Update and Status

Hello everybody, While being back home has been great but the daily trip to Baltimore and being on the road in traffic for 2 hours everyday is not that great. But given the fact that I get a chance to be spoiled by Sonali at home I don’t mind the drive at all. On the medical side, my Phase 2 has begun and it is more intense – 4 days a week. I have had days of nausea when I could not even drink water, leave alone the food. Those days would also be real Low-Energy days, full of lethargy and all I did was stay in bed. Based on the Marrow test at the conclusion of Phase 1, the Docs are excited to be on the right track but given my kind of ailment (ALL) a Bone Marrow transplant would be necessary at the end of my Chemotherapy. My Oncologist is of the opinion that I should get a Phase 3 of Chemo to completely eradicate any remnant of cancer cells in my CSF (cerebro-spinal fluid). Now that has gotten to be a painful procedure wherein they numb the area on the back between the L...

Recovered nicely from the mini bump and the Doctors’ team decided to discharge me on late Thursday afternoon May 2 nd . The discharge process itself was quite lengthy and detailed - the medicines, medical supplies, training Sonali, giving me all instructions, emergency protocols & procedures etc.   Now back home under the watchful, caring eye of Sonali who has taken leave from work for these six weeks to Look-n-Cook for me. So of course, what else but loads of home cooked food after the month long bland hospital diet (Oops, and that reminds me I have to post about it).   So now I have to be taking almost 11 medicines spread over the day and 3 IntraVenous shots of an antibiotic. Thankfully during a mini operation they have inserted on my right shouder near the neck a Hickman catheter with 2 lumens for administration of Chemo, and other meds. So no more jabbing with an injection – the antibiotic comes in a ball shaped pressurized container and can be directly...

Today, May 1 st was discharge day from the Hospital but I developed fever yesterday and after running some CT scans of lungs and sinuses (which came out clear), the Doctors Team decided to keep me here for the next 2-3 days. They suspect   that some bacteria may have gotten into the blood from my Gut. So more antibiotics and some injections to boost my WBC production. Gone are my 2-4 mile walks in the last 2 days since the feverish feeling is accompanied by a general malaise and lethargy and I have spent both days just lying down. 😞 Hopefully tomorrow I will wake up nice and fresh.😀 I am totally impressed with the Techs, Nurses, Doctors team and the entire operations at Johns Hopkins. Well…..not so much their catering department though, who have continued to be extremely inconsistent. But all that would be a blog post in itself in future. Have been keeping up with current events mainly through Facebook links. There is a TV in the room but it is almost hanging from ...

Today marks a month of hospitalization since March 26 th when Sonali drove me to the Anne Arundel Medical Center while I was suffering from 104+ fever. This has been the most tumultuous period of my life especially following the recent passing away of my Mom in Jan’19. Though the diagnosis for Leukemia was made by March 30 th , I could not fully comprehend it well enough till April 1 st (what irony –on Fool’s Day) because I had spent the previous week in a sort of fever & drug induced delirium. By then I had also been moved to the Johns Hopkins Hospital. The kaleidoscope of emotions that I have gone through since has been amazing to say the least. The first was obviously Utter Despair when the news sank in. Like most of us, we do everything to live and survive but rarely, ever, do we prepare ourselves to leave the world . There were moments of Self-Recrimination and all I could think of and kick myself for, were the myriad issues that I had continued to kick down the roa...

So this was the 'A' Care team right when I got admitted and the results of Leukemia started coming in. Can there be a better team - Daughter, Wife and Sister looking after you. My sister Devanshi from Sydney was on the west coast attending a conference the same week and could change her program and be here with us. I am sure she was a source of great relief to Srishti and Sonali both, as our lives suddenly got jolted with the news. As an aside, most of you do know that I lost my Mom on Jan 2nd this year and my Dad has moved to Sydney, Australia and is staying with my sister. Didi has gone back Downunder and now it is the Srishti-Sonali team taking care of me. Maybe I am getting a little spoilt with all the attention, love and care 😜😆 Please do leave a comment below so that I can improve and make the Blog more informative. 😃 

Greetings family & friends, I've decided to publish this blog as a means of updating you all of my health and status. Some of you are already aware of my diagnosis which is ' pre-B cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL)' . Now that is quite a mouthful? 😋😀 I started chemotherapy on April 8 and have been receiving treatments twice per week via Lumbar Punctures and Hickman catheter (an intra-venous gaping hole on my chest, leading straight into the largest vein and then my heart). So far side effects have been minimal (FINGERS CROSSED!) and I've been managing to run the Johns Hopkins kitchen out of food and accumulate many miles in my walks around the unit. Have had a minor hiccup - was walking 2 miles everyday in flat heels on a hard floor and got my knees inflamed. Lesson learned - ALWAYS wear walking shoes, the heel elevated by at least half an inch. So now down to just one mile daily, a leisurely walk as knees and ankles heal. Hoping to keep this pace up...