A Room With a View

Location: BMT Room, Hospital, Pune My room window offers me a generous view of verdant side of the hospital. It seems that the trees have gathered near the hospital with a purpose - the purpose to bring a feeling of immense tranquility and joy to an ailing patient who looks through the window. Today the trees were swaying as a danseuse would. It was as if they were appeasing Rain Gods for showers to slake their thirst.

If you stretch yourself a little and look at the ground level you will see a swimming pool wrapped in its blueness with swimmers causing random twirls in it. On its edges are narrow streets into various residential areas in vicinity. With the swimming pool, the swimmers, the twirls and the vehicles moving alongside the streets the view looks like a screen straight out of a computer game. My room itself is very quiet, a stark contrast to my semi-private ward. It is sealed from all the side. There is a vent through which purified air is fed into the room. The visitors to my room, including relatives, doctors, nurses and janitors have to clad themselves in sterilized clothes and then before entering my room they have to wear an additional layer of surgeon's gown, cap and a mask. As long as they are in my room they need to remain masked and capped. So attiring is a tiring affair for my visitors. :) Masked faces bother me more than anything else. They hide your expressions. They hide the smiles I am used to seeing. Probably that is one reason we feel nervous when a surgeon steps in with his or her face masked. That mask might be hiding a beaming face that would alleviate your anxiety. Why can't they make transparent masks? I am under constant observation through a window that opens towards the nursing station. Food and beverages have to pass through a steam cooker. Steamed delicacies are passed to my room via a compartment which has a two-way door. Visitors cannot have food with me or use my bathroom.

Today at the stroke of midnight first part of chemotherapy will end. I would have consumed 270 tablets (90 tablets each day) by then. On Wednesday they will put me on the other chemotherapy medicine. It will be only a single dose given intravenously. On Thursday my body will get a daylong break from medicines. Finally on Friday the stem cells will come back to my body after vacationing in blood bank.

Speaking of vacationing so far the known side-effect of nausea and vomitting have also been vacationing. I am feeling absolutely fine as I write this. Thanks for all the prayers and good wishes you all are sending me. Believe me they are playing a big part in keeping me cheerful and hopeful.