I had a terrible day. We say it all the time. A fight with the
boss, the stomach flu, traffic. That’s what we describe as terrible when
nothing terrible is happening. But, when the really terrible things
happen, we start begging the God we don’t believe in to bring back the little
horrors and take away this. It seems quaint now, doesn’t it? The flood in the
kitchen, the poison oak, the fight that leaves you shaking with rage. Would it
have helped if we could see what else was coming? Would we have known that
those were the best moments of our lives? It is seriously hard to tell. Isn’t
it? Shanaya thought the same looking at her 5 year old son, Chiranjeev.
Sitting in a room full of IV
fluids, syringes and machines, she constantly gazed at his son’s face, lying on
a bed at perhaps the world’s biggest hospital, The Mayo Hospital. The only
thought that came to her mind was the unfortunate day, December 14,2012, when
her journey to the inferno began. It was a Friday, she clearly recalled. She
was in her office, talking to her boss about how the stocks in the market had
turned into an asset for their company. Suddenly, a phone call came from The Delhi
School of Learning. She never knew that this phone call would turn her life
upside down.
Miss Fernandez, Chiranjeev’s
kindergarden teacher had called up Shanaya for an emergency case of her son,
stating that he was having abdominal pain and couldn’t feel his legs. He had
been rushed to The Apollo Hospital, 3 blocks away from the school itself. After
those words, she had simply lost her mental balance. She came out of her
office, running towards her black Honda City which seemed to have been parked
in the distant corner of the parking lot. As the got into the car, there was no
time lag in revving of the engines. Within minutes, she reached the hospital
where her son was already in the operation theater, being examined by Dr. Ankit
Shergil. The only words that came out of her mouth were if her son was fine.
The doctor coldly replied,” It seems we need to run a few more tests before the
diagnosis.” As the doctor left, ordering for a CT scan and an MRI, the intern
consoled the worried mother by telling her that Dr. Ankit was simply the best.
Yet worried on the whole, there was a part of her that was relieved.
After about 40 minutes, the
doctor returned. He said,” The news is not good. Chiranjeev seems to have a
very rare condition called abdominal aortic aneurysm. Not that the condition is
rare, the chances of finding the anomaly in such a young child is very rare.
There have been only a few cases in the world. I’m sorry to say that such cases
have not been treated not only in this hospital, but rather in any hospital in
India.”
Those words echoed in
Shanaya’s ears for a long time. The ground beneath her had just seemed to tear
apart. She had no idea whom to call. She had left her family when she was 17
and her husband when she was 27. Being a single mother has its torments, she
thought. Then, she had an idea. She called her best friend, Ananya who was the
closest thing to the family she had.
Ananya, was a young beautiful, smart,
independent woman who had came to Delhi 6 years ago. She had made a lot of
friends after coming to the the capital, but for her Shanaya was more than just
a friend. For her, she was like family.
After coming to know about
the events that had taken placed in the past hours, she felt a hole in her
heart. For her, Chiranjeev was nothing less than her own son. But, she knew
exactly what to do. Being a medical student once, she had friends who now
worked as doctors in one of the world’s most renowned hospital, The John
Hopkins. Without thinking much, she picked up her iphone, and ran into all her
contacts to see if anyone picked up. Some numbers were simply incorrect (people
do change their mobile numbers, she thought).
Others were engaged , busy or switched off. At last, she came to a contact
named ‘DO NOT CALL’. She knew exactly who the contact was named afterall. It
was of Rachael Mason, her ex boyfriend, with whom she had broken up years ago.
Dialing the same number, she mumbled,’ if it wasn’t for Chiranjeev and
Shanaya’. ‘Hello?’ a hoarse voice answered.’Hello, Ananya?’ the man continued.
‘Yes, Rachael, its me’ Ananya continued. As she told about Chiranjeev to her ex
boyfriend, her voice trembled. ‘Do not worry’ Rachael answered. ’I will talk
about this case with my seniors and call you back soon’ he promised.
Within 20 minutes, Ananya
was again talking to Rachael. ‘My boss attended a conference about similar case
that was seen in Phoenix. The operation was a clinical experiment, but was
quite successful. Infact, the hospital seemed to have funded all the expenses.
I am going to contact the same hospital and will let you know further.’ After
talking to the man, Ananya could see a ray of hope lighting up her whole world.
Ananya was already on her way to the place where her son was lying.
After reaching the hospital
and explaining everything to Shanaya, she went into the cafeteria to talk to
the ‘messiah’ of Chiranjeev’s life. ‘Chiranjeev, the one with a long, happy
life’, she thought to herself, while dialing ‘DO NOT CALL’ contact again. After
the call, she came running towards Ananya. “We need to leave for Phoenix in an
hour.” “Have you lost your mind?” “NO! Rachael called up. He said that the
doctors at The Mayo Hospital are ready to treat Chiranjeev. We need to leave
now.”
Within seconds, Shanaya
rushed towards her home, which was 20 minute drive from the hospital. The
traffic jams in Delhi were inevitable, especially in the area of Vasant Kunj,
where both Shanaya and Ananya used to reside, as room mates. “Damn”, Shanya
said, looking at the number of vehicles ahead on the road. Her eyes were filled
with anger, fear and hope.
Entering into her deserted
apartment, she packed some her and Ananya’s clothes and documents into her bag.
She opened her purse and transferred all her savings into it from the almirah. Within
minutes, she was on her way to the airport. IGI Aiprort was a 16 minute drive
from her home. Meanwhile, in the hospital, Ananya completed all the formalities
which were required for discharging Chiranjeev. As soon as they were complete,
she left for the airport, along with the ambulance carrying her son.
“I need 3 tickets for the
next flight to Phoenix, Arizona”, Shanaya said. The correspondent responded by
telling her that the next flight is at 9.00 p.m. ‘Fine’, she responded,
although she was not fine with any of it.
At sharp 8.15, the boarding
started. After that, all she cared was to reach The Mayo’s as soon as possible.
It was a matter of time that her definition of ‘the worst day’ ever had
changed. After a flight of 12 hours, they finally reached their destination
city. Now the aim was to reach the destination itself.
On their way to The Mayo
Clinic, after a long time, Chiranjeev spoke. ”What is happening to me mom?” The
young lady kept on crying and could say nothing except,’ its all going to be
fine, sweetheart.’ It took them about 2 long hours to reach their destination.
As they entered the clinic,
Ananya saw her ex boyfriend coming towards her. ‘Heyy! The doctors are ready to
examine the patient.’ As a result, Chiranjeev was admitted and his past medical
history was taken from Shanaya. Meanwhile, Ananya thanked Rachael for all his
help.” It was my duty, he said. That’s what I do. Besides, I always thought
that we could clear things out.” As soon as he said this, she hugged him tightly.
After that, the three of
them were introduced to the board of doctors, who were going to treat
Chiranjeev. After 2 days he was all prepped for the surgery, and the chief
cardiothoracic surgeon came. A tall woman in her 50s, Dr. Serena Swan was undoubtedly
the best. She was smart, confident and yet polite.” We will do the best we can,
I promise”.
After a long surgery that
went for complete 10 hours, Dr. Swan came out. ‘It seems the operation was
successful, but we won’t know until he wakes up.’
It was December 18, 2012,
and it seemed that Chiranjeev was still unconscious. Both his mothers were
sitting along his bedside. They were both waiting deliberately for him to wake
up. While, Shanya was still trying to recapitulate the plethora of events that
had taken place in the past few hours or days(everything was happening so fast
that she lost the track of time), on the other hand, Ananya was trying to solve
the mess she had created of her life. That day they both realized, the loss of
an only child is the worst pain anyone can endure. After all, what do parents
live for? With the best years of their
youth gone by, they don’t have any yearnings for comfort or money or fame; all
they want is to see their child grow up as happy, healthy human being with all
the luxuries that they couldn’t afford or need. To see years of love, care and
upbringing reduce to dust, burnt or buried, takes away everything from a parent
that they own.
After Shanaya was deep into
their deep thoughts and Ananya was out talking to Rachael, brown eyes glittered
with innocence and hope in them. Shanaya hugged him tightly as soon as she
realized slight pressure on her hands because of the clutching. The next
instant itself, Ananya hugged his son tight. Rachael went running to inform Dr.
Swan that Chiranjeev had just waken up.
The doctor started examining
the boy. After a running few tests, she told the ‘sisters’ to meet her in her
cabin. Rachael accompanied them.
‘We have a good news.
Chiranjeev looks fine and I guess the surgery was successful. But, you need to
take care of him. We cannot promise anything to you as the clinical trial is
still on a very preliminary base. He may live for another year or he may live his
complete lifetime. Take care of him. After all, he’s still like a grenade.’
’Thank you doctor. You don’t know what you haven given us.’ ‘I very well do’,
is all the doctor said.
Both Ananya and Shanaya
decided that they will give Chiranjeev whatever they can and even whatever they
can’t. If he is going to act like a grenade, they’ll make sure he never blows
up, and even if he does they’ll give him a forever within the numbered days.
After
almost an year, Shanaya was watching a trailer on television. It said,” I
believe we have a choice in this world about how to tell sad stories. On the
one hand, you can sugarcoat it. Nothing is too messed up that can’t be fixed
with a Peter Gabriel Song. I like that version as much as the next girl does.
It’s just not the truth.” She would have not understood the exact
meaning of these lines a few months ago or if the casualty had not taken place.
She knew the pain of facing a reality that could mean to take everything from
you. She knew, that it was easy to say that you can face any situation with a
smile and a song but a lot harder to do it. But till now it seems everything
has been going well. Chiranjeev is fine and in fact, both his mothers spend
most of their time with him. After all, they did decided to give him an
infinity within a numbered days, making sure that this infinity is bigger than
the other infinities.
- Kshitij Gupta
1st Year UG,
University of Medical Sciences
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