Monday, March 24, 2008

Day 6 - Another surgery today

Seattle, March 24th, 2008 - We were informed last night that Shivam was scheduled for another surgery today. They have various names for it - Lumber punture, Spinal injection, Spinal tap, etc. All of them sound scary. The goal is to give chemotherapy injections in his spine to kill the virus there.

Like anyday, whenever we have a surgery scheduled, the 6 hours before the surgery are the hardest. The poor kid cannot eat or drink anything and the drugs they are giving him make him hungry. It hurts to say No to him. The best is if he goes to sleep for a couple of hours.

He is also running low on platelets today. They have started a transfusion again so that he is ready for the surgery @ 3 PM. Damn, these vital sign checks every 1 hour. He was almost asleep and they woke him for that. Now he is quitely watching me type this with his big innocent eyes. Got to stop here and go and love him.

The surgery went on successfully. The doctors here at Children's hospital in Seattle are very good. He was sleepy till about six. Then we played for about an hour with the laptop, cell phone and the camera. It was fun to see him moving and in playful mood.

We also started on the documents and papers now. The time to leave the hospital will come soon and the thought is now scaring me. You know, it's almost like a kidnapping case victim. First the victim resents the kidnapping but then soon starts liking the kidnappers, starts relying on them. We are almost in the same boat. First we hated the hospital. But now we find it comforting that Shivam has instant access to the best care, hygine and everything here. But we will get prepared to go home.

Oh, Meera got sick today. She got a "fever" of 102. The word fever now scares the hell out of us. Our friends rushed her to her doctor who felt it was common cold. But knowing our heightened state of mind and the recent events, it's not hard to imagine what's going on in our minds.

Shivam is almost asleep now. It's time to get some office work done. My team relies on me and has stood by me during my times of distress. I will not let them down.

3 comments:

Meeta Prakash said...

Hey Nikhil

I pray to God to give you all and more over Shivam the strength to go through this ......... it is really painful to read what all the poor baby has to go through ...but then 'He' has his ways ........

Pass on our many hugs and loads of love to Shivam.
With all of you in this difficult times .....
Meeta

sudeb said...

Hi Nikhil,
I check the bog, first thing in the morning and keep track of Shivam. Please convey our love and best wishes to Shivam. You and Urmila take care as well.
Sudeb

Anonymous said...

Dear Nikhil and Urmila,
This is Shubha Maiya here and I was your junior in SSIT in India. I just chanced upon your blog this morning and I am just shocked to hear about this! I know this is a very tough time, but remember that Tough times never last but Tough people do! I have had low platelets all my life. It was diagnosed when I was 8 yrs old and till date I have had low platelets. My lowest has been 5000 and highest has been around 100K. Just this last February I went through chemotherapy for treating my ITP. Dexamethosone is a drug which will cause a lot of mood swings in us adults itself. So I can just imagine what Shivam is going through. Just be patient with him and be around him all the time! One thing I have learnt is to educate yourself as much ass possible on his condition and do the research on all the clinical trials and treatments available. I have a very good Hem/Onc, however I have realized that when I am well versed with my condition and well aware of the treatment options, I have much more fruitful discussion with my doctors. Please feel free to email me incase you would want anymore information. snraithal@gmail.com. I do remember the ordeal my parents went through when this was first discovered. But to their credit they never ever let the fear show when they interacted with me. Shivam needs you both the most at this time. You know and understand him best. His immune system is very weak right now so please Don’t feel guilty about saying no to visitors. Stay strong and Stay positive. I know it’s difficult. But from whatever little I have known you, I can honestly say that you guys can overcome this Brick Wall!
My prayers and best wishes are always with you all.

Shubha