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World Cancer Day

Last week (February 4th), the World observed Word Cancer Day. Till now, the way I had looked at days like world AIDS day, world diabetes day etc was very different. But, this time, I was a bit confused about the World Cancer Day. I wasn't sure what I should do. To be honest, I was trying to avoid reading anything about it....

Then, next day came the announcement that Yuvraj Singh (our flamboyant, popular cricketer) has been diagnosed with malignant cancer and he is flying to USA for treatment. This created so much more awareness about the disease and the whole issue that I had a cruel thought. For celebraties to create awareness about dreaded diseases, it is better that they themselves get it!! Sorry folks ...

But, the best thing was the AMUL advertisement. As Yuvraj Singh is referred by his friends as YUVI, this ad mentioned it in such a wonderful way that even Yuvi thought that it was cute. Here is the ad if you had not seen it before.

When problem becomes a solution ...

It was time for another visit to the ayurveda doctor, Dr.Gadgil, at Bangalore. Few days ago, we went to meet him. As usual, thanks to Mahesh, we were the first to see the doctor. He prescribed some more medicines - more difficult to consume than the previous ones, of course!

I had mentioned about the uncomfortable bloating of my abdomen and the swelling in the foot. This was making life a bit difficult - not able to sit or lie down for a long time. It is almost like a woman with 14th month of pregnancy. He also wondered why this has happened. "Unexpected development" is what he told. (Not the 14th month of pregnancy, but the bloating).

"There is fluid in the abdomen and we should get it out". I thought, he is going to say, "Nurse, I will hold his head. You take his legs and wring them tightly as if he is a wet blanket. Let us see what the fluid does.." Fortunately, he didn't resort to any such violent methods. He just came out with an ingenious solution. "I will give you a tablet; you take half of it everyday. There will be loose motion 2 or 3 times a day; that should take care of the fluid in the stomach. It should drain out."

I have known loose motion / diarrhoea as a problem till now and how to stop it. But, here it is being 'induced' and is being used as a solution. Let us see if it works.

He tapped around my abdomen and seemed to think that the general progress is good. Still, he would like some conclusive proof of progress. "Endoscopy will surely tell us the status, but I don't want to do it". (I made a quick mental note to build a small temple for him at the corner of our land!!). "May be, we can try to do CT SCAN next month or so and see. As of now, let us continue the treatment as it is." (Which translated means, drink more milk!!)

Will keep you all posted.

New Avatar of 2012

Couple of years ago, I celebrated new year by starting a new email id, but this year was different. A new avatar. After showing this photograph to near and dear, and ensuring that it did not cause any untoward incident, I am releasing it to wider public around the world. Here it is :

Reactions of the 'friends' varied from 'you are handsome' to 'why don't you apply for a villain role', from 'you look better than before' to 'you look younger?!' ... But, I must write about the wonderful experience of getting my head shaven at my mother's village.
When I expressed my wish to get the head shaven, she sent word for the barber and he appeared suddenly one day without any notice. In a casual 'lungi', the old man was carrying a small cloth bag with some knives and a blade packet in his shirt pocket. That is it!
We put a small stool under the tree just outside the house. And, he started!! My sister asked, "do you need any white cloth etc. to wrap around his body?'. "He will be taking bath after this, isn't it? The hair will fly away anyway.. No need"
No shaving cream, no brush, nothing. He just softened the hair with cold water, stroked the hair with his rough hand, but I had the softest of shaving that day! As he kept shaving the head, gentle breeze swept away the hair from my shirt to the nearby field. In less than half an hour, he finished. With a cup of tea and an unbargained Rs.40, he left home.
Oh, I loved it.

Going home for Pongal! (or) பொங்கலோ பொங்கல்

In another 10 minutes, we are leaving for my mother's village. A 10 days holiday there and we will celebrate Pongal. (It is harvest festival and very special to us).

So, the good news is that you will not get any posts for another 10 days - most probably! Suresh helped install vodafone datacard in our netbook. If it works, you may get a post in between too...

The 1st day of Pongal is called 'Bogi'. On that day, the house will be cleaned, all the old things will be discarded / burnt / destroyed. (I should stay away from the cleaning gang!!) The 2nd day is the main Pongal, where we cook rice in open air directly below the Sun - a way of offering our prayers to the Sun for his help on agriculture.

The 3rd day is 'Cow Pongal' - 'மாட்டு பொங்கல்'. We bathe the cows, decorate them with colourful dots and designs, paint its horns and give new ropes, and finally feed with sweet rice, wash its mouth with coconut water etc. Great fun, it used to be.

Alas, as my parents were becoming old, they could not maintain cows at home and hence for the last 3 years, we didn't have cow pongal at home, but visit only the neighbours in the village.

But, this year, I suspect I qualify reasonably to be a cow and for all you know, they may celebrate the cow pongal with me as the object - though I didn't do anything to help the agriculture operations!!

Wish you all a Happy Pongal!!!  பொங்கலோ பொங்கல் !!

 

6 months is a long time

Tarsh's wedding went off well on December 31st. Nikhilesh had taken some photographs and after a day, we uploaded all of them to my computer. And, when I suddenly came across my own photograph in the slideshow, it was bit of a shock, actually.

In June, when Bharani, Nambi, Bala and Rajan had come to Gudalur, we had taken a photograph. Here it is.

And, on December 31st, here is my mug shot!

So much change in my profile within 6 months..?!

Happy Moo Year...!

I don't know why, but how much ever I try, I am not able to say Happy New Year. When I say, it sounds Happy Moo Year only... Anyway, all of you got the gist, I hope.

Gouthami asked a very pertinent question : 'Does the ayurveda doctor have a cow?'. I don't know about that, but it looks like he is not just satisfied in making me go on a Milk-Only diet, but there seems to be some conspiracy afoot to make me into a ... Cow!

Because, this time I have been advised to grow wheat grass and take it every morning. (The wheat grass juice seems to be highly effective in building immunity, especially in controlling cancer cells!) Durga and Vennila have started growing the grass and in another 4 days, it will be ready for me to graze.

So, generally, the pointers are that I will slowly turn into a cow. So, next time when you come to our house and see a horned creature with a long tail sitting in the computer and typing feverishly with its hooves, don't be surprised.... It is just me.

Once again, Happy Moo Year...

Lage Raho Manohar Bhai

On 24th, we met the Ayurveda doctor, Dr.Gadgil in Bangalore for a review. He seems generally happy with my milk-drinking. And said, "if you are able to drink 2 litres of milk, it means things are okay.." As simple as that.

He gave some more medicines. Some more leaves and herbs. "If you feel hungry, you can drink more milk. You can go upto 3 litres, 4 litres... no problems."

So, in general, the advice was 'Lage Raho Manohar Bhai' ... Carry on Manoharan, that is.

Hb crosses double digit mark!!

All kinds of figures are followed very closely in the world today on a daily basis. Inflation rate, food inflation rate, unemployment rate, rupee vs dollar rate and what not. The graphs go up and down, tumble down giving investors sleepless nights, sky-rocketing (along with the blood pressure of comman man) etc.

But, Manoharan and his family is keeping close tab on another figure. The Hb (Haemoglobin) count. During chemotherapy days, it went as low as 5.8 needing emergency blood transfusion etc. So, last month, when the CMC doctor very wisely decided to stop chemotherapy, he just mentioned to keep tab on the Hb count.

Then, started the ayurveda treatment. In Gudalur, we have tested thrice during the last one month and each time the the Hb count has moved by 0.2 points or so. The latest figure received from the lab yesterday says, my Hb count is 10 now!

The popular interpretation is that the body is doing quite okay, since the Hb is by itself increasing slowly - even with just milk as the diet. So, I should be becoming better.

Will confirm after meeting the ayurveda doctor once again on 24th for an assessment.

Busy ... Busy ... Busy ...

The gap in blogging during the last 2 weeks was, ironically, more to do with me becoming slightly better healthwise! Friends like Satya have written, "You write a blog post soon. Or, I will call you from Brazil!!", or something to that effect. (Such threats are much better and soothing than, "if you write another blog post, I will call the Police.." etc.!!)

OK, to quickly keep everone updated. The milk diet is agreeing with me. I am generally drinking the mandatory 2 Litres of milk every day. If 6 months ago, someone had said that I will be drinking milk, only milk and nothing but milk for my survival, I would have laughed my head off. But, incredibly that is what is happening. As soon as I finish the last gulp and keep the glass down, Durga will keep another one filled!!

I have not become a milk expert yet. That is, by drinking the milk, I won't be able to make out if the cow was happy today or had a tiff with her colleague; or, if the cow had green grass or cowfeed pellets etc. I am sure, intelligent chaps will be able to make out all these by drinking that day's milk. May be, by the time the treatment ends, I should be able to cultivate some of these skills. At least to be able to say if the cow had a proper sleep the previous night or not. Let us keep the horns crossed!

And, I could do a lot of 'official' work too during this period. Almost back to normal, though sitting at home. My favourite programming stuff on javascript and database applications has been keeping me busy and I am much ahead of the deadlines I had set for myself. In a hurry too. Will meet the ayurveda doctor this month end to know the progress on the liver front.

And, had some long-lost friends visiting us at Gudalur. As there are no side-effects of medication lingering and I am able to punish these friends with my jokes, it has been a good time. And, we laughed a lot during the last 2 weeks than the prevous three months...

So, To Satya, and other millions of fans who are worried by my silence, I am fine.

Omana's theory of Oncology

Omana, our tribal woman health animator, asked her husband K.T.Subramanian : "How did he get the cancer?"

KTS, of course, said, "I don't know and the doctors also didn't say anything about it"

"No, he does not have any bad habits. No smoking, no alcohol or tobacco or other bad food habits. So, how come he got cancer?"

"Sorry, I don't know !"

"I know", she said confidently. "He has been working on his computer always. From the time I have known him. Few years of working like this is surely like to affect. What with all kinds of viruses they keep talking about infecting the computers etc.! I am sure, his computer addiction only would have caused his cancer."

She may have a point?

Milky Galaxy

No, no, don't worry, it is not a scientific blog post. (All I know about astronomy can be written on the back of a postal stamp, as they say!). Yet, my galaxy is full of milk during the last one week.

Yes, I am on to milk diet. I repeat, ONLY-milk diet. That is, I drink only liquid milk of a cow. Not only the morning and evening tea time has been changed to milk time, I drink milk for my breakfast, lunch and dinner - not to mention the numerous times I used to eat home-made items.

So, if you are hungry, drink milk. If you are bored, drink milk. If you want to think, drink milk. If you just want to pass some time, drink milk. I have successfully managed one week of this. Just another 5 months and 3 weeks to go!

OK, the logic of only-milk diet in treatment of cancer in ayurveda is like this. All cells in our body die. So, cancer cells also die. So, instead of eliminating the cancer cells with very harmful things like chemo drugs, it is better to work on the new cells that are created in the body. Having uncontaminated diet will help in this process greatly and fresh cow's milk - sorry, cow's fresh milk - will be an ideal rejuvenating food for this process. I agree, but the important thing is the cancer cells should agree. Which we will know only after 6 months. I am very positive; so, let us see.

The doctor insisted on getting a proper country cow, because he blames the hybridization of food as the sole reason for the increasing incident of cancer. It makes sense. Anyway, I am not averse to cow milk and in fact, love cows. So, no problems.

But, the doctor said one interesting thing : "My patients initially resist this idea of only-milk diet. They are even willing to go through all the trauma of chemotherapy, leaving them very difficult to eat any kind of food; but, they think only-milk is too difficult !! I am surprised, but I am convinced of this method based on my work during the last 20 odd years".

So, here is to my favourite cows and their milk ! Hurrah !

 

Unequal growth

I was telling a friend, "the problem is there is unequal growth. One section is growing beyond what is healthy, while the other is going down and becoming weaker..."

Unfortunately, at that time, a left-leaning activist was passing by and he overheard what I said, I think. He started rattling, "Yes, that is the biggest problem facing the world today. While rich are becoming richer, the poor are becoming poorer. This unequal growth is causing the divide bigger and bigger. This will end only in a bloody revolution, you wait..."

"Oh, I am sorry, I was just talking about my body. See my legs and belly are growing and so big, making me very uncomfortable. But, the rest of the body is losing weight and becoming thin. I wasn't talking about global economic issues, merely about my physical condition..." He left very disappointed, giving a nasty look at this irresponsible soul - probably thinking 'such people fuel such inequality'!!

Anyway, back to my body. The legs have really become larger. The stomach of course has remained so for more than 4 months now. I wonder how much the skin can stretch. When people suddenly become obese or lose weight, what happens to their skin? Never thought of this before.

If the albumin content in the body improves, this extra fluid will be absorbed by the blood itself, I am told till now. Dr.Mahesh has prescribed an ayurveda medicine, which I am taking from this morning. Within a week, some progress is promised.

Keep my toes crossed !!

Chemotherapy Stopped!

First of all, my apologies for not writing for the last one week and keeping everyone guessing. Many of you had called directly to get the news. This is for the 'larger audience'!

The D-day on 14th November went unexpected actually. In my mind, I had composed two different sets of blog posts - titled 'Good news' and 'Bad news'! But, after seeing the investigation results, the doctor gave us a mixed bag.

"The good news is that you have not deteriorated much. But, the bad news is that the three cycles of chemotherapy do not seem to have resulted in any appreciable reduction in the liver or the cancer cells. So, to be honest, I would recommend not to continue Chemotherapy, as you had severe side effects last time. In fact, during the last few weeks, without the drugs, you seem to have developed appetite, eating well and gaining strength a little. So, it is better we wait for another month or so without the chemo therapy and see how progress, OK?"

What does it mean? Is he suggesting that no point in continuing the treatment and better wait for the inevitable? But, Dr.Regi and Dr.Deva, who were with us (both allopathy doctors) tend to read it differently. "This opens up the way for us to pursue the wonderful opportunities in alternative medicine - especially Ayurveda. Let us go full-steam on Ayurveda now. Since we have tried the 3 cycles, we won't feel that we didn't try allopathy treatment!"

Anyway, the silver lining for me was that no more chemo drugs! We returned that day itself back to Gudalur.

During the last one week, I have started taking Ayurveda medicines - which is not at all difficult and no side effects. Will update about the progress from time to time.

Chemo had dramatic moments giving me lot of ideas for interesting blog posts. Ayurveda in its typical fashion will not be so. But, still will remember to share important learnings through these posts.

whisper ... whisper ... Ears are the most immune?

There is one part of my body which has not been affected by the chemo drugs till now. Touch wood, it is the ear!

Even the nose had a nose block and it affected the eyes briefly; the eyes have been mildly watering whenever I sit in front of the computer. Mouth and legs and hair and all that, of course all of you know, have been battered to a good level.

But, my hearing ability remained intact throughout. The FM radio has been a great support. Having been restricted to home, radio - mostly Tamil, Malayalam and Hindi songs - was almost always playing the whole day. So, enjoying it thoroughly.

So, all music lovers, don't worry if you were diagnosed with cancer. You will be able to continue to listen to music inspite of all treatment!!

Surviving Cancer

Surviving cancer is one thing; but surviving the cancer treatment is another.

There has been a break from the chemo drugs for the last 15 days and my mouth ulcers are totally gone. So, able to eat ... err, drink things. Though I tried a dosa after a very long time this morning, diet has been mostly in liquid form. If I go to a hotel now, you can see me ordering '1 glass of chapati', then 'two glasses of idli' and of course, a glass of milk without sugar. As this will put the India Coffee House friends in discomfort, didn't go to hotel at all !!

Though the side effects have kind-of-stopped, the taste buds are still dormant. Someone said, it will take a solid 2 months after stopping all medication before you can distinguish between sambar and rasam. Alas, I cannot wait that much.

Tomorrow morning, we are going to Vellore for an evaluation. CT SCAN, X-ray and meet the doctor on Monday with the results. He will let us know if there is some progress in my treatment and continue with the remaining 3 cycles. Or, abandon therapy!! Though I am feeling okay and there is no pain, my stomach is still like Aishwarya Rai Bachan's heavily pregnant abdomen.

Anyway, we will know the result on Monday. So, 14th is the D-day. Will keep you all informed next week from Vellore.

Doctors are actually Engineers!

Till recently, I used to think that Doctors and Engineers are two totally different species in the animal kingdom. But, of late, I realised that doctors are actually engineers, after all!

My knowledge about both these professions in my younger days was next to nothing. When I finished my 1st year engineering, I got admission in a medical college - delayed response due to some court case. Do you know how I decided whether to continue engineering or join the medical course ? I listed the positives and negatives of both the streams.

Engineering
 +ve : Only 3 more years to finish the course
-ve   :  There are no girls in the college

Medical
+ve : There will be girls in the classroom
-ve  : Another 5 and a half years to study!

Finally, I decided to continue engineering. See how 'deep' was my understanding and such an 'informed' decision I took!! Anyway, no regrets for that decision.

In 1995, when I came to Gudalur, got to know about the doctors, hospitals, medical profession from close quarters. Not only about just doctors, but about the various specialties and their roles etc. But, even then, I had not realised how much engineering they knew.

It was only when I had this cancer detected in my stomach/liver that I saw Dr.Nanda Kumar more as a Chemical Engineer than the usual surgeon. He talked more about the chemicals, the bio-chemistry inside the organs, which chemical causes the side-effects and the effect of the chemo drugs etc. Most of the clinical practice revolves around chemical composition of the body system, it looks.

Orthopaedicians, of course, are straightaway mechanical engineers. Neurologists are electrical engineers - nothing we can understand! Conversely, if you are good at all these 3 streams of engineering, then you can try your luck with medicines too!

அன்றும் இன்றும்

Sorry, this can be only a Tamil Post. Difficult to translate !!
அந்தக்காலத்தில் பெண்ணைக் காதலித்து கல்யாணம் செய்வதற்கு பெண்ணின் பெற்றோர்களின் சம்மதமும், விருப்பமும் மிக முக்கியமாக இருந்தது. பெற்றோர்களைக் கவர எடுத்துக்கொள்ளும் முயற்சிகள் பெண்ணைக்கவரும் முயற்சிகளுக்கு சமமாகவே இருக்கும் என்றே சொல்லலாம். "பலே பாண்டியா" படத்தில் தேவிகாவைக் காதலிக்கும் சிவாஜி, அவரது தந்தையான M.R.ராதாவின் மனதைக் கவருவதற்காக ஒரு கர்நாடக சங்கீதப் பாடலைப் பாடும் ஒரு அற்புதமான நகைச்சுவைக் காட்சி உண்டு. அதில் எப்படியெல்லாம் தன் மாமாவைப் புகழுகிறார் பாருங்கள்...
"நீயே உனக்கு என்றும் நிகரானவன்
அந்தி நிழல் போல் குழல் வளர்த்த தாயாகி நின்றவன் (என்ன அருமையான உவமை!)
வாய் வேதம், கை நீதி, விழி அன்பு, மொழி கருணை
வடிவாகி முடிவற்ற முதலான இறைவா !"
இப்படிச் சொல்லி விட்டு, முத்தாய்ப்பாக
"துதிபாடும் கூட்டம் உன்னை நெருங்காதய்யா
வெறும் தூபத்தில் உன் இதயம் மயங்காதய்யா"
என்றும் பெரிய ஒரு ஐஸ் வேறு வைக்கிறார்.
கேட்ட ராதா மயங்கி, உடனே 'நீ தான் மாப்பிள்ளை' என்று சொல்லும் நிலைக்கு வந்து விடுகிறார்.
ஆனால் இன்றோ? பையன் நேரடியாக பெண்ணிடம் மட்டும் தான் பேசுகிறான் - அவளுக்கு விருப்பம் இல்லாவிட்டாலும். மேலும் அவளது பெற்றோரைக் கவரும் முயற்சியை விடுங்கள், அவர்கள் மீது துளி மரியாதையும் இல்லை. அடிக்காத குறையாக இருந்தது இதுவரை. இப்போது அதுவும் சீக்கிரமே நடக்கும் என்று நினைக்கிறேன். மிகவும் பாப்புலரான இந்நப் புதிய பாடலைப் பாருங்கள் -
"எவன்டி உன்னைப் பெத்தான்?
என் கைல கிடைச்சா செத்தான்!"
பெண்ணின் அப்பாக்கள் ஜாக்கிரதை!!

Yay ... Yay ... I brushed !!

After almost a week, the mouth is better today and I could have a proper cleaning of my mouth with toothbrush. How good it feels to be able to brush!!

As I was feeling better and have energy to walk around, I thought of considering the invitation of the Force India to compete in the first ever Indian Grand Prix!! ahem..ahem...

But, then The Hindu warned in their first page yesterday that the temperature goes up to 55 degrees, drivers lose about 4-5 kg of weight after every grand prix and they are heavily dehydrated!

As I am sure to win, the only problem is that I won't materialise finally in the podium!! So, ditched it!

(But, frankly, for environmental reasons, racing of cars should be banned, isn't it, instead of rejoicing that India got its Grand Prix?)

Diwali fireworks in my mouth

The last one week has been the most painful (literally) week of my life - till now, that is :-)

Due to the Chemo effect, the WBC count seemed to drop even more drastically than the global economic melt down. So, with no policeman to control, even petty thieves were acting big!! Normal dry skin in the lips was trying to threaten me, imagine!!

But, after Madhan, my saviour in Gudalur Adivasi Hospital gave 300 ml of perfectly matched A+ blood, there seems to be light at the end of the tunnel this morning.I showed their place to the lips already, the tongue and the throat are slowly getting around to it ...

I drank 3 glasses of something today and hope, will be back to "normal" by tomorrow.