Meet Sachi's Bhai (older brother) and Apa. Bhai is visiting us from India. He is staying in Chicago with Vivek (youngest brother's son) and comes over with Vivek for weekends. This week they are here for the whole week and we are so glad to have them. Sachi has a close knit family and it means a lot to us and to the other brothers and sisters to have Bhai with us during this challenging time. Many many thanks to Apa for holding the fort at home while Bhai visits us. This picture was taken by Sachi in December at (Babi's older son) Naren's wedding. Happy times like that will come back again. Sachi is beginning to feel the effects of Chemo and Radiation. His throat and mouth are sore and painful. He is increasingly preferring to have meal supplements in the form of shakes. He wants everyone to know that they come in many flavours and are not so bad. I think they need to come up with mango flavor too, to satisfy their Indian customers. Sachi has lost some weight again and we plan to consult with the charming Dr. Garces for any suggestions and help. Today the Radiation treatment is at 1:30 so we are sitting and enjoying the morning from our bed. Hillary (my candidate) and Obama (Sachi's candidate) are trying to win us over from the TV.
Lincoln was wonderful. We filled in a lot of 'together' time in the short break. Sachi I think over did it in keeping up with us but recovered fast. We were lucky to meet some dear friends too. Sachi was able to consult his dentist (who is a close friend of many years) for suggestions to sooth the inflamed oral mucosa. Thanks Chris. Our drive yesterday was both relaxing and uneventful. I guess we are getting used to coming over here. Leaving the kids was the hard part. The kids of course are grown and are doing fine. Jyoti and Jeff are playing mom and dad for us. We are so proud of them for rising to the occasion and continuing the task of living while we are busy here with Sachi's treatment. We are looking forward to seeing them and Seema (younger sister's daughter) in five days.
Love to all who are joining us in this journey......Ambi.
8 comments:
Thank you for all of the postings. I was concerned last week when there weren't many, but relieved when I heard you were back in Lincoln for a visit. You are blessed with wonderful family. I am working at Bryan Hospital today and I am asked often how Sachi is. You have so many friends here who care about you. They send their prayers. I recently sang a song and thought of you. It was written when the composer had recently lost his family (wife and daughter) to a fire. He was horrribly distraught for weeks until he sat down at the piano and wrote this song. It is called "Precious Lord, Take my Hand". I hope you can relate to those words and find comfort and strength in them. I will send the words to the verses when I can. For now, my lunch is over, so I better get back to work!!! Missing you, Virg
"Precious Lord, Take my Hand..."
The name of the song itself speaks volumes.... I can imagine how beautiful the body of the lyric must be. Once you offer yourself to the Lord in total surrender, He takes charge and leads you out of the tunnel into the radiance of hope and happiness. So long as we hold on to our inflated ego, living under the mistaken notion that we have the power to change the course of the “Moving Finger”, our path becomes strewn with obstacles everywhere and we find ourselves trapped in the quagmire of fruitless desires and futile ambitions. But once we realize the truth about our existence and, like your friend Sachi (Sanabhai) firmly believes and illustrates, appeal to God to let us have knowledge of His Will and grant us the capacity to carry it out, our life becomes a journey in fulfillment and our world becomes a paradise......
The latest posting and photograph, Nuabou, fill the site with an aura of divinity that can only be felt, not expressed. While one is determined in his will to join you all in facing the challenge and overcoming the hurdles, the other is silently living at the shores of Puri, offering her sincere prayers at the divine feet of Lord Jagannath for Sanabhai's speedy, painless recovery and your united journey back home... to a life of rejuvenated vigor and renewed faith.
Pranams and Prayers
Babi
brother mine, i felt sad n morose to know abt ur loss in ,both..weight n appetite...though it is expected...yet it is painful.i know ,bhaiya, what u'll say...i don't want to hear.i am only praying from my heart...O LORD!DO HOLD MY DEAR BROTHER'S HAND TIGHTLY...i know YOU ARE...but then i cannot stay without requesting YOU..if we hold YOUR HAND...by mistake our hold might become loose n we might fall..but if YOU HOLD OUR HAND..THERE IS NO CHANCE OF OUR FALLING...SO LORD ,PLEASE BE AT THE SIDE OF MY DARLING BROTHER...
sanabhai dear,your pain is our's(5 of us)..we r from the same tree..we r all branches...same flesh n blood...we r all parts of the same body...when one limb is in pain, how can the body rest in peace????
today is the 12th day of treatment...2nd chemo....hope everything goes fine...let rest of the days pass peacefully n painlessly..this is my earnest hope ,wish n desire...
all my love, prayer, reike n best wishes to you...love sini n sanju
Hope all is going well. We had to learn with our daughter you eat what sounds good at that time. If it isn't there you find where it is. I wanted to just post and give a suggestion for the mouth sores. I don't know if they have given you the little sponges with medicine to scrub the inside of your cheeks. It was some mix that had lidocaine and 2 other meds. Another suggestion that is easy would be popsicles. They seem to help out some. I know with our daughter Sydnee's radiation and chemo this was a nagging problem that we tried to stay on top of. Thanks for you and your wife's transparency and positive attitude. Continue being that shining light.
John 3:21 "But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God."
Let me share an interesting part of my day:
A 19-yr old boy came in complaining of being excessively sluggish, having no appetite, losing 25 lbs in 1 month, and having occasional bouts of nausea and vomitting. I didn't like the sound of 25-lb weight loss with sluggishness.
I delved deeper into his history. I found that he'd been urinating more frequently and was excessively thirsty as well.
Hmm... I had a couple diagnoses swimming in my head. Let's find out more.
Well, he'd had his tooth pulled a couple of weeks ago but his gums still hurt and he had some kind of rash on his neck.
Now I was thoroughly confused.
In walks the personification of wisdom and experience. He took in the history I had gathered, examined the patient's eyes/gums/belly for a brief moment, smiled at me, and walked out. He knew and he knew I was confused.
So I finished up and walked out to discuss my diagnoses. Could it be cancer with such severe weight loss? What about a severe infection from the gums? Or maybe even diabetes?
The attending gave me a scenario. Say the boy did suffer from lack of insulin. He would feel thirsty all the time and urinate a lot. Then say he got an infection from the tooth being pulled. That would cause a worsening of his diabetes under stressful conditions, leading to nausea/vomiting and his excessive sluggishness.
But what about his weight loss? Well, did you talk to him about his girlfriend? He just broke up with her a month ago and got depressed. The depression caused his weight loss; the stress of the break-up probably started his symptoms. He got his tooth pulled and suffered a mild infection which threw him over the edge and now he's in the ER.
All I could say was - W O W!!!
Here is the song that Sachi requested that I post. May God bless you,Sachi and your family all over the world. Kelly
THAT'S WHY I'M HERE
No I ain’t had nothing to drink
I knew that’s probably what you’d think
If I dropped by this time of night
Remember way back when, I promised you I’d drop in
At one of those meetings down at the Y
Well, they started talkin’ bout steps you take
Mistakes you make, the hearts you break
And the price you pay, I almost walked away
You could hear a pin drop, when this old man
stood up and said I’m gonna say it again
Like I do every week for those who don’t know me
chorus:
It’s the simple things in life
Like the kids at home and a lovin’ wife
That you miss the most when you lose control
And every thing you love starts to disappear
The devil takes your hand and says No fear
Have another shot just one more beer
Yah, I’ve been there that’s why I’m here
This ole boys stood up in the aisle
Said he’d been living a life of denial
And he cried as he talked about wasted years
I couldn’t believe what I heard
It was my life word for word
And all of the sudden it was clear
chorus:It’s the simple things in life
Like the kids at home and a lovin’ wife
That you miss the most when you lose control
And every thing you love starts to disappear
The devil takes your hand and says No fear
Have another shot just one more beer
Yah, I’ve been there that’s why I’m here
I know for us it may be too late
But it would mean the world to me
If you were there when I stand up to say
Chorus:It’s the simple things in life
Like the kids at home and a lovin’ wife
That you miss the most when you lose control
And every thing you love starts to disappear
The devil takes your hand and says No fear
Have another shot just one more beer
Yah, I’ve been there that’s why I’m here
That is just beautiful - the words are so touching. But I think its true not only in the context it was written in, but also in our everyday lives, when we live mechanically from day to day, going about our chores at home and at work, when we forget to "stop and smell the roses" so to speak. And all of a sudden we realize how many years have passed and how fast the children are growing up, and that we aren't taking the time to enjoy every moment of it.
I get reminded of this whenever I see my kids sleeping. They look like such angels. It makes me think of missed moments during the day and reminds me to enjoy the next day I get with them.
Bada dada, I had started writing a note as soon as I heard about your pain and soreness. But I deleted it. Somehow I had hoped against hope that the whole process will go by without too much discomfort. And we were all basking in the warmth of thoughts of you and khudi at Lincoln, enjoying yourselves with the kids. For a couple of days, I almost forgot that things could be tough and painful soon. So when I heard about it, it almost felt worse than it did when you first started the treatment. But God has prepared you well. Stay strong, Bada dada. It will soon be over. We are all counting the days. Maybe you could focus on the movies instead?
Love & prayers,
Pinky
It is great to hear that you were back home this weekend. I love all of the pictures you have posted. The one of Sachi and the kids brought tears to my eyes remembering the days when I was in their shoes. I am so glad to hear that Sachi is still feeling strong. It sounds like you are both trying to make the best of your time away from home...GOOD FOR YOU!
Take care and stay strong -- you are both amazing people
Heather
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