved the Doctors placing a device to hold the patient's head in place and then make an incision. Under medication, the patient would be wheeled out of the operation theater through to the MRI scanning center where after a MRI scan, the Doctor would know exactly where the stem cells were to be placed (in the substantia negra, IIRC). I vividly recall the sight of Appa on the stretcher with the paraphernalia around him, being wheeled out of the MRI scan room. He was surrounded by nurses and Doctor and that is when it hit us that this was a serious, major surgery. Amma had her sister and brother over to help her get through the ordeal. My sister was on the phone with her beau, I was on the phone with my friend of the time! We all had our outlets but that sight of Appa as he came out of that room will remain. After an entire day long surgery, the Doctor announced that all was well but of course, he would have to keep him in the ICU overnight as he had just finished a major surgery.
A couple of other memories from that hospital. The first was at the ICU where the incompetent nurses were using his arms like a pin cushion. The number of needles that went into his arm that day for blood tests and IV and God alone knows what else was huge! A day after the first surgery, a CT scan revealed that there was some kind of an air bubble in the brain which would require a second surgery to clear out. One of the quack's cohorts at the hospital performed this second surgery after which Appa was a lot better, for a while only. The second memory was from his room. Amma's brother and I stayed with him at the hospital as caretakers for the patient. He was high on medication at the time - the dosage of his PD medication was increased, ostentatiously, to help with the initial few days while the transplanted cells come on to their own. One of the side effects of the medication is hallucinations, of course. So he got out of bed that night, went out into the corridor despite us trying to stop him - he thought that he was in office and wanted to know what was happening with some task that he had assigned someone.
He was discharged from the hospital soon enough and taken home where the convalescence started. He would struggle to reach the loo on time to relieve himself - he lost control of his bladder. I remember Amma's struggles starting since then. He would not sleep well at night any more - this was probably happening a lot even before the surgery but of course, we did not know as such things were not mentioned to us. I remember he had a lot of hiccups post surgery and that quack who operated upon him asking us to give him sugar to bring it under control, knowing full well that he was diabetic. His counter argument was that his was Type -II Diabetes which would not be affected by sugar intake. As a result, we started using diapers to counter his incontinence. We soon left Pune to return home to Hyderabad. It was a 12-14 hour journey with Amma, Appa and Amma's brother who was, quite simply, a Godsend. I wouldn't realize at the time about the sacrifices and the kind nature of the man in helping his brother-in-law get through the torture. We returned home - in a sign of things to come, Appa asked me what was happening to the "satellite launch" on our way back to Hyderabad.
We arrived home and another scene etched in memory is Amma's brother actually lifting him and taking him to the bathroom and back as he was quite incapable of walk at the time. He even cleaned up after him - what a man! My utmost respect for him for being there. The weeks that followed saw some more drama. A blood sugar test showed Appa's sugar levels reach a dangerously high 350 mark. His local Doctor, another jackass, put him on a diabetic medication that brought it right down. One evening, Appa basically collapsed with hypochondria or a huge fall in blood sugar. We called the Doctor home who, I will never forget, earned my wrath and disrespect for being a complete nincompoop. He did not touch him but asked for him to be moved to the hospital. It was because of his medication that Appa was in that state and his pronunciation was to move him to the hospital and off he went back to his clinic as there were "other patients" waiting for him. A ride to Apollo Hospital and back followed with the ambulance in tow. We took him to that hospital as it was closest to home and they revived him and also took him for a CT scan for good measure. Of course, Apollo is more inclined to make money rather than care for the patient - we moved him out soon enough and took him to another hospital, Remedy Hospital which was on the panel of approved hospitals at his office. He spent a few days in that hospital on two separate occasions which had its own memories. A night time shave by a half asleep orderly to help with the catheter insertion, a relaxing, oblivious of his surroundings Appa being visited by many well wishers, a talk between Mawa and I and another between Amma's sister and I which helped me decide not to go ahead to the US at the time, leading to a cancellation of my tickets, Appa calling sister and me to his bedside for the "last time" as he thought he wouldn't live any more and so on. We returned home after what now seems to be like a very long time. I think it must have not been more than 3 days at a stretch on both occasions at Remedy Hospital.
i was diagnosed of parkinson disease 5 years ago,i started azilect,then mirapex as the disease progressed in february last year,and i started on parkinson disease herbal medicine from ultimate life clinic,few months into the treatment i made a significant recovery,almost all my symptoms are gone,great improvement with my movement and balance,it been a year and life has been so good for me,reach them through there website at www.ultimatelifeclinic.com
ReplyDeletei was diagnosed of parkinson disease 5 years ago,i started azilect,then mirapex as the disease progressed in february last year,and i started on parkinson disease herbal medicine from ultimate life clinic,few months into the treatment i made a significant recovery,almost all my symptoms are gone,great improvement with my movement and balance,it been a year and life has been so good for me,reach them through there website at www.ultimatelifeclinic.com
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