A Ray!

Hello Readers,

How do you react when a family member is ill, you are rushing to the emergency ward in the middle of the night and the hospital's security guard says "Hi!" as if he is excited to meet you again? 

Should you smile and say hi or a serious hi or ignore or do something else? Your comments will be anonymous and you are encouraged to create some puns below.

My past three weeks were in and around hospitals and medicines due to my dad's ill health. I did not have enough space to do anything else as well. I also had long work days and juggled between work and hospitals leaving me a little time for myself. He is fine now and will be discharged and travelling back home by the time you read this.

Lately, I have been making fun of myself when my friends ask how am I coping by saying- "It would be nice if I could mention six weeks of training in the medical domain as a patient's assistant on my resume. Ask me about BP, Diabetes, Liver, Pancreas, Epilepsy, Heart functioning, Thyroid, gallbladder, Injured bones recovery, Knee Replacement, Cataract and Glaucoma, I can answer a few questions....lol". I wasn't entirely lying.

I had to listen to patient attendants sitting in the ICU waiting room, their plight and the risks they took. I gradually started avoiding such topics because I was traumatized. I just avoided sitting in a place where anyone engaged in such a conversation. Cherry on the top, my dad was also excited to learn about different procedures. So he started chewing the doctor's brain by asking whats and hows. Each time a relative visited to check on Dad, discussions were around the same medical conditions and complications. I would put on earphones and escape from that situation.

My mom dealt with this situation differently, she would take every little knowledge she could from different sources and would impose restrictions on Dad's diet, behaviour and lifestyle. My mom was worried and also enjoyed Dad's recovery. She was the one who didn't know a tablet name two years ago and fast forward to 2024 she can effortlessly say out the names of all the tablets Dad uses without checking the prescription. My brother would be shocked looking at Mom's progress.

On wait, I didn't say how I reacted to the scenario where the security guard wished me, did I? 

I smiled and went to my mom and laughed louder in the emergency room about the situation we were we didn't know how to respond. My dad looked at us like we were going nuts. My mom said to a doctor the last time we visited that the view from a room was good. She regretted giving a compliment this time and yet sent me a sunrise picture one morning from the hospital saying that it was beautiful.

Is it beautiful? Or are we crazy?

Dealing with all of it was not easy. And we found a ray of light even on the shitty road!

Signing off with a cold, fever and cough in the middle of peak summer that is heavy on my head and sending you only the Good Vibes!