Dad's Update...

Dad had his solid meals today and seems to be getting better. He had physio and is progressing well. Hoping bowel movement starts tomorrow with the normal food. TPN and lipid drip has been removed. He should be off glucose too tomorrow.

Had Dinner with Sanjeev & Shuchi...

Dad's Update...

Dad's cheerful & getting better each day though it seems a long way to go.. He's on liquids and should move to soft meals from tomorrow hopefully bidding goodbye to paralytic ileus.. He's been sitting a lot more and should hopefully start walking from tomorrow.. 

Kitty & Vijay dropped by in the evening and so did Shuchi..

I spoke with Dr Campbell who confirmed that progress was good and the coming week should be decisive in determining the success of the surgery with regards to his well being .. 

Dad's Update..

It's good news as Dad seems to be on the mend. His nasal drainage tube has been removed. He was cheerful and read the news on my ipad. He also sat for a couple of hours this morning. Lets hope the afternoon visit goes well.

Gareth Mccray's visit from 2CH Radio to my Hitek Community initiative..

Constitution Hill Pals welcomes Gareth Mccray

My dear friend Gareth Mccray from 2CH Radio joins us at the Constitution Hill to meet with Seniors as I conduct my workshop for them.

Looking forward to the event in an hour from now...

Dad's Surgery Update..

Dad's moved out of High Dependency Unit to A6A in a private room and is getting better. He had a shower today and sat for a couple of hours. Bowels and urinary tract are working fine but he's still on TPN liquid diet and lipids and maintenance. His nasal drain line will be removed over the weekend if all is well. hope the weekend goes well!

Dad's Surgery Update..

Dad's bowel movement has started again. He's done a bit of walking in the room and sat down for a couple of hours. He's still on liquid iv food and I think that will continue for a bit. The doctors are happy with his progress. He's complaining of tummy aches and has needed a few shots of morphine but was generally cheerful all day.

Dad's Surgery Update..

Dad's bowels are on strike.. He's back on liquid iv fluids and a nasal draining of the ileus.. Just had a meeting with the team of doctors who've confirmed he had a paralytic ileus again.. Will have to wait and watch for a week.. Dr Howard Lau, Dr Ian Smith & Dr Nicholas Campbell are an awesome team working with the Colorectal Team and have spelt out an action plan for Dad. Lets hope all goes well.

A hectic day for me as I had driven almost two hundred kilometres by the end of the day busy with work.

The Silent Hero - Sanjay

Sanjay has handled matters extremely well with regards to Dad's health be it in India, England and now Australia connecting extremely well with the specialists & consultants and making life so much easier for not only Dad but for all of us.

Today, Sanjay is off to Rotterdam for a surgical conference and spoke with Mum & Me, earlier this morning, apprising us of Dad's development in normalspeak and not doctorspeak based on his communication with us & the Team of Doctors.

It is indeed reassuring for us to hear from Sanjay and mostly for Dad as he sometimes tells the Doctors to consult Sanjay and they have no such inhibitions in either calling Sanjay which is comforting to all of us as Sanjay has struck a good rapport with the Consultants & their team.

We thought we'd just let you know that you're a great brother, wonderful son & and of course an excellent Colorectal Surgeon, globetrotting, presenting surgical papers & attending conferences doing us all proud... Before Riya gets upset I must add a great father and husband too :)

Dad's Surgery Update..

I guess after a couple of good days the ship had to hit some troubled waters and today wasnt a particularly bad day but it wasnt a very good day either. Dad had tummy aches which needed a CT scan as they were persistent with cramps. He was taken for a CT Scan and the nurse accidentally ruptured his veins which caused him some additional grief as the dye was being inducted and so he needed treatment and a canula on the other arm instead.

His abdomen pain continued thru the day though he continued to eat and drink though not a normal diet. The doctors came and saw him and decided to watch till tomorrow when they would take a decision on how to tackle the issue. Both the stomas seem to be active though the colostomy bag seemed less active in comparison.

Dad was cheerful though he continued to be a bit disoriented and sleepy as a result of what he was going through. We are confident he will be better tomorrow as the reports of the CT Scan come thru as they will give a clearer picture of whats happening inside and how to tackle it and the amazing team of doctors will pursue their mission of getting Dad back on track... 

Dad's Surgery Update..

Dad seems to be improving with each visit. He seems a bit disoriented though which is probably understandable considering what he's gone thru. His supra pubic catheter has been removed today which had become the bane of his existence. He had his first solid meals today and did well to digest them barring a slight tummy ache which was expected considering he was eating after eight days. His drips have been reduced from one arm and now he has them only on the left side. He starts physio tomorrow morning. The doctors team came and briefed us that they were very satisfied with his progress and hopeful that he would be back to his normal ways very soon.

Shuchi dropped in to meet Dad in the morning and took Mum home to her place for lunch. I picked up Mum from there at 4pm and headed off back to be with Dad. Sanjeev later joined us in the ward alongwith with Bir Tayaji, Gita Taijee & Vikram. I fed Dad his dinner and also shaved him myself. Later Sanjeev came back with us and had dinner at our place.

Another day goes by with Dad improving... Let us see what tomorrow has in store for us..

Thank you Friends...

A special thank you to Romal & Ashit Suri.... especially Romal for being there... for giving me the support I needed, like a true genuine friend.. for helping me find an office in Mumbai... for designing it as per our technical specifications.. for furnishing it to my tastes.. for cheering me up during anxious moments... for cheering up Mum & Dad with all the good wishes and prayers.. for doing background checks & screening on my shortlisted employees for the project... Now that's what I call a dear friend!

A special thank you to Sanjeev & Shuchi for all their warmth, love & support to us during these difficult times. Be it a drop to the hospital or a visit to Dad in the hospital to wish him well. Be it to spend some time with Mum to cheer her up or a call to me to say that a special meal was being cooked for us. Be it entertaining my brother while he was here for a short trip or coming over to join us for a barbecue. We sincerely appreciate your kindness & warmth.

A special thank you to the seniors from the Constitution Hill Retirement Village & to Johanna Griggs to show concern & love for my family which was very heartening.

To my Brekkie mates for all their good wishes and offers to help should the situation demand which was very reassuring.

To my clients who sent me to the hospital when I went for an appointment wanting me to be with my Mum & Dad showing true character.

To Anjali Bates for taking time off her extremely busy schedule to drop in and meet Dad..

And to all my friends who called, conveyed their good wishes, prayed for my Dad... I love you all & sincerely thank you..

Dad's Surgery Update..

Yes.. I can say with confidence that all your good wishes worked as Dad seems to be getting better.. fingers crossed...

Today he might be put on Semi solid food. Colostomy & Urostomy bags seem to work fine. His pain seems to be settling down.

He is a bit disoriented but that most likely seems to be due to Oxycontin which was given to him by one of the nurses by mistake and has since been discontinued.

If everything goes to plan physiotherapy should begin from today to bring back some muscle strength to the legs.

Here's to a wonderful week after a rather anxious couple of weeks gone by,

I have postponed my travel to India for the moment and will wait for Dad to stabilise before I embark on my trip to commence operations.

Congratulations Arjun...

Heartiest Congratulations to Arjun for winning his first Golf tournament. Hope you have many more successes coming your way. Special congratulations to you from Dad..

Dad's Surgery Update..

Dad was a lot better this evening. He was happy to meet with Ranbir Tayaji, Gita Tayiji, Vikram, Shuchi & family.

I can confidently say there was a marked improvement today when compared to previous days. He seems to be in lesser pain or discomfort now.

We are hopeful that he will be back on food hopefully by Monday as he is still on sips of water & nutrition by intravenous drip. The colostomy & urostomy bags are working fine. The bladder seems to be getting sanitised with betadine regularly and the bloody discharge from the rectum seems to be disappearing.

I took Mum for a short while to Castle Towers and Stockland Mall at different times during the day so that she could relax a bit.

I can comfortably say that Sanjay & I are much relieved to see the recent developments in Dad's health and hopeful that he will be better in days to come even though it's early days.

Lets see what tomorrow has in store for us coz we've been living life by the day and cheering each positive development with regards to Dad's health and keeping positive & being patient when things have taken an ugly turn and faced them with a smile to ensure our mother remains calm and in peace. Some nights have been really long and some moments have been really quiet but our resolve has been to see Dad thru this difficult time confident that all will be well soon.

Dad's Surgery Update..

This morning it was nice to see Dad sitting on a chair. His nasal tube has been removed and though he still has lots of gadgets and drip lines connected he looked a lot more comfortable. He was a bit confused and disoriented but overall I thought he was better than before. He's still on drip and sips of water but had a cuppa in the morning. Bowel function seems fine too.

I gave him a shave and engaged in conversations with him which he sometimes tuned out of as he was drowsy but was generally alert.

We've just come back home for a short rest and will be back at 4pm till 8pm to be with him. 

Dad's Surgery Update..

I believe when you follow your heart things work your way... Well thats what happened today, as if you read from my previous post, Dad had a much better day today. Firstly his bowels moved. The team of doctors sighed with relief to hear the news and so did we to see a smile on their faces. He had to go to the angiography department to get tubes inserted thru to his heart as his arms were bruised from IV pricks as the sides needed to be changed every 3 days as per hospital protocol. They also took another x-ray to see if all was well inside the abdomen. He was made to sit for two hours on a chair and though he wasnt too comfortable I thought it was good for him.

Later in the evening he asked me to buy him a copy of the Time Magazine which I promptly did and he tried to read it for some time discussing an article about Osama's Operation.

He was slightly disoriented in the morning though and for some reason thought he was in Chandigarh but joked about it later in the evening.

The doctors believe that the nasal tube which is going into the ilieum will be removed tomorrow if all goes well in the next 12 hours. Fingers crossed yet again as we look forward to the small steps in the right direction looking at all the positives as he meanders his way back to some sort of normalcy.

Dad's Surgery Update..

Sadly Dad has had a rather unpleasant day. He was diagnosed with paralytic ileus and needed some xrays & a tube was put thru his nose to relieve the stomach as his bowel movement was restricted post surgery. I could see him in some discomfort today and wished I could take away his pain but in vein.
I am sure he will get better with the fantastic job being done by the Consultants at Westmead Hospital as he recuperates in the High Dependency Unit.
I pray to the almighty to take away his pain and give him the strength to overcome this difficult phase that he is going thru. My heart tells me that he will be better tomorrow...

This one was for you Dad...

A Charitable Mind...Something I inherited from my father

I took Mum with me to The Retirement Village that I have adopted as we were giving away a computer to Allan this Month. Johanna Griggs, a dear friend, client, swimming champion & lately of Better Homes & Garden fame did the honours.

GET WELL SOON

Dad's Surgery Update..

Dad had his surgery and everything went according to plan. He's stable and in the High Dependency ward for 48 hrs till his body function stabilizes post surgery and then will move back to his suite. Anxious moments came to an end as we caught glimpses of him and finally met him last evening. The surgical team were fantastic and very accommodating.

We are confident that this surgery will do real good to him and should enable him to lead a more normal life. He was cheerful last evening even though slightly sedated.

Thanks to all family & friends for your good wishes which contributed to Dad's well being. Will post more later.

Dad's Surgery Update..

Dad's big day tomorrow. He's going in for surgery with the colorectal & Urology Team. Their plan is to do an ileal conduit & depending on how he's progressing & the level of infection etc they will remove the bladder if required. There will be a looksie done into the rectum and corrective action taken as deemed fit.

He's number one on the Operation Theatre list and will go into the High Dependency Ward post surgery for 24-48hrs before moving back. Will keep you all posted via the blog & facebook with more personal details here.

Lets hope all goes well. It is a major surgery and we're hoping this will do him lots of good and get him back to leading a more normal life.

I'm sure your prayers will come good and things will be better in days to come..

Thanks for all your calls, wishes & prayers...

This is what my stars say...

Your passionate nature lies right at the surface today. Tap into this for positive, intense experiences, like intimacy with someone you love. But do your best to stay calm when passion of a different kind threatens to overwhelm you. Angry outbursts are possible now, since your emotions are strong and stirred up. Desire could turn dark if feelings like jealousy or possessiveness well up within you. Try to stay lighthearted and relaxed!

The fortnight gone by...

It was wonderful of Sanjay to drop Dad & Mum off to Sydney as it would have been impossible for them to be here without his efforts. Sanjay, we had a lovely time with you around and I, personally,  enjoyed your company though we were so pre occupied with Dad but I'm glad we achieved what we had thought we'd like to achieve.

Dad's doing well in Westmead Hospital and in safe hands.. He's had one procedure with Sigmoidoscopy and drain tubes fitted.. The major surgery is lined up for Monday week ie 16th May. We are all confident that he will go thru the surgery for Ileal Conduit and be back to his normal ways soon. Its very reassuring to have the Westmead Hospital Team in the loop with Sanjay and they have taken extra special care thanks to his liaison.

Work has been really busy and its been really a challenge to manage Dad & Work but Mum has been extremely co-operative.

A special thank you to all  friends who have been around during these times.. Sanjay's friends in India and mine in Australia...