Beyond Prescriptions

RELATIONSHIP DISEASED Disease is the most powerful enemy of mankind, it has taken more lives than even warfare; and just like wars, it has repercussions which goes way beyond what is visible. Warfare has redefined civilisation, I have seen disease redefine a human relationship. I was caught in this tussle as an outsider, not even as a doctor but as a mere spectator who had some technical knowledge, and what I saw brought up some of the most intense human emotions. It is about a lethal disease whose first victim is actually a relationship. Not one but many. A tragedy created by the Almighty where the core issue is shifted from survival to surviving a relation. And I say the Almighty here because of the way the script was spread out, not even the most imaginative human mind could have laid it down the way it happened. And I have restricted myself to only narration and some reflections. This is about a beautiful girl who is hit by a disease like a thunderbolt which forever changes her life, not just her body but everything around her. I had seen this girl in the best of her times. She was beautiful beyond description. I generally pick up everything in a glance; the skin, the hair, the eyes, the lips, the body, the nails, the dress, the shoes, almost all the overt details. But I really found it difficult with her because I got stuck almost everywhere! She is one of those faces you come across sometimes, equally befitted with everything else. My curiosity about her was short lived because I came to know from my cousin that she was her sister in law. She was still single but my interests in her were merely what a connoisseur would have in a piece of art. I was already committed (even that equation could have been reset but I had already ran out of energy in getting myself committed!) and so there was no story to be made. What I didn’t realise was that I would be a witness to another story which probably was more powerful than the romance between a man and a woman. The girl was in her late twenties and as should have happened, she was engaged officially. “The boy loves her a lot”, my cousin said. Anyone would, I thought. ‘She is very lucky.” I was not sure who was more. The marriage was destined for the summers and I should be around, her in-laws insisted. The atmosphere was festive and my cousin was all occupied. After all it would be a great Indian wedding, just three weeks away and with an angel; to me it was more like a fairy tale. I was in Mumbai at that of time doing my Junior Residency and was getting ready for work when I received a phone call from my brother in law. “You have to urgently come to The Bombay Hospital, my sister is admitted and the doctors say she is in need of an urgent surgery. We need you to be around.” Off went the call, perhaps he was not interested in the reply. It almost meant be whatever, be there. I immediately called my colleague that I would need an off and I also hung up, because what I intended to say was that I was not coming and please manage. Neither was I interested in a reply. I took a cab and rushed to the hospital. On my way I thought of calling my cousin, at least I should have some idea what was going on. “Where are you?” “I have just reached hospital and was about to call you. I hope you are reaching soon. We are eagerly waiting for you.” I could understand that they needed someone to talk to the Doctor, understand the urgency of the situation and help them in deciding the next course of things. “I am on my way. But who actually is sick?” my cousin had three sister in laws. “My eldest sister in law, the one who was to be married”, she clarified in case I did not know the hierarchy. “But you told me that she had been to her native town for the final wedding preparations. How come she is here?” “Actually she had a severe headache and then lost consciousness. Thereafter she was immediately rushed to the hospital and the doctor here says she is in need of an urgent surgery.” “Is she conscious now?” I did not want them to waste any time if that was not the case. “Yes.” “I will be there in an hour.” My neurons were now firing incoherently. The disease; the context in terms of the timing and the person; and me out of nowhere; the one hour drive was getting me restless. I did not know how important my presence would be but I needed to be there, may be for my own reasons. I reached the hospital and very soon I was with the treating doctor. The introduction was short and perhaps he knew that I might be involved in the decision making. I had picked up the name plate, he was a neurosurgeon. And the sequence of headache, unconsciousness, hospitalisation and emergency surgery; something was seriously wrong, I realised. He immediately took out her MRI plate, placed it on the view box and started. “She has a Medulloblastoma. She needs an immediate debulking; we can decide the future course of action later.” He was brief and expected me to understand all. Then I did not know how to read an MRI but the gross distortion of the tumour on the posterior fossa was easily appreciable. Although I could not make much in terms of the actual implications of the MRI findings, one thing that I knew for sure was that the posterior fossa has very little place and even a small tumour can create havoc. It had already created one.