Zipping through

To Chennai and back in eight days is a zipping through experience.

Visiting a dad who is recovering, albeit with complications
Meeting grandpa who are not doing very well
Grapling with the same issue of being a "remote child" all over again and coming up with no tangible solutions.

On the bright side, after 17 years got to see Kapali Rock! He sure rocks during the festival season. Took videos and photos of the Kapaleeshwar temple Utsavam and showed it to dad, grandparents, other uncles and aunts who are not able to move around easily anymore. They were all happy that they got to see the festival, as though they were actually there.

On the brighter side, got to spend time with everyone in India and got the most important things on the wish list done.

Things will never be the same again, now that I have seen my dad the way he is. Have to learn to adjust to the fact that this is a new phase in life, for everyone in the family.

Jr. and the little one both had tears in their eyes when they came and hugged me today. They were struggling to find words to express how they missed me. They just wimpered like puppies after seeing me.

Hopefully, the development of a molecular transporter is a top priority on Obama's Act on science and technology. Or for that matter the little thingy that the Star Trek doc's hold in their hand and heal people.

Over the next few weeks, there will be posts, a lot of them, taking you to Mylapore and Mandaiveli... sometimes to 1979, sometimes to 1992, to 2009 and back to 1987. Same place, different time... kind of like the TV Series Lost, without the light flashes and the bad guys.

All that if things pan out in Chennai and all goes well.

Here is to growing old!

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Dad will be okay

Thanks to all for your wishes and prayers.

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Bike rides

Now that the whole family is chipping in to make daddy healthy again, we have a routine. Mom drives the kids to some local park while daddy gets to bike to the same park, spend some time there and bike back. If daddy is too tired, they just throw the bike in the van and everyone drives back.

We did this four times in the last seven days. While most of the parks are only 1.3-2.5 miles away, it was still an ordeal for the biker since he was so badly out of shape and was still on steroids. (there was an advice from the doctor to not have any heavy exercise till the end of the dose)!

Now that the tablets are all over, today the family decided to go from Cupertino to Sunnyvale to visit Ortega park. Daddy made it in one piece after driving almost 8 miles.

On the one hand it is a crying shame, that a guy who, just six years ago, had a wolf stomach, and was athletic enough to win dance competitions, is now declaring that he is happy enough to be able to bike eight miles on local roads. This is just a start! Hope is that some day, this post will be looked back and laughed at, when the eight mile drive is a breeze.

On the other hand, this post is a reminder to all those who in the name of other priorities, forget to exercise, then blame it on kids, work, lack of time, stress or whatever other creative reasons they can come up with, only to realize late in the game that they only have themselves to blame for their poor health!

Don't wait for the clouds to open and an "Asariri"(oracle, voice from heaven) to come and tell you to start exercising again! It is really not worth the wait.

The side effects of the drugs have all been right on, when it comes to what the pamplet said. Euphoria, insomnia, rage, weird hair growth, depression, hyperactivity, etc. etc. The whole gamut of what one can put a family through, in the name of a cure! San and the girls were prepped though, for all the side effects, and being all girls, they helped cope with daddy's side effects by doing more of what they do with daddy.. Ignore him!

The little one says "Daddy, you are sleepy because you ate Manduru?". She doesn't know how to say marundhu(Tamizh for medicine), and instead says Manduru.

The girls love to pass daddy in the van as he is on his bike and scream "come on daddy, catch up" or "faster daddy, faster".

All said and done, we are all thrilled. The wheezing is gone and the Diamondback Insight simply rocks!!

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A doctor a day keeps the ....

Finally met a doctor who actually saw my condition for what it was! He did a thorough inspection and said "Yes. Your sinus is infected and you need antibiotics!"

I thought to myself "there we go again.. possibly going to give me the same old amoxycilling and shoo me away"

He did prescribe a stronger dose of Amoxycillin than the usual 500mg but surprised me by saying "you have been regularly sick this year according to your medical records! That is highly unusual"

My jaw dropped. He actually READ my medical records! A Doctor. In the US of A! He read "my" medical records!

Then he went on to order a CT scan!

By now I am already thinking, I have died and passed on to out-patient heaven and have visions of Chitraguptan counting the number of swear words on my blog before deciding my fate.

This doctor, was also nice enough to call me within a few hours after the scan and give me a thorough analysis of my situation. Why I am falling sick so often? why the standard Amoxycillin will not help? and What else is required from me as a personal committment to make sure I do not fall sick again? etc. etc.

Unlike the other stet. wearing dudes and dudettes, this guy did not tell me to embrace yoga, eat healthy, have less stress, etc. etc..Everytime I hear that lecture, feel like hitting the doc. with some blunt instrument.

If you work to make ends meet, share responsibilities in raising kids, fill up your minivan at the local costco once a week, and are a south Indian dude with strong tastebuds and a penchant for deep fried stuff, it is not possible to do yoga, eat healthy and have less stress!

Finally this doctor said something that cracked me up.

"I am going to prescribe a medication for you. This will definitely help your condition immediately. But it is a steroid and you need to take it early in the morning after breakfast. The reason I am cautioning you is that it might make you a little hyper!"

How can I get any more hyper-er?

My faith in the American medical system is a tad restored. I stand corrected after all these years. There are some real doctors here! No, you are not stealing him from me.. I am keeping this dude a secret! He is now my "primary" physician! he he he..

Now he is indirectly forcing me to:

1. get up early in the morning
2. eat breakfast

who knows, maybe he is just giving me "balli mittai" and this is a ploy to get me to sleep early, wake up early and eat breakfast?!

In any case, the pills start now!

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Pondering.. Pondering... more Pondering..

Here is a hypothetical question.

Let's say you are a dude in his mid thirties, busy as a bee at work, busy as a bee at home, yet you are described by your wife as a "rubberband (elastic band)" and when asked to elaborate she says "you stretch to your limits and either implode or break!" and you have been

Pondering

Pondering and

more Pondering..

Is there any way out of this vicious cycle?
Maybe take a break and go to the himalayas and consult the wise sages?
Maybe join some club that does PAM (pot assisted meditation?) along the famous Yogi's of Beetle's days?
Maybe meditate in the living room?
Maybe just start exercising?
Maybe get some sleep?
Maybe see a shrink?

Now that is too many hypothetical questions and we all know that they are not hypothetical....

It is time for some rethinking on my side. I keep falling sick every three weeks simply because ........

I dont Know!

A thorough analysis will be done using Eastern medicine, Western medicine, the occult, the cult, theology, philosophy etc. and a report will be published in this blog.... soon... more like tomorrow!

Until then, ta ta!

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