It is unbelievable how useless I am at drinking alcohol! Other than the occasional Bloody Mary, it is only the saintly Nimbu Soda that I can take. I gave up pretending or trying to be the “in”, fashionable lady ages back!
The chemo therapy started on the 29th of April. That was the dreaded day. I was terrified! Early in the morning the nurses walked in smiling brightly. They carried all kinds of stuff that made me even more scared.
One of the nurses inserted the needle through my chemo port while another hung up a thick plastic packet and attached it to the needle. She said it was a “pre medication” before the chemo. It was going to last for 30 minutes. That was the soda I took in, thinking “That is so easy”!!
Campari came next. It was Adriamycin, gorgeously red and deadly!! Drop by drop it seeped in me as I stared at its beautiful red colour. I began to feel drowsy. The sweet sister assured me it was perfectly timed to seep in for the next 30 minutes. “Great”, I thought.
Feeling relatively drunk, I passed in and out of sleep when I felt a tug at that tube connected to my needle. I was through with beautiful campari. This was another bigger white packet. “What is this, sister?” I croaked. She replied, “Endoxan” with such joy! “Oh, that is gin, then”, I told myself, and sank back.
The potent gin pushed its way through my needle drop by drop for the next one hour. I had almost passed out by then. Remember how useless I am at taking alcoholic drinks? Two hours was certainly a bit much!
I was totally drunk. I could not think or open my eyes. “The last 30 minutes”, said Sister. “This is post medication and flush for the chemo port,” she added. “No problem, Sister.” I muttered. Tonic water would do me good. I sank back helplessly into my drunken state. There was peace all around me. I had undergone my first chemo therapy!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Hi didi,You have been so brave.We all knew you had a hell of a lot of courage! We are sure you'll come out of this and win the battle.Remember .... you are a real fighter!
ReplyDeleteI dont know what else to do Mithu! I just dont know how to give up!!
ReplyDeletehi just read your blog.gives a lot of hope to all of us who take things for granted.your courage and spirit shine through.am waiting to hear all is well now!
ReplyDeleteHey Sunanda! Great to hear from you!! It will be a long time before I can tell you that I am well, But am definitely trying! Thanks for being there for all these years!:)
ReplyDeleteHi sarbari,
ReplyDeleteI am Arundhati, your senior compatriot who treaded the 'C' path four and a half year's ago. Read your blog postings. I am sure this round belongs to you; your indomitable spirit and positivity will see you through with fine colours. By the way, the colourful nails, the shiny pate, and gossamer eyebrows are all proofs that the medicines are taking effect. Once when I was undergoing chemo (and had no vegetation on top)I was relaxing on our front porch. I was wearing a orange coloured sari and incidentally had a orange shawl wrapped around. A carpet seller came by and tried selling me a lovely piece of embroidered footmat which seemed to me to cost a fortune. He, however, countered saying "Mataji, aap to
pujaran hai,aap ke liye saste me de dunga!" Hurrah to my bald pate and orange attire, I became a proud possesser of that beautiful article.
Would love to come and meet you sometime, if that is permitted and if you feel inclined. I am incidentally also mother of one of your former student Archishman at DPS.
Keep smiling
Hey Arundhati! What a pleasure to read your comment..and so encouraging too!! I would love to meet you, but I live in Gurgaon. Hence, am sure that you would go through a lot of trouble if you come over. However, I would love to chat with you. My email add is sensofpalms@airtelmail.in Do write me a mail with your ph no. so that I can call you up. Please give a big hug to Archisman. Much love to you.
ReplyDelete