Life hardens you the most when you least expected.
My father was a healthy retired man when suddenly clear fluid started flowing from his left nostril. Initially we thought it was common cold and when it did not stop, he visited a couple of doctors who did not diagnose correctly. Finally it was Dr. BG Rudrappa who did a MRI scan and informed us that it was the brain fluid which is leaking because of an impact that would have happened. We were not sure when my Father had an impact blow on his forehead. On flash back we realized, that an year ago, when kids were playing cricket in front of the house, the leather ball had hit him on the forehead. Though it pained, he recovered soon and later we forgot about it.
And, on Dr.Rudrappa's advise, he was asked not to bend down, lift heavy things and sleep with the head on a higher pillow. The membrane would heal by itself. Life was usual for the next month or so.
It was another sunny day in our lives when we set out for a temple visit of our family deity Mavinakere LakshmiVenkataramana Swamy on 26th June 2011.
The trip was filled with fun and songs sung by my Father. He was excited as always. We spent a good amount of time in Mavinakere before heading out to Hebbale - the birth place of my Grandfather. Dad & I got into the river Hemavati for a bath and it started raining. We did not care much and enroute, I turned the car towards Shravanabelagola to visit the Gomateshwara temple.
My Father climbed the hill one go, putting the rest of us to shame in front of his stamina and energy. He did not spend much time on the top either. He quickly descended down and even gave climbing tips to folks who were struggling.
The trip was a blessed one without any accidents or unpleasant events.
The next day 27th June 2011, I left for office by 1730 Hrs and he bid me good bye. Everything was good till the time Vidya called me at 0100 Hrs telling me that Anna has collapsed in the bathroom. With the help of the neighbors they had lifted him to the hall. I asked her to stay calm and describe the symptoms. From what she described, it appeared like stroke. I gave her instructions which My Father had taught me on what should be done in case of a stroke.
I immediately left from office and by then Kiran had reached home. Kiran, Vidya and Rajappa uncle had shifted him to St.Johns hospital. When I arrived at the hospital, they had done the blood sugar test which was at 400. He went through a MRI scan and the duty doctor told, everything is normal and its probably because of the high blood sugar he collapsed.
His condition was still critical, jaws opened, eyes frozen in a open state turned towards the right and no movement on the left side of his body. Not sure if he was even able to listen to what we were saying.
Without second thoughts we rushed him to Apollo hospital in an ambulance. Now it was me and him in an unconscious state in the ambulance. He vomited bile which was a clear indication that he had a seizure.
The duty doctor who examined him immediately called Dr.Ashok who is a neurologist. Within 5 minutes Dr.Ashok was there and asked me a lot of questions and I did inform him about the clear fluid leaking from his left nostril which had stopped. Looking at Fathers symptoms, he informed me that he should be moved to ICU. I resisted telling him that my Father was fit and fine last evening and what would have happened in such a short time. He convinced me that the MRI looks fine, however the seizures may take sometime to show on the reports. Also he needs to investigate on the brain fluid which may have caused the seizures.
He was moved to the ICU and we were still thinking once the blood sugar comes to normal he would be fine but fate had other plans. After the diagnosis the doctors identified that he was suffering from bacterial meningitis to the brain. Step one was to kill the bacteria and prevent it from multiplying. On day two, Dr. Ashok informed me that my Father is still in danger and the chances of his survival is only 10%. The medicine administered has killed the bacteria which was confirmed by the lumbar puncture test. But the threat was in eliminating the dead bacteria from his brain which could turn into venom. It was a tough message and I and Kiran had to prepare everyone at home to face the worst. He was in coma for 5 days. On day five I called my friend Nagaraj who is an anesthetist. He rushed to the ICU and shouted my Dad's name to which he responded. He came out and shouted at me telling that, your Father is not in coma and he should be taken out of the ventilator the next day.
SaiBaba to the rescue - Day five before Nagaraj could visit, my friend Gaurav visited the hospital and gave me a picture of Saibaba and a little ash to be applied on his forehead. I placed the picture on the window where my Father could see if he were to open his eyes. And as it turned out, Baba had come in the form of Nagaraj bringing hopes and reassuring everything will be fine and he will recover.
Day six, Father was out of the ventilator and he was able to breathe on his own. The only name he could remember was mine. His memory was erased to a great extent. To that extent, that he had forgotten Mother's name, confused between Vidya and Ramya. Kiran, Skanda and the rest of them did not even exist in his memory. It was now tough with his hallucinations of a 200 feet snake, Saibaba trying to protect him, his bed going up and down. He had slipped back in time to his days in BOSCH.
He repeated the same things over and over again to me. When I tried telling him about Mom, Skanda and Ramya, it had no impact on him at all. It took some time for him to be able to recollect faces and attach a name to them.
The doctors discharged him and it was not over yet. He had to undergo a surgery after a month to plug the torn membrane and prevent a similar infection from occurring again.
A million thanks to Dr. Ashok and Dr. Praharaj who performed the surgery and within 2 days he was discharged.
He was on medication for good three months and now along with memories, its a thin scar that remains on his head.
GOD shows up in different forms - you have to be awake to see HIM. Nagaraj, Gaurav and his family, the Doctors and the neighbors.
My father was a healthy retired man when suddenly clear fluid started flowing from his left nostril. Initially we thought it was common cold and when it did not stop, he visited a couple of doctors who did not diagnose correctly. Finally it was Dr. BG Rudrappa who did a MRI scan and informed us that it was the brain fluid which is leaking because of an impact that would have happened. We were not sure when my Father had an impact blow on his forehead. On flash back we realized, that an year ago, when kids were playing cricket in front of the house, the leather ball had hit him on the forehead. Though it pained, he recovered soon and later we forgot about it.
And, on Dr.Rudrappa's advise, he was asked not to bend down, lift heavy things and sleep with the head on a higher pillow. The membrane would heal by itself. Life was usual for the next month or so.
It was another sunny day in our lives when we set out for a temple visit of our family deity Mavinakere LakshmiVenkataramana Swamy on 26th June 2011.
The trip was filled with fun and songs sung by my Father. He was excited as always. We spent a good amount of time in Mavinakere before heading out to Hebbale - the birth place of my Grandfather. Dad & I got into the river Hemavati for a bath and it started raining. We did not care much and enroute, I turned the car towards Shravanabelagola to visit the Gomateshwara temple.
 |
| In front of the Mavinakere temple |
My Father climbed the hill one go, putting the rest of us to shame in front of his stamina and energy. He did not spend much time on the top either. He quickly descended down and even gave climbing tips to folks who were struggling.
 |
| Anna giving tips on how to climb |
The trip was a blessed one without any accidents or unpleasant events.
The next day 27th June 2011, I left for office by 1730 Hrs and he bid me good bye. Everything was good till the time Vidya called me at 0100 Hrs telling me that Anna has collapsed in the bathroom. With the help of the neighbors they had lifted him to the hall. I asked her to stay calm and describe the symptoms. From what she described, it appeared like stroke. I gave her instructions which My Father had taught me on what should be done in case of a stroke.
I immediately left from office and by then Kiran had reached home. Kiran, Vidya and Rajappa uncle had shifted him to St.Johns hospital. When I arrived at the hospital, they had done the blood sugar test which was at 400. He went through a MRI scan and the duty doctor told, everything is normal and its probably because of the high blood sugar he collapsed.
 |
| Post Surgery with the drain connected straight to the brain |
His condition was still critical, jaws opened, eyes frozen in a open state turned towards the right and no movement on the left side of his body. Not sure if he was even able to listen to what we were saying.
Without second thoughts we rushed him to Apollo hospital in an ambulance. Now it was me and him in an unconscious state in the ambulance. He vomited bile which was a clear indication that he had a seizure.
The duty doctor who examined him immediately called Dr.Ashok who is a neurologist. Within 5 minutes Dr.Ashok was there and asked me a lot of questions and I did inform him about the clear fluid leaking from his left nostril which had stopped. Looking at Fathers symptoms, he informed me that he should be moved to ICU. I resisted telling him that my Father was fit and fine last evening and what would have happened in such a short time. He convinced me that the MRI looks fine, however the seizures may take sometime to show on the reports. Also he needs to investigate on the brain fluid which may have caused the seizures.
He was moved to the ICU and we were still thinking once the blood sugar comes to normal he would be fine but fate had other plans. After the diagnosis the doctors identified that he was suffering from bacterial meningitis to the brain. Step one was to kill the bacteria and prevent it from multiplying. On day two, Dr. Ashok informed me that my Father is still in danger and the chances of his survival is only 10%. The medicine administered has killed the bacteria which was confirmed by the lumbar puncture test. But the threat was in eliminating the dead bacteria from his brain which could turn into venom. It was a tough message and I and Kiran had to prepare everyone at home to face the worst. He was in coma for 5 days. On day five I called my friend Nagaraj who is an anesthetist. He rushed to the ICU and shouted my Dad's name to which he responded. He came out and shouted at me telling that, your Father is not in coma and he should be taken out of the ventilator the next day.
SaiBaba to the rescue - Day five before Nagaraj could visit, my friend Gaurav visited the hospital and gave me a picture of Saibaba and a little ash to be applied on his forehead. I placed the picture on the window where my Father could see if he were to open his eyes. And as it turned out, Baba had come in the form of Nagaraj bringing hopes and reassuring everything will be fine and he will recover.
Day six, Father was out of the ventilator and he was able to breathe on his own. The only name he could remember was mine. His memory was erased to a great extent. To that extent, that he had forgotten Mother's name, confused between Vidya and Ramya. Kiran, Skanda and the rest of them did not even exist in his memory. It was now tough with his hallucinations of a 200 feet snake, Saibaba trying to protect him, his bed going up and down. He had slipped back in time to his days in BOSCH.
He repeated the same things over and over again to me. When I tried telling him about Mom, Skanda and Ramya, it had no impact on him at all. It took some time for him to be able to recollect faces and attach a name to them.
The doctors discharged him and it was not over yet. He had to undergo a surgery after a month to plug the torn membrane and prevent a similar infection from occurring again.
A million thanks to Dr. Ashok and Dr. Praharaj who performed the surgery and within 2 days he was discharged.
He was on medication for good three months and now along with memories, its a thin scar that remains on his head.
GOD shows up in different forms - you have to be awake to see HIM. Nagaraj, Gaurav and his family, the Doctors and the neighbors.
