It's been a while since fingers have tapped keyboard in the Eicher home - and not because nothing has been going on...
Once again, the wonderful ferris-wheel of life we are on has made another turn for us Eichers.
Dad started his 2nd round of Chemotherapy yesterday. His oncologist delayed the start by a week, since Dad's neutrophil count was low, but when it gradually inched up it was all systems go and Dad was back to Room No. 512 - the very first one that he had been admitted to in Bethany hospital - for a 1/2 day procedure.
We have got to the point now where I drop off Mum and Dad at Bethany in the morning and pop in around noon to see how the drip is going. By 3 pm Dad is normally back home.
Yesterday was a bit longer as Dad's feet are swollen - and the doc wanted to do an ultrasound on the feet to see if there was some deep vein thrombosis. None seen - so Dad has a course of injections and today the feet did look slightly less swollen (or is it my hopeful spectacles that I am wearing).
The surprising thing at this moment - and we are living in a minor age of surprises - is that while Mum and Dad are peacefully sleeping in their room - and Yohan is asleep in the front room, and I am obviously tapping the old keys at 10.29 pm on a Thursday night... Asha, Enoch and Sheba are on the other side of the country in Vishakapatnam, Andhra Pradesh!
Well, we are all about as surprised as you are in some ways.
Truth be told, we had more or less accepted that after a happy decade of summer departures from Thane during the kid's vacations, we thought that this summer we would be largely here.
For one, Dad's condition was very unclear, and with chemo starting up, we wanted to be around to help if needed.
And secondly, when we went to the authorities to ask for permission to have Yohan come up to Mussoorie with us, we got a big fat 'no.' Hard to take, of course, but there you have it. The wheels of the law grind slowly, and they grind very finely.
So, we thought this is it. We are here and lets make the best of it. A small outing was held for Asha and her friend Jemima - with Sheba taking her up to Lakhnadon in Madhya Pradesh to be with Dr. Chering Tenzing at the mission hospital there, and me going up there a few days later to pick up our two young ladies. Enoch, in the meantime had almost a week with his dear friend Mark - football, swimming, PS2 (I think I got that right) - almost 24x7.
But then on Monday evening we had the thought. Sheba's older sister Daisy and family were coming to India after a longish time to be with her husband Ramesh's ailing mother in Pondicherry. First port of call was a 2 week long stop at Amma and Appa's place in Vishakapatnam. Asha and Enoch's school only starts on June 9th. What if....
It seemed impossible, but we tried to book train tickets for the morning of the 3rd... and hooray + thank you Jesus! we got them. And so our happy three arrived in Vishakapatnam at 11 this morning and have already been feasting on fish and prawn curries and having multiple conversations!
How I wish Yohan and I could be with the merry throng at "Jeba Villa" - the house that Amma and Appa built in Tungalam - a small village outside Vishakapatnam during the years they were working in Rourkela.
What makes this visit special is that it really is the first time that we are getting any time with Shofar, the youngest of all the cousins (Yohan may be the newest, but he is still at least 11 years old). We did get a heart-breakingly short glimpse of the family last year, but now is the time for the cousins to really get to know each other a bit more.
And so here we are - on opposite coasts - seperated by a 28 hour train ride - but rejoicing that this beautiful window of opportunity did open up - and we were able to jump through it: three of us 'in the flesh' and the rest of us who are back in Thane doing it vicariously!
Happy days in chemoland - and on the other side of the sub-continent.
God is very good to us.
Once again, the wonderful ferris-wheel of life we are on has made another turn for us Eichers.
Dad started his 2nd round of Chemotherapy yesterday. His oncologist delayed the start by a week, since Dad's neutrophil count was low, but when it gradually inched up it was all systems go and Dad was back to Room No. 512 - the very first one that he had been admitted to in Bethany hospital - for a 1/2 day procedure.
We have got to the point now where I drop off Mum and Dad at Bethany in the morning and pop in around noon to see how the drip is going. By 3 pm Dad is normally back home.
Yesterday was a bit longer as Dad's feet are swollen - and the doc wanted to do an ultrasound on the feet to see if there was some deep vein thrombosis. None seen - so Dad has a course of injections and today the feet did look slightly less swollen (or is it my hopeful spectacles that I am wearing).
The surprising thing at this moment - and we are living in a minor age of surprises - is that while Mum and Dad are peacefully sleeping in their room - and Yohan is asleep in the front room, and I am obviously tapping the old keys at 10.29 pm on a Thursday night... Asha, Enoch and Sheba are on the other side of the country in Vishakapatnam, Andhra Pradesh!
Well, we are all about as surprised as you are in some ways.
Truth be told, we had more or less accepted that after a happy decade of summer departures from Thane during the kid's vacations, we thought that this summer we would be largely here.
For one, Dad's condition was very unclear, and with chemo starting up, we wanted to be around to help if needed.
And secondly, when we went to the authorities to ask for permission to have Yohan come up to Mussoorie with us, we got a big fat 'no.' Hard to take, of course, but there you have it. The wheels of the law grind slowly, and they grind very finely.
So, we thought this is it. We are here and lets make the best of it. A small outing was held for Asha and her friend Jemima - with Sheba taking her up to Lakhnadon in Madhya Pradesh to be with Dr. Chering Tenzing at the mission hospital there, and me going up there a few days later to pick up our two young ladies. Enoch, in the meantime had almost a week with his dear friend Mark - football, swimming, PS2 (I think I got that right) - almost 24x7.
 |
| Enoch and Mark share a few last thoughts before Enoch is whisked back to Thane in the Papaya |
But then on Monday evening we had the thought. Sheba's older sister Daisy and family were coming to India after a longish time to be with her husband Ramesh's ailing mother in Pondicherry. First port of call was a 2 week long stop at Amma and Appa's place in Vishakapatnam. Asha and Enoch's school only starts on June 9th. What if....
It seemed impossible, but we tried to book train tickets for the morning of the 3rd... and hooray + thank you Jesus! we got them. And so our happy three arrived in Vishakapatnam at 11 this morning and have already been feasting on fish and prawn curries and having multiple conversations!
How I wish Yohan and I could be with the merry throng at "Jeba Villa" - the house that Amma and Appa built in Tungalam - a small village outside Vishakapatnam during the years they were working in Rourkela.
What makes this visit special is that it really is the first time that we are getting any time with Shofar, the youngest of all the cousins (Yohan may be the newest, but he is still at least 11 years old). We did get a heart-breakingly short glimpse of the family last year, but now is the time for the cousins to really get to know each other a bit more.
And so here we are - on opposite coasts - seperated by a 28 hour train ride - but rejoicing that this beautiful window of opportunity did open up - and we were able to jump through it: three of us 'in the flesh' and the rest of us who are back in Thane doing it vicariously!
Happy days in chemoland - and on the other side of the sub-continent.
God is very good to us.
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