Sign in or 
Share this
Week 7: April 14 - 20
April 14, 2008
Scott’s first real day in India! What a culture shock for him. He joined me in PT today; I stood up and walked in the walker right after stretching and balancing. This is the first time he has seen me stand since 2001. My first session was only walking in the walker, the second session in the afternoon was more intense, I did knee balancing, standing, sidestepping, and Shivani has now started some balancing on the ball. The ball is very hard, but I told Scott that it was preparing me for the kneeboard! OH YESSS, CAN’T WAIT TO GO BOATING!!!
Between PT sessions’s I took Scott to Green Park. Green Park has the grocery mart, fruit, McDonalds, the phone place, and other things. I wanted him to know that if he needed anything he could walk over there at anytime, and find anything he needed. He bought some coffee, and we headed back. It is starting to get extremely hot here now, almost unbearable during the day. When we got back to the room I did my website updates. (I’ve been getting behind..sorry!) Scott does not like India he thinks it is DIRTY! UHHHH- YA THINK???
Second session of PT was good, but it was not over, I still had to participate in Yoga, with the YOGA MAN. Scott laughed when I called him that, and asked my why. I told him he would find out, but one of the reasons was that he called me fat. DON’T CARE FOR THE YOGA MAN! Scott participated in yoga, along with the other caregiver’s. I was happy that the new guy got picked on instead of me this time. Scott was told to do a “CoW” pose! Apparently the Yoga Nazi did not like his cow. HE came over to Scott and slapped his back and told him, “NO that not cow pose that frog pose.” Ok, that was the funniest thing ever, and the whole group started laughing hysterically. The yoga man is rough! The group told Scott he should practice his “COW” pose for next time!
For dinner, I wanted to take Scott to a really good restaurant….UMMM YES that would be the BIG CHILL. However, when I told him the kind of area it was in, he refused. He wanted to go somewhere clean! ??? I’m not sure what happened to the Scott I used to know…but this one is a sissy la la! Where is that tough guy I know? (Just kidding Scott!) Well, to go somewhere clean and more American..we had to go to the mall. He did get a taste of India on the way there, our drive got us lost, and I was frustrated. I felt badly because it was Scotts first real day here and I was very testy! Sorry bout that BUD! Oh well better day tomorrow…HOPEFULLY! Oh yes did I mention; only 3 more weeks left….and I am sooooo homesick!
April 15, 2008
This morning started off like everyday, wake up, shower, traffic jam PT. I was very tired in PT, and actually I am feeling very emotional! HOMESICKNESS!!! I did my kneestanding today, it is getting stronger and much easier, I also did the sidestepping, and it is so hard it is frustrating because I can’t do it perfectly and that really bothers me. (OH BOY POUR SCOTT), after PT I came up to the room and had an emotional breakdown. I cried to Scott, then to Julie. I really love what I am doing here, but I am also very homesick. I work very hard in PT, but there is something missing….CAN YOU SAY- MY MOMMY!!!! Scott is a good one to hear my cry because he knows me the best, he also knows that something is definitely wrong if I am crying! Julie thinks that the Stem Cells are making me emotional…I am pregnant with those cells. Julie is a good one to talk to because she is here for her daughter, and completely understands my bond with my mom and knows how hard it is to be here IN INDIA without her, thankfully (although she is not MY mom)she is helping to fill that void.
After my emotional breakdown and a nap, I was revived for my second session of PT. I worked very hard, and pushed myself to master those sidesteps! UM, yea, still not mastering them! I had to leave this hospital, it helps me to venture out and see India. It keeps my mind off of everything that I have become emotional about. (Man, I thought I was tough-Nope I lied, I’m not tough at all). I took Scott somewhere “clean”. FYI, clean and INDIA do not go together! HE does not understand that yet! We went to a market place, where I know there is good food, and some shopping! He bought some…oops can’t say that!!!! Then we sat and waited for Julie and Elaine. In the meantime…oh boy, here comes the tears again! What??? Two times in one day! That is a record for me! I am struggling for strength at this point!
After we ate some food, (that Scott would not eat, um dude, your gonna get sick JUST BEING IN INDIA, it has nothing to do with what you eat or drink!) Julie, Elaine, Scott and I piled into our small taxi cab. What a ride that was! Four people in the back, and wheelchair and driver in the front- we totally could have fit one more person, this is INDIA ANYTHING GOES!
April 16, 2008
PROCEDURE DAY! I had some light PT today, stretching, balancing, and walking. I am supposed to get a Lumbar procedure today. I am really excited, and nervous for this one. Dr. Ashish says this one will allow me to see a lot of results, the injection goes above my level of injury. While we sat around waiting for the taxi to come get me, Julie and I are planning a trip to the TAJ. Yes, I am going again. But I will not let Scott come all the way to India and not see one of the seven wonders of the world. He is not thrilled, I just told him that he needed to re-read the memo that, I AM THE BOSS! How did he miss that?? As I was going to Julie’s for some final planning, I passed Dr. Ashish in the hall, he informed me that he would be giving me my IV. OH WOW! I hugged him and told him that he had just made me so happy, those nurses hurt my poor little veins! Finally, the taxi came. When we arrived at the other hospital, Scott asked, “is this it?” Oh yeah, that is the reaction I was expecting! GHETTO! They took us to our room, I organized it the way I wanted it. While I was waiting for them to come get me, a couple of the nurses came into my room wanting to take my blood, and do my IV. I told them HELL NO! That Dr. Ashish was doing it in the OT. (Scott thinks I am mean)! Not much longer then Opie and his crew came to get me. They pushed me into the OT, and Opie put some numbing stuff on my hand where the IV was going. Dr. Ashish came in laughing at me, he said I was a very strong girl and will be walking in no time. With a confused look on my face, he told me he had sent the sister’s to ask me if they could do my IV. He said he was testing me to see if I was strong enough to tell them no. I told him he had to apologize to those poor girls, I was mean to them. Good fun though I love him.
He did my IV. HOLY MOTHER…….it still hurt when it went in. Dr. Ashish has already started calling me “baby Kasie” now I just proved him to be right! He sat me up to check where my feeling was on my back, and where I could not feel. While he was touching my back I got dizzy, and I dropped. I really just worked myself up with the IV. After that happened we decided to do the IV’s in my foot….hello, can’t feel that there, now why didn’t I think of that earlier!
Finally ready for the injection. HE found a spot just above my shoulders on my lower neck. Before he did it though, he asked me to promise to be tough and deal with the pain that came with this procedure, I promised! He injected something to numb the area-that hurt. When it was time to put the stem cells in he poked around trying to find the right spot, or that’s what it felt like, but was asking me if I felt any shocking sensation in my arm. After about five times of me telling him no, I finally did feel it, and I jumped. It really scared me! The shock was all on the inside, I could invision the nerves being lit up like they were shocked. My arm started to feel warm, and numb. At this point I was so scared and in pain I was shaking and crying. Once he rolled me onto my back again all of the uncomfortable sensations went away. He started asking me questions, and I was answering them for a minute, but then I was F~LLLL~~O~~~A~T~I~N~G! WOW! I was happy happy! I started laughing and asked him what he gave me. The sedative he gave me just now kicked in. I told him that I wanted it everyday that I was here, and that the bed was floating. I also told him I thought he was the best Doctor ever! I really wasn’t lying he really is! When they took me to the room I was still a little loopy. I wanted Jacque to come talk to me, thankfully her and Louis were next door. She said my eyes were rolling back into my head! I was OUT THERE!!!
April 17,2008
Still HEADACHE! I woke up with a throbbing headache! My head feels like it is going to explode. The sisters will not give me anything until I eat something. Yea right. I do not have an appetite- I lied to them and said that I did eat. So they brought me another injection of pain killers. They did not help. The day went on forever with pain. I have been keeping myself hydrated, but it’s not helping. Half way through the day I was trying to roll over, without any energy and a lot of pain, I was not all with it, my legs spasm and I flew off of the bed. The sisters tried to help me, thankfully Scott is strong! Today, I may have showed Scott a side of me that no one has seen. I am not allowed to leave this hospital to go back to the other until I am feeling better. My head hurts twice as bad, and there is nothing I can do. IT IS TORTURE! I slept, and slept, with only the noise of the IPOD. I tried to eat some ramen to make it go away, but that did not help, so I tried to sleep again. Finally, at 5pm, there was some banging. They were building a new counter. I called the sisters in and demanded that they get me a taxi to take me back. I quickly packed up my stuff and we were out of there. The ride over was horrible, the pain was worse with every bump. When I got to Green Park, Dr. Prudy saved me. He could tell I was still not well so he brought me some pain pills. I got my blanket, and pillow, and packed it down to Shawn’s room. He and Elaine distracted me while I lay on the futon thing. I had to lie down to make it feel better, and the pain pills didn’t make it go away, it only made it comfortable. I sat in there until bedtime. Being distracted is the only way I forget about the pain, and Scott is not happy with me because the headache turned me into the devil! After some more medicine hopefully I will be better tomorrow.
April 18, 2008
This morning I still had a headache, but forced myself out of bed to PT. Shivani and I did a light session of stretching, and ball balancing. My head was in too much pain still. Dr. Ashish came in along with Dr. Shroff to check on all of the patients as they usually do on Friday’s. Dr. Ashish talked to me for a long time about the procedure and how many more I may be getting until the time that I leave. I only have two weeks left! Dr. Shroff joked about me falling out of the bed! After my injection, I had found out that Leah Roland is now here. Yay-someone from home! I am excited to chat with her, and show her around!
During lunch Elaine came to our room to eat. Julie is not feeling well…uh, oh-DELHI BELLY! She could not smell the foods so she sent Elaine away. We sat and chatted until PT. I was still not feeling well so I did not go to PT I lay in Shawn’s room until Elaine was done with PT then she joined us. We watched TV, and relaxed the rest of the day in his room. I had taken a pain pill so; I was very mellow until it wore off. Once it did ware off, I had my appetite back so I made some ramen noodles (my other “comfort food”). It made me feel much better! While I had been laying low for so long, and now feeling well with a small amount of pain in my brain, I was full of energy. Mischief for me and Elaine.
Elaine and I were trying to give Julie as much space as we could because she was not feeling well, and Elaine has been helping her mother so she was ready to venture out. After bugging Scott for a while, we decided to go talk to Leah. She is on the 1st floor because of the NO VACANCY on our floor. It is a little bit dark down there, and not as loud…hmmm wonder why? She and her husband were relaxing, I think they are still a bit jet lag, but Elaine and I barged in any way! We chatted with them for quite a while. We had not realized how long we were gone until the night doctor came into her room. He started laughing and said, “the mother take care of the children always, when mother sick, children run away.” We laughed, it was so true, no one knew where we were, it was funny. (He also told Julie, that 1+1 is not 2 with me, it is 1000! I am not sure what that was about but it apparently meant that I am a lot of mischief!) Scott came looking for us shortly after that. After two hours of catching up with Leah, we ventured back upstairs.
Julie is finally feeling better! She had more energy and finally had her appetite back. Jacque and I mentioned that we wanted sundae’s that made Julie want French fries….mmmmm salt! On our mission to taking orders for McDonald’s, Elaine and I were distracted by the loud band outside our hospital. What is the band doing at 9:30pm?
With Elaine following as I rushed out of the room to go down to the lobby to check out the band, Julie yells, “DON’T GO OUTSIDE, STAY INSIDE THE HOSPITAL.” Why does she not trust us? We watched the band from inside the hospital, Elaine taking some pictures. However, that view was not good enough. Grabbing Elaine’s hand, I told her we would only go to the sidewalk! Well, the band started moving down the road. So we followed. Jacque came rushing out and caught up to us. The three of us chasing the wedding down the street, at night in our pajamas; it was EXACTLY what Julie told us not to do! Now, why does she not trust us? The ward boy and the security man soon came chasing after us. “NO no No, you need to go inside,” he said.
The wedding’s here go on for days. They are spectacular. The bands are amazing, and they go down the streets with the bride and groom dancing and celebrating. They are followed with boys holding glass chandeliers and horses.
When we got inside, we were so excited telling everyone about the wedding. Julie knew right away that we had gone outside! Still wired, Elaine and I decided to venture back down to the 1st floor. That floor is all orange, our floor is blue…boring! We had a plan to steal (borrow) all of the “DO NOT DISTURB” signs and trade them with our blue ones. The 1st floor is very dark, and I’m not going to lie, I am very afraid of the dark, but I have to act tough and adventurous in front of Elaine. So I made her go first! (Yea, I’m the tough guy!) Well, apparently the sister’s do not visit the 1st floor as often because NO ONE HAD THEIR SIGNS OUT! Dang, there went our plan, so we went back up to our floor.
Arriving to our floor we heard Julie, “WHERE ARE MY GIRLS, and WHERE IS THE MCDONALD’S?” OOOps, we forgot, pour girl she has not eaten all day! We quickly rallied up some money, and the order, and sent Shawn’s friend up to McDonald’s. They don’t close until 1 am.
Meanwhile, Jaq painted my toes, and we had a bit of “girly” time with Julie and Elaine, also plotting how we were going to torture Shawn. He has no chance..two against one! Twenty minutes went by, then the friend returned. McDonald’s was closed. WHAT-but it’s only midnight? Well, sorry Julie, maybe tomorrow. No more midnight shenanigans! Time for bed, well for all of them, my good buddy Brandon called and told me about a song I had to download-“I’LL WALK” By Bucky Covington. Oh boy, I did and it totally made me cry. How perfect, Thanks bud, I loved it, and I loved it so much I had to put it on my MySpace! So, late night for me trying to do all of that!
April 19,2008
Early morning PT for me! I had Pt this morning at 8:30am, (usually at 9) but because we had planned to go to the TAJ today we arranged for our PT to be earlier. However, although Shivani said 8:30 sharp I was late as was she. Today was the first real session since the day before my procedure. We did some stretching and ball balancing and back onto the walker again! I had told Chavi that Elaine would not be coming down for PT today, (we stayed up way too late for that little lamb)! Chavi had an open morning because her other patients were sick so they too would not be attending PT.
After my session of PT, I headed back up to my room. When I arrived, I was informed that the whole floor was sick. Everyone has Delhi Belly! Aw, man, I feel sorry for them! I sat in my room trying to get motivated to venture outside. Scott really needs to see the beauty of this country! After lunch, and emails, and some chit chat, I was finally ready to take a shower. Oh and just in time for Yoga. Yay for Scott, he can go to Yoga! While he was in Yoga I entertained Shawn, we watched Hannah Montana. Even he is starting to love that show!
Elaine finally came out of her cave! I asked her to come out with Scott and I. I had already arranged for a taxi. I am taking him to the Big Chill. He needs to eat good food. Crackers and Smarties are not going to cut it dude! I know that Scott will enjoy this area because it is a market place with some American shops as well.
Our driver was giving me fit’s right from the start, man I hate that! We have not even left the hospital and already he is worried about his money! He was great once we arrived at the Big Chill parking lot, he was very helpful and worried about us. We took Scott to a market where we can buy Oreo’s and other things that are more like home! Once we got into the restaurant, he was being difficult. He still will not eat, for fear that he will get Delhi Belly! Ok, I snapped! I told him that I brought him to this place because it has great food, and it is completely safe, you can even eat the salad! And that I found my voice and I am going to use it! HE said that Sonia told him horror stories about her getting sick so he will not touch anything! OMG! I am beyond frustration with this situation. I told Elaine to tell her friend (Scott, who I am now not trying to show a good time, or not going to putting in any effort to help him enjoy his three weeks), that he should try the salad and that it is safe. He broke, but he did tell me that as soon as we get into America I will no longer be the BOSS.
After eating a great meal, and some milkshakes, it was time to go back home. Mamma Julie has text us to make sure that we are not getting into too much trouble. We were doing great with staying out of trouble until we passed the bangle’s! But oh what a good deal they were! Sorry mamma Julie, no more money to buy your soap! Just kidding, we will put all of our money together, we can’t forget anything this time!
On our way back we did have to the hospital, we did stop in Green Park market to get the soap. The driver was not happy that he had to stop, he was complaining that we would run over our time. Four hours, and we only had him for 3 ½ so far. He is not a good guy. When we got back to the hospital he argued with me about the money and that we owed him more money. He was wrong but I was so over arguing with him.
Julie wanted McDonald’s since she did not have it last night. We rounded up some money and a lot of orders and sent Scott up the road to pick up the order. Julie was very pleased when he got back, she still had not eaten anything for two days! Everyone was tired because we all stayed up very late, so it was a very early night. I was still not very tired, so I went into the lobby and was chased down by Anjeli. She was telling me to go to bed. I was more interested in what was going on across the street. She told me they were setting up for food for the homeless people. I asked her if I could go over and help them tomorrow, she said no that it was way too dangerous. She told me to only watch what goes on tomorrow, from Shawn’s room!
I sat up for a little while longer, talked to my brother, and Lauren. They helped me to make me feel better, I am missing them so much, but they helped me to realize how quickly this trip has gone by, and how much I am gaining from all of this. It is so worth it, and I do feel so blessed to be here!
April 20, 2008
Today I am very sad, I was homesick but today realized how much I will miss it here. I am falling in love with India, but wishing it was not so far away. Love my treatments and all of the sisters and doctors and patients I have met.
I woke up really early to go watch the festivities. Shawn was not in his room, I decided to watch from the lobby. While I was down there watching from the door, Dr. Schroff, came over to me and asked me what I was doing. I told her, I wanted to go over there with them, she said that it was too dangerous, and that the food would possibly make me sick. When I told her that I only wanted to go over and help, she said that she would arrange it for me.
I Quickly went upstairs, got dressed and went down to serve the homeless people. She had one of the ward boys run down to the market to pick get some banana’s. He pushed me across the street. We handed out the bananas, then they all asked if I would join in on the bread making. So I made four pieces of bread. It was an amazing thing to be a part of, I enjoyed it! I was not allowed to stay too long, plus it was getting very hot.
I went back up to my room, and had made plans with Leah to go out later. I told her that I had to clean my room then we could meet up. After I was done cleaning my room, I went into Shawn’s room and started cleaning his.
Leah, Danno, Scott, and I piled into a large taxi. The Taxi driver was the best. He drove us all around Delhi, (so that Leah and Danno could see a little bit more of it). I knew that near the Embassy’s there were monkey’s, so we asked him to take us there so they could see the monkey’s . There were a lot of babies, so it was exciting for them to see them.
Our little tour was over, and we were off to CP (one of the market places). I wanted to go to this particular market because there is a very posh bar. I knew that Scott would enjoy it because it was clean, the atmosphere is nice and there is beer. Danno had also mentioned that he wanted to get a beer too. We sat there while the boys drank two ice cold beer’s then we went out on the town-ok we toured around the market place. There was some loud music in the park, in the middle of the market, and we really wanted to get across to see the action. When we finally got across the street and to the loud music, we got to see the tail end of dancing, and costumes, and bands, and rings of fire. I am not sure what it was, or why they were celebrating, but it was amazing. We were all wishing we could have seen the whole thing.
Our time was up with our taxi so we went back to the parking lot to meet up with him again. It was fun showing Leah and Danno around. They love India and they are really going to enjoy their stay here!
Scott’s first real day in India! What a culture shock for him. He joined me in PT today; I stood up and walked in the walker right after stretching and balancing. This is the first time he has seen me stand since 2001. My first session was only walking in the walker, the second session in the afternoon was more intense, I did knee balancing, standing, sidestepping, and Shivani has now started some balancing on the ball. The ball is very hard, but I told Scott that it was preparing me for the kneeboard! OH YESSS, CAN’T WAIT TO GO BOATING!!!
Between PT sessions’s I took Scott to Green Park. Green Park has the grocery mart, fruit, McDonalds, the phone place, and other things. I wanted him to know that if he needed anything he could walk over there at anytime, and find anything he needed. He bought some coffee, and we headed back. It is starting to get extremely hot here now, almost unbearable during the day. When we got back to the room I did my website updates. (I’ve been getting behind..sorry!) Scott does not like India he thinks it is DIRTY! UHHHH- YA THINK???
Second session of PT was good, but it was not over, I still had to participate in Yoga, with the YOGA MAN. Scott laughed when I called him that, and asked my why. I told him he would find out, but one of the reasons was that he called me fat. DON’T CARE FOR THE YOGA MAN! Scott participated in yoga, along with the other caregiver’s. I was happy that the new guy got picked on instead of me this time. Scott was told to do a “CoW” pose! Apparently the Yoga Nazi did not like his cow. HE came over to Scott and slapped his back and told him, “NO that not cow pose that frog pose.” Ok, that was the funniest thing ever, and the whole group started laughing hysterically. The yoga man is rough! The group told Scott he should practice his “COW” pose for next time!
For dinner, I wanted to take Scott to a really good restaurant….UMMM YES that would be the BIG CHILL. However, when I told him the kind of area it was in, he refused. He wanted to go somewhere clean! ??? I’m not sure what happened to the Scott I used to know…but this one is a sissy la la! Where is that tough guy I know? (Just kidding Scott!) Well, to go somewhere clean and more American..we had to go to the mall. He did get a taste of India on the way there, our drive got us lost, and I was frustrated. I felt badly because it was Scotts first real day here and I was very testy! Sorry bout that BUD! Oh well better day tomorrow…HOPEFULLY! Oh yes did I mention; only 3 more weeks left….and I am sooooo homesick!
April 15, 2008
This morning started off like everyday, wake up, shower, traffic jam PT. I was very tired in PT, and actually I am feeling very emotional! HOMESICKNESS!!! I did my kneestanding today, it is getting stronger and much easier, I also did the sidestepping, and it is so hard it is frustrating because I can’t do it perfectly and that really bothers me. (OH BOY POUR SCOTT), after PT I came up to the room and had an emotional breakdown. I cried to Scott, then to Julie. I really love what I am doing here, but I am also very homesick. I work very hard in PT, but there is something missing….CAN YOU SAY- MY MOMMY!!!! Scott is a good one to hear my cry because he knows me the best, he also knows that something is definitely wrong if I am crying! Julie thinks that the Stem Cells are making me emotional…I am pregnant with those cells. Julie is a good one to talk to because she is here for her daughter, and completely understands my bond with my mom and knows how hard it is to be here IN INDIA without her, thankfully (although she is not MY mom)she is helping to fill that void.
After my emotional breakdown and a nap, I was revived for my second session of PT. I worked very hard, and pushed myself to master those sidesteps! UM, yea, still not mastering them! I had to leave this hospital, it helps me to venture out and see India. It keeps my mind off of everything that I have become emotional about. (Man, I thought I was tough-Nope I lied, I’m not tough at all). I took Scott somewhere “clean”. FYI, clean and INDIA do not go together! HE does not understand that yet! We went to a market place, where I know there is good food, and some shopping! He bought some…oops can’t say that!!!! Then we sat and waited for Julie and Elaine. In the meantime…oh boy, here comes the tears again! What??? Two times in one day! That is a record for me! I am struggling for strength at this point!
After we ate some food, (that Scott would not eat, um dude, your gonna get sick JUST BEING IN INDIA, it has nothing to do with what you eat or drink!) Julie, Elaine, Scott and I piled into our small taxi cab. What a ride that was! Four people in the back, and wheelchair and driver in the front- we totally could have fit one more person, this is INDIA ANYTHING GOES!
April 16, 2008
PROCEDURE DAY! I had some light PT today, stretching, balancing, and walking. I am supposed to get a Lumbar procedure today. I am really excited, and nervous for this one. Dr. Ashish says this one will allow me to see a lot of results, the injection goes above my level of injury. While we sat around waiting for the taxi to come get me, Julie and I are planning a trip to the TAJ. Yes, I am going again. But I will not let Scott come all the way to India and not see one of the seven wonders of the world. He is not thrilled, I just told him that he needed to re-read the memo that, I AM THE BOSS! How did he miss that?? As I was going to Julie’s for some final planning, I passed Dr. Ashish in the hall, he informed me that he would be giving me my IV. OH WOW! I hugged him and told him that he had just made me so happy, those nurses hurt my poor little veins! Finally, the taxi came. When we arrived at the other hospital, Scott asked, “is this it?” Oh yeah, that is the reaction I was expecting! GHETTO! They took us to our room, I organized it the way I wanted it. While I was waiting for them to come get me, a couple of the nurses came into my room wanting to take my blood, and do my IV. I told them HELL NO! That Dr. Ashish was doing it in the OT. (Scott thinks I am mean)! Not much longer then Opie and his crew came to get me. They pushed me into the OT, and Opie put some numbing stuff on my hand where the IV was going. Dr. Ashish came in laughing at me, he said I was a very strong girl and will be walking in no time. With a confused look on my face, he told me he had sent the sister’s to ask me if they could do my IV. He said he was testing me to see if I was strong enough to tell them no. I told him he had to apologize to those poor girls, I was mean to them. Good fun though I love him.
He did my IV. HOLY MOTHER…….it still hurt when it went in. Dr. Ashish has already started calling me “baby Kasie” now I just proved him to be right! He sat me up to check where my feeling was on my back, and where I could not feel. While he was touching my back I got dizzy, and I dropped. I really just worked myself up with the IV. After that happened we decided to do the IV’s in my foot….hello, can’t feel that there, now why didn’t I think of that earlier!
Finally ready for the injection. HE found a spot just above my shoulders on my lower neck. Before he did it though, he asked me to promise to be tough and deal with the pain that came with this procedure, I promised! He injected something to numb the area-that hurt. When it was time to put the stem cells in he poked around trying to find the right spot, or that’s what it felt like, but was asking me if I felt any shocking sensation in my arm. After about five times of me telling him no, I finally did feel it, and I jumped. It really scared me! The shock was all on the inside, I could invision the nerves being lit up like they were shocked. My arm started to feel warm, and numb. At this point I was so scared and in pain I was shaking and crying. Once he rolled me onto my back again all of the uncomfortable sensations went away. He started asking me questions, and I was answering them for a minute, but then I was F~LLLL~~O~~~A~T~I~N~G! WOW! I was happy happy! I started laughing and asked him what he gave me. The sedative he gave me just now kicked in. I told him that I wanted it everyday that I was here, and that the bed was floating. I also told him I thought he was the best Doctor ever! I really wasn’t lying he really is! When they took me to the room I was still a little loopy. I wanted Jacque to come talk to me, thankfully her and Louis were next door. She said my eyes were rolling back into my head! I was OUT THERE!!!
April 17,2008
Still HEADACHE! I woke up with a throbbing headache! My head feels like it is going to explode. The sisters will not give me anything until I eat something. Yea right. I do not have an appetite- I lied to them and said that I did eat. So they brought me another injection of pain killers. They did not help. The day went on forever with pain. I have been keeping myself hydrated, but it’s not helping. Half way through the day I was trying to roll over, without any energy and a lot of pain, I was not all with it, my legs spasm and I flew off of the bed. The sisters tried to help me, thankfully Scott is strong! Today, I may have showed Scott a side of me that no one has seen. I am not allowed to leave this hospital to go back to the other until I am feeling better. My head hurts twice as bad, and there is nothing I can do. IT IS TORTURE! I slept, and slept, with only the noise of the IPOD. I tried to eat some ramen to make it go away, but that did not help, so I tried to sleep again. Finally, at 5pm, there was some banging. They were building a new counter. I called the sisters in and demanded that they get me a taxi to take me back. I quickly packed up my stuff and we were out of there. The ride over was horrible, the pain was worse with every bump. When I got to Green Park, Dr. Prudy saved me. He could tell I was still not well so he brought me some pain pills. I got my blanket, and pillow, and packed it down to Shawn’s room. He and Elaine distracted me while I lay on the futon thing. I had to lie down to make it feel better, and the pain pills didn’t make it go away, it only made it comfortable. I sat in there until bedtime. Being distracted is the only way I forget about the pain, and Scott is not happy with me because the headache turned me into the devil! After some more medicine hopefully I will be better tomorrow.
April 18, 2008
This morning I still had a headache, but forced myself out of bed to PT. Shivani and I did a light session of stretching, and ball balancing. My head was in too much pain still. Dr. Ashish came in along with Dr. Shroff to check on all of the patients as they usually do on Friday’s. Dr. Ashish talked to me for a long time about the procedure and how many more I may be getting until the time that I leave. I only have two weeks left! Dr. Shroff joked about me falling out of the bed! After my injection, I had found out that Leah Roland is now here. Yay-someone from home! I am excited to chat with her, and show her around!
During lunch Elaine came to our room to eat. Julie is not feeling well…uh, oh-DELHI BELLY! She could not smell the foods so she sent Elaine away. We sat and chatted until PT. I was still not feeling well so I did not go to PT I lay in Shawn’s room until Elaine was done with PT then she joined us. We watched TV, and relaxed the rest of the day in his room. I had taken a pain pill so; I was very mellow until it wore off. Once it did ware off, I had my appetite back so I made some ramen noodles (my other “comfort food”). It made me feel much better! While I had been laying low for so long, and now feeling well with a small amount of pain in my brain, I was full of energy. Mischief for me and Elaine.
Elaine and I were trying to give Julie as much space as we could because she was not feeling well, and Elaine has been helping her mother so she was ready to venture out. After bugging Scott for a while, we decided to go talk to Leah. She is on the 1st floor because of the NO VACANCY on our floor. It is a little bit dark down there, and not as loud…hmmm wonder why? She and her husband were relaxing, I think they are still a bit jet lag, but Elaine and I barged in any way! We chatted with them for quite a while. We had not realized how long we were gone until the night doctor came into her room. He started laughing and said, “the mother take care of the children always, when mother sick, children run away.” We laughed, it was so true, no one knew where we were, it was funny. (He also told Julie, that 1+1 is not 2 with me, it is 1000! I am not sure what that was about but it apparently meant that I am a lot of mischief!) Scott came looking for us shortly after that. After two hours of catching up with Leah, we ventured back upstairs.
Julie is finally feeling better! She had more energy and finally had her appetite back. Jacque and I mentioned that we wanted sundae’s that made Julie want French fries….mmmmm salt! On our mission to taking orders for McDonald’s, Elaine and I were distracted by the loud band outside our hospital. What is the band doing at 9:30pm?
With Elaine following as I rushed out of the room to go down to the lobby to check out the band, Julie yells, “DON’T GO OUTSIDE, STAY INSIDE THE HOSPITAL.” Why does she not trust us? We watched the band from inside the hospital, Elaine taking some pictures. However, that view was not good enough. Grabbing Elaine’s hand, I told her we would only go to the sidewalk! Well, the band started moving down the road. So we followed. Jacque came rushing out and caught up to us. The three of us chasing the wedding down the street, at night in our pajamas; it was EXACTLY what Julie told us not to do! Now, why does she not trust us? The ward boy and the security man soon came chasing after us. “NO no No, you need to go inside,” he said.
The wedding’s here go on for days. They are spectacular. The bands are amazing, and they go down the streets with the bride and groom dancing and celebrating. They are followed with boys holding glass chandeliers and horses.
When we got inside, we were so excited telling everyone about the wedding. Julie knew right away that we had gone outside! Still wired, Elaine and I decided to venture back down to the 1st floor. That floor is all orange, our floor is blue…boring! We had a plan to steal (borrow) all of the “DO NOT DISTURB” signs and trade them with our blue ones. The 1st floor is very dark, and I’m not going to lie, I am very afraid of the dark, but I have to act tough and adventurous in front of Elaine. So I made her go first! (Yea, I’m the tough guy!) Well, apparently the sister’s do not visit the 1st floor as often because NO ONE HAD THEIR SIGNS OUT! Dang, there went our plan, so we went back up to our floor.
Arriving to our floor we heard Julie, “WHERE ARE MY GIRLS, and WHERE IS THE MCDONALD’S?” OOOps, we forgot, pour girl she has not eaten all day! We quickly rallied up some money, and the order, and sent Shawn’s friend up to McDonald’s. They don’t close until 1 am.
Meanwhile, Jaq painted my toes, and we had a bit of “girly” time with Julie and Elaine, also plotting how we were going to torture Shawn. He has no chance..two against one! Twenty minutes went by, then the friend returned. McDonald’s was closed. WHAT-but it’s only midnight? Well, sorry Julie, maybe tomorrow. No more midnight shenanigans! Time for bed, well for all of them, my good buddy Brandon called and told me about a song I had to download-“I’LL WALK” By Bucky Covington. Oh boy, I did and it totally made me cry. How perfect, Thanks bud, I loved it, and I loved it so much I had to put it on my MySpace! So, late night for me trying to do all of that!
April 19,2008
Early morning PT for me! I had Pt this morning at 8:30am, (usually at 9) but because we had planned to go to the TAJ today we arranged for our PT to be earlier. However, although Shivani said 8:30 sharp I was late as was she. Today was the first real session since the day before my procedure. We did some stretching and ball balancing and back onto the walker again! I had told Chavi that Elaine would not be coming down for PT today, (we stayed up way too late for that little lamb)! Chavi had an open morning because her other patients were sick so they too would not be attending PT.
After my session of PT, I headed back up to my room. When I arrived, I was informed that the whole floor was sick. Everyone has Delhi Belly! Aw, man, I feel sorry for them! I sat in my room trying to get motivated to venture outside. Scott really needs to see the beauty of this country! After lunch, and emails, and some chit chat, I was finally ready to take a shower. Oh and just in time for Yoga. Yay for Scott, he can go to Yoga! While he was in Yoga I entertained Shawn, we watched Hannah Montana. Even he is starting to love that show!
Elaine finally came out of her cave! I asked her to come out with Scott and I. I had already arranged for a taxi. I am taking him to the Big Chill. He needs to eat good food. Crackers and Smarties are not going to cut it dude! I know that Scott will enjoy this area because it is a market place with some American shops as well.
Our driver was giving me fit’s right from the start, man I hate that! We have not even left the hospital and already he is worried about his money! He was great once we arrived at the Big Chill parking lot, he was very helpful and worried about us. We took Scott to a market where we can buy Oreo’s and other things that are more like home! Once we got into the restaurant, he was being difficult. He still will not eat, for fear that he will get Delhi Belly! Ok, I snapped! I told him that I brought him to this place because it has great food, and it is completely safe, you can even eat the salad! And that I found my voice and I am going to use it! HE said that Sonia told him horror stories about her getting sick so he will not touch anything! OMG! I am beyond frustration with this situation. I told Elaine to tell her friend (Scott, who I am now not trying to show a good time, or not going to putting in any effort to help him enjoy his three weeks), that he should try the salad and that it is safe. He broke, but he did tell me that as soon as we get into America I will no longer be the BOSS.
After eating a great meal, and some milkshakes, it was time to go back home. Mamma Julie has text us to make sure that we are not getting into too much trouble. We were doing great with staying out of trouble until we passed the bangle’s! But oh what a good deal they were! Sorry mamma Julie, no more money to buy your soap! Just kidding, we will put all of our money together, we can’t forget anything this time!
On our way back we did have to the hospital, we did stop in Green Park market to get the soap. The driver was not happy that he had to stop, he was complaining that we would run over our time. Four hours, and we only had him for 3 ½ so far. He is not a good guy. When we got back to the hospital he argued with me about the money and that we owed him more money. He was wrong but I was so over arguing with him.
Julie wanted McDonald’s since she did not have it last night. We rounded up some money and a lot of orders and sent Scott up the road to pick up the order. Julie was very pleased when he got back, she still had not eaten anything for two days! Everyone was tired because we all stayed up very late, so it was a very early night. I was still not very tired, so I went into the lobby and was chased down by Anjeli. She was telling me to go to bed. I was more interested in what was going on across the street. She told me they were setting up for food for the homeless people. I asked her if I could go over and help them tomorrow, she said no that it was way too dangerous. She told me to only watch what goes on tomorrow, from Shawn’s room!
I sat up for a little while longer, talked to my brother, and Lauren. They helped me to make me feel better, I am missing them so much, but they helped me to realize how quickly this trip has gone by, and how much I am gaining from all of this. It is so worth it, and I do feel so blessed to be here!
April 20, 2008
Today I am very sad, I was homesick but today realized how much I will miss it here. I am falling in love with India, but wishing it was not so far away. Love my treatments and all of the sisters and doctors and patients I have met.
I woke up really early to go watch the festivities. Shawn was not in his room, I decided to watch from the lobby. While I was down there watching from the door, Dr. Schroff, came over to me and asked me what I was doing. I told her, I wanted to go over there with them, she said that it was too dangerous, and that the food would possibly make me sick. When I told her that I only wanted to go over and help, she said that she would arrange it for me.
I Quickly went upstairs, got dressed and went down to serve the homeless people. She had one of the ward boys run down to the market to pick get some banana’s. He pushed me across the street. We handed out the bananas, then they all asked if I would join in on the bread making. So I made four pieces of bread. It was an amazing thing to be a part of, I enjoyed it! I was not allowed to stay too long, plus it was getting very hot.
I went back up to my room, and had made plans with Leah to go out later. I told her that I had to clean my room then we could meet up. After I was done cleaning my room, I went into Shawn’s room and started cleaning his.
Leah, Danno, Scott, and I piled into a large taxi. The Taxi driver was the best. He drove us all around Delhi, (so that Leah and Danno could see a little bit more of it). I knew that near the Embassy’s there were monkey’s, so we asked him to take us there so they could see the monkey’s . There were a lot of babies, so it was exciting for them to see them.
Our little tour was over, and we were off to CP (one of the market places). I wanted to go to this particular market because there is a very posh bar. I knew that Scott would enjoy it because it was clean, the atmosphere is nice and there is beer. Danno had also mentioned that he wanted to get a beer too. We sat there while the boys drank two ice cold beer’s then we went out on the town-ok we toured around the market place. There was some loud music in the park, in the middle of the market, and we really wanted to get across to see the action. When we finally got across the street and to the loud music, we got to see the tail end of dancing, and costumes, and bands, and rings of fire. I am not sure what it was, or why they were celebrating, but it was amazing. We were all wishing we could have seen the whole thing.
Our time was up with our taxi so we went back to the parking lot to meet up with him again. It was fun showing Leah and Danno around. They love India and they are really going to enjoy their stay here!
kasiemarieburtard |
Latest page update: made by kasiemarieburtard
, Apr 23 2008, 2:04 PM EDT
(about this update
About This Update
Edited by kasiemarieburtard
1 word added 1 word deleted view changes - complete history) |
|
Keyword tags:
None
More Info: links to this page
|
There are no threads for this page.
Be the first to start a new thread.
