False perception

I thought I was tough for emergencies...

...Until I saw my Dad collapse (though only for a minute) to unconsciousness.


Dreaded Morning of 22.01.2012

When I once read Cholera could take lives due to dehydration, I wondered, 'Come on, Man! How can a few episodes of diarrhoea do this, especially when you'll anyways be increasing your fluid intake if you face such rice watery stools. And, besides...you've medicines available to control diarrhoea...Sporolac works so fine, Eno relieves the associated nausea, Rice-Curd mixture is so good, bananas will be at rescue.'

Ridiculing these situations in present times, I had ignorantly interpreted medicine textbooks.

Eight months back, when my Mom told me over the phone that Dad had become unconscious while in the toilet, and she has hospitalized him for some intravenous fluid administration, I concluded my Mom was being over-worried, and probably, I had become a bit more insensitive to illness. GI infection it was.

She was unable to understand how could a meager 4 episodes lead to such a situation. She was REAL worried, for she didn't want to lose him. He was the person who had loved her the most, defended her, praised her, and above all, the one who is with her no matter what happens. He was her partner. But, I felt she was taking the worry to an all-together new level, unnecessarily. Stolid, I was.

She left no stone un-turned...got him a Color Doppler for the carotids trying to locate if there's any deficit in supply to the brain; got him a 24 hour Holter ECG monitoring to find out if there's any pump defect; and got an Echo cardiogram done.

Reports were normal. This must have helped her ease the tension.

Cut it to this Saturday night...

Watery Stools...early morning....sometime around 4am...Mommy's shouting....'Teleeeeee! Teleeeee!'...the next moment I see my Dad sitting on the commode, his neck listlessly falling on Mom's chest, his hands hanging by the sides, and even with the 200 decibel shouting he refused to react.

That was enough to get me scared, shout, tremor, run amok....and know that no one's brave hearted when it comes to your dear ones.

I'm not Insensitive, Mom! I don't perceive so, anymore.

We revived him...A glass of water with a spoon of sugar and a pinch of salt...massaged his calf muscles to shift the blood reservoir of legs to central circulation...and raised his legs above the level of chest...made him have Electrol solution every 15 minutes...monitored his pulse...gave him Sporolac, antibiotics, vitamins, and easy to digest food.

The next morning, I was roaming around in the corridor, waiting for the Gastroenterologist to show up (On a Sunday) to rule out Carcinoid Syndrome. ;-)
Results negative. Relieved on one frontier, but tensed on another.
Don't want to let him stay alone...for any which purpose.

He's absolutely fine, now!