It is 22nd of June. The longest night in the year has passed, and we feel it’s a turning point as so many things will happen today. I restart Opdivo IV once per month, 5 sessions radiation of brain and neck will start, and long awaited rehabilitation of my legs will commence. In parallel we are waiting for confirmation of my visa extension. It expires end of June…
Actually the day didn’t go as planned at all. All morning I waited for the Opdivo, after they inserted th IV needle. Also the radiation didn’t start. So I had to cancel 2 business meetings which were planned on the basis that I could cancel them with an hour notice. Anticipation…
Then, after lunch, things started to move in parallel. 1.5 hours of Opdivo started. I thought I could sleep through it but the rehab guy decided to appear unannounced. Between the ECC cables and IV tube he began to check on my muscles, asking me to stand etc, the nurse was watching, keeping the tube out of the way.
He nodded a few times, and agreed to provide a walker for practice after I had visited his shop on the 5th floor. His English was 0, and used google-translate as I have been doing. He was very professional and asked the right questions. He would visit me the next morning and drive me to the 5th floor. I am making sure there is no business meeting planned in the morning… Anticipation.
The radiation for today is not scheduled, making me worried about as I have a critical meeting at 17:30, which we worked on the last 6months. Yesterdays radiation was at 16:00 with a duration of 30min so it should alright. It’s ‘just’ the brain and neck which are radiated with precision… Well, looking forward to a well planned day, which hopefully will go as planned. 😂
About my visa cliffhanger; I asked my wife to follow the example of an Indian diplomat, who visited a special booth in the immigration office to get an extension of 5 days on his son’s visa. First he got a stern NO, but after continuing to insist and repeat the exact same request in English 5 or more times, they swayed and allowed the extension on condition of some more documentation.
We had a time shift experience as if we were back in Bangalore Immigration where this kind of behavior and asking for an exception was normal. My wife and me had never imagined the officer would give in to this diplomat, but learned a thing or two on his approach of repetition. When she wakes up I will discuss it with her, as she is getting burned out of waiting without knowing how close to expiry the confirmation will come. Taking possible actions prevents the stress of waiting.
Another rollercoaster day ahead of us. One which we will take a step at a time, and enjoy small things and jokes with the well trained, polite, supportive and untiring hospital staff. I feel so blessed being here, and enjoy the deeply engrained culture in everything going on around me. People, systems, methods, and above all patient first mindset!
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