Thursday, October 30, 2008

Thank you

A few thankyous are due...

  • Thank you Poornima for sending the children's DVDs through Robs. The kids cant decide which to watch first.
  • Thank you V for gifting a handsome sum from your Performance Bonus to buy myself a pair of diamond studs.
  • Thank you Lijy for lending an LPG cylinder, when mine exhausted. With the gas agencies insisting on a timespan of 21 days from the date of last supply for booking the next refill, and another 10 days' wait for the cylinder to materialise at one's door, I need to think of alternative sources of energy.
  • Thank you, doctor at the clinic, for making this blog post possible. The sleep-inducing expectorant you gave was just what I needed to fall snoring on my keyboard, and blogging helped me ward off sleep for a while.

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Later...

Ashwin's skin has been looking pretty miserable of late that we decided not to send him to school till he looks a bit better. Instead we took him, after I dropped Mira at school, to Dr. Patrick Yesudian in the morning. His secretary usually gives appointments for the week on Mondays - it is easier done in person at the clinic than over the phone (044-26411254).
She told us the earliest appointment was for tomorrow, but told us she would squeeze us in through today's appointments. So in the lull between two appointments, we found our way into the great doctor's room. He told us that we keep his moisturised at all times and the moment it went dry. The bathing could be once a day (well, us Malayalis like to bathe at least twice a day even if it is in water-starved Chennai) and we could just wet him at other times before applying the cream.
The emollient cream he had prescribed in the last visit was Cetraben. We were advised to alternate with Fudic acid ointment mixed in liquid paraffin and and Topgraf 0.03% mixed in the same at night. Fudic acid apparently has v. mild cortisone content while Topgraf/Tacrolimus ointment has nil and the latter is recommended for long-term use. The antihistamine to induce sleep was Phenergan and the antibiotic to help heal oozing sores was Roxithromycin/Roxic liquid. For the scalp, any mild shampoo and for bathing Oilatum soap. He merely increased the dosage of a couple of medicines, added an ointment for a week's use only and advised Vaseline Intensive lotion, if we manage to find it in the foreign goods shops. The doctor advised we send him to school since he would itch less if he is kept active and engaged.
We then went to Ash's school hoping to meet his teacher, which apparently is not allowed during class hours. So we met the Principal, who said that Ash take rest for a week since he would sweat in class or during play and itch more. She told us he would outgrow it in a few years - it is good we have put him in a school where the staff is understanding about the problem. They apparently have a pupil in the senior school who has grown out of his eczema.
As we talked, Ash walked from the Principal's side to the window and watched his peers play in the play area. He entreated us to take him there as we left the room. We told him he could a few days later when his itching is gone.
Later is one of the oft-used words in his vocabulary. Like when we went fireworks shopping pre-Diwali two days back. As V went in to pay, Ash examined the chocolates and stuff on display. When V tried to drag him away, he said: "Appa, lemme just see them. I dont want to buy them now."

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Romancing the rains

Yesterday began sunny and warm after three days of incessant rain. However, I did not send the kids to school. Instead, I sent the dripping as well as the damp clothes out into the sun. But by afternoon the sun called it a day and let the raingods take charge.
What followed was one of the heaviest downpours I have seen in the city in recent times. It didnt matter as long as I was safe and dry in the chilling comfort of the office. Save for the two brief sprints to the canteen in the rain. There's nothing more fulfilling and romantic as watching the pitter patter of raindrops as you sip hot, steaming tea.
But not so when you venture out into the mad, bad world of slushy roads, infrequent and overflowing (with commuters) buses and cut-throat autorickshaw drivers, who make big bucks while the rains rage. I joined the sea of people at the bus stop, braving many a mosquito bite for half an hour. Hordes of people walked to their destinations or half-way to their destinations while traffice moved at a snail's pace. Many carried bags and suitcases and had to reach the train station or the inter-state bus terminus - probably they were going home for Diwali, which conveniently fell on a Monday this year.
I hopped two buses and reached home in 2 hours, as opposed to 20-30 minutes on a normal day. As I alighted at my place and smiled in satisfaction at my ingenuity, I saw two practically empty straight buses to my destination.
Today has dawned sunny again, but the weather forecast says "cloudy". If dark clouds come, can rain be far behind?

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Surreal creations

The rains have brought infections in its wake. The kids are down with food poisoning, Mira first and now Ash. While Mira came through on home medications, Ash had to be taken to the hospital yesterday night since he was puking bad. He is a familiar face with the doctors and nurses there, and one nurse asked Ash if he doesnt give any peace to his parents.

I saw a newborn baby in the baby warmer in the emergency room, and it brought back all those good memories of the pregnancies and after. The baby was asleep with nothing on his/her body except a diaper and a piece of thick green cloth to shield its eyes from the blue light of the warmer. The diaper looked alien on its body. The blue light made it look like a creature from another world. Or should I say, womb? I cant explain the riot of emotions I felt as I stared unabashedly at the baby. Made me almost want to have another baby. Coincidentally Ash had brought that question to his dad a while earlier: "Why is it that T aunty has a baby in her womb but Amma doesnt?"

I felt loath to leave the baby, whose warmer stood next to the cot Ash was made to lie down for his intravenal Emset injection. The nurses shooed us off from the room before they pricked the back side of my boy's palm. We reached home at 11.30 pm and went to bed at 1 am. Only to be awakened at 5 am by Ash complaining of an excrutiating stomach pain. He cursed his tummy with Vayar Appacha ninno and Vayar po and so on, so we took him early morning to the emergency ward again. By the time the doctor examined him, Ash was fast asleep - he gets his best sleep after 4 am every day thanks to the itching at night.

The warmer was open and empty. As we were leaving a nurse came in with a tiny bundle. It was probably the same baby needing the warmth of the warmer. I am not sure.

Update: The heavy rains the whole of this week has meant that schools have delcared the 2nd holiday this week today. Lucky for Ash who had to bunk anyway.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Meeting Dr Patrick

Update: Dr Patrick is no more. He died some 8-9 years ago.

We finally met up with Dr. Patrick Yesudian yesterday evening. In case any of you in Chennai with an eczemic child wants to meet him, he is available Monday to Friday between 10 am -1 pm and 4-7 pm (except on Tuesday evenings when he is at Apollo hospital) in the first floor apartment of PA towers on PH Road, in the Pride Hotel premises (ph: 26411254). He charges a modest fee, though not nominal as Dr. Thambiah's.

Being a very rainy day, there are not many people in the waiting room. We reach on time, so we dont wait beyond 5 minutes. It is my first visit since V had been bringing Ash earlier. An old gentleman, he is patient and spends some 10 minutes with each patient. He doesnt treat my eczemic child like he has got a contagious disease - a couple of dermatologists we met earlier examine the way they would a leper - and demonstrates on Ash's arm, using his own bare hands, how to apply the creams and lotions.

He tells us once again that eczema is a dry itchy skin condition that should go off by the time the child is 7 if he is lucky. He looks at the reports - our misadventures with various doctors - and tells that an eczemic child is bound to test positive for food allergens and stomach lesions, so our allergy reports and abdominal scans are a waste of time and money. If we go by the allergy report, the child would have to be on a starvation diet! The best would be to try each food and stop only those which causes an itching within 2 hours of eating.

So we have shelved the Ayurvedic medicines for now. Ash is back to eating chicken, fish and icecreams. The way he pounced on all the taboo food has been very sad to see. To think the child desisted food for 5 months just because we told him it will make his body itch.

The dr also gave us a booklet from the National Eczema Society of the UK. V got it copied and I am studying it. He doesnt have the patience to read two paras of anything other than newspaper articles and his CA literature.

Does Yesudian mean Yesu nalla idayan (the lord is a good shepherd)??

Tailpiece: As I get him ready for school, Ash spots a framed picture of Jesus holding a lamb in his arms and asks me: Is that going "To market, to market to buy a fat sheep?"

Friday, October 17, 2008

A gift for teacher

A packet of Milk Bikis came with a Pillsbury Atta (wheat) pouch yesterday night. Ash set his eyes on it and decided he wanted to take it to school for his teacher. He held on to it dearly all night until he fell asleep. I put it away in the larder afterwards.

Today morning, as soon as he woke up he began rummaging my table drawer. He told me the biscuit packet for his teacher was missing. I had no option but to give it back to him. He promptly went back to bed, saying icchiri neram koodi uranganam, hid the biscuit under his pillow and fell sleep.
more to follow...

Ash seems to be getting very fond of his teacher. On Thursday, the day he went to school after a 2-day leave owing to his acute eczema, the teacher was apparently very upset to see the poor boy's incessant itching. Ash told me the teacher made him sleep/lie down - probably in the classroom. She instructed that all the lights be switched off, which in Ash's words went like this: '"Switch off this light, switch off this light, switch off that light and switch off that light", the teacher said.'

Ash's first progress report in class has come, and it has made us very happy. He has got A+ (Excellent), A (Very Good), B+ (Good) and B (Fair). The happiness is double because we hadnt expected him to do well, especially with the headmistress telling us long back that he might have to repeat a year in LKG if he didnt do well. That was mainly owing to his lack of speech clarity and fidgetiness then. There has been a major improvement on those grounds. He speaks Malayalam coherently and quite fluently now. The other languages will have to follow. I am told that a child who picks up the mother tongue first will find it easier to pick up more languages, if need be, in the later years.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Foetal concerns

Tulika's protruding belly was a source of wonder and curiosity for Ash and Mira the past three days. Ash, who whacks people hard when they least expect it, had to be kept away from her. An hour after "Tuli-aunty" came, Mira declared that she had a baby in her tummy too.

By the second day, Ash was impatient to see the baby. "Please ask the baby to come out and play with us," he demanded of his aunt. Communication is not easy since T cant understand Malayalam and my kids cant speak English. But I guess if I leave the three together for a month, T would pick up Malayalam and the kids would pick up English.

Yesterday when V came home, he found Mira sitting with her hand over her tummy. When her father enquired if she had stomach pain, she said: "Tell Achin not to kick my tummy. There is a baby in here. I am going to tell Uncle if he kicks."

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Doctor quest

Today we decided to make the pilgrimage to Dr. Capt. Thambiah's, since Ash's skin condition especially the scalp after a night of scratching looked pretty bad. He got ready for school but in the end we decided not to send him. Instead, after dropping Mira, we found our way to the clinic of Dr. Thambiah on Poonamalle High Road. The small narrow lane opposite the Das Prakash Hotel led to an old, dilapidated colonial bungalow. I dont think it has been painted for ages and it looked like a haunted house. I could see the doctor in one room on the left while a serpentine queue extended from outside his room to the back of his house.
The morning practice timings are 8.30 to 11 am according to the board hung in the front and we had no hope of making it before that. We decided to come off. Moreoever, going to him each time standing in this perennial Q would be tiresome to say the least.
So we drove to Dr. Patrick Yesudian's clinic next to the Pride Hotel on PH road. Only to be told by his secretary that appointments are full for this week. She very kindly gave us an appointment for Monday next.
But what am I going to do with this itching lil boy until then?
p.s. The house is all quiet again, if the presence of two kids can make it any quieter. The last of our guests left yesterday night.
***
I post this, and then go for a cup of coffee in the canteen. On my way, I meet a colleague whose 9-year-old son also suffers from eczema. It is seasonal and severe too in his case. George and his father have had eczema too as kids. So it is hereditary for them.
But eczema doesnt run in our family, and Ash is a first-generation recipient. George tells me that Dr. Thambiah is a senile maverick. He is 80, a bachelor and doesnt spend more than a minute with each patient. Well, he would have to if he has to see some 150 patients in 3 hours. There must have been some 50 people in the queue when I went there. The consultation fee might seems paltry but apparently he makes up for it in the medicines he prescribes and which have to be bought from his own pharmacy next door.
George swears by Dr. Patrick. He however advises me not to mention to him that we had tried alternative therapies for eczema. Long back he had told V: "Dont try Siddha and Ayurveda and stuff. In the end you will come back to me."
Prophetical.

Monday, October 13, 2008

Doctor horizons

A couple of people had advised me to take Ash to Dr. AS Thambiah, a reputed elderly skin doctor near Das Prakash Hotel on PH Road here. And I have been trying to push the case with V, who is disenchanted of late by allopathic treatment for eczema since it offers no cure, only ways to control and manage it. I tell him that Dr. Thambiah is believed to have one leg in the grave and that we show Ash to him at least once before he leaves this world.

So I look up Sulekha pages today - getting bold after a successful bid at finding a mosquito screen provider through it - and get his ph. no. and address. Looking at the Yahoo Answers page, I dont have much hope about getting through the line. But surprise of surprises. A male voice picks up immediately as I call. What more, the doctor himself. He tells me that he is available Monday to Friday from 8.30 am to 5 pm at the clinic and it is first come first served. There is a pretty terrifying queue, I hear and the doctor tells me to come early to beat the queue. "The consulting fee is Rs. 30, three-zero," he tells me and cuts the line.

Thirty! In these days. No wonder the queue is so long.

We need to show Ash to a good dermatologist at the earliest and Dr. Patrick seems to be out of station. Let me see what he will have to say about my little boy's condition.

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Back to Square One

Ash has returned with a somewhat severe form of eczema after his Kerala stint. His face, eyes and ears have been affected - blisters, broken skin and scabs that we are now trying to alleviate with Betnovate and Betadine. It could have been triggered by the carpentry and polishing work at Chandanapally which the little boy couldnt resist watching.

Home is a hectic place right now with my father, father-in-law, two fighting kids and Ash's diet and medications to manage. My sister-in-law who came along with Ash to collect her certificates from the Madras Uni left yesterday. The fathers leave tomorrow night. My brother and wife will enter the scene by then, and depart on Tuesday.

Have a nice weekend, all my known and unknown readers!

Wednesday, October 08, 2008

Random pictures

Metrowater is giving us new pipelines but it has only added to our daily misery. Dug-up roads that makes driving difficult and no piped water until the new pipes are functioning. The water paucity has exceeded a week now.

In all this misery, doesnt the earth mover make a pretty picture? Each time I see it, I am amused. Because some people like to call an earthmover the JCB, just as they would call diapers Pampers. It is like calling tea leaves Kannan Devan.

My sun (pun intended) is back. Did u note that his teacher also calls him Ash?

The menu on a day I picked up Mira from school. Each day she gets to eat something different but when you ask her, she says she had rice and milk.

The golu at our neighbour's house during Nav-ratri. It was the first time I attended any such and I wasnt sure if I did things right. I got a steel bowl, apples, sindur and turmeric powder as prasad.

The puja and the pujari at V's office on Ayudha Pooja yesterday. We had a closed holiday while V had only a restricted holiday, which he chose not to take. One thing I like about closed holidays is that I can catch on the newspaper backlog since there are no newspapers to read today.

This and that

  • I didnt know until yesterday that the Compulsive Confessor was half Malayali and that she was writer NS Madhavan's daughter. Nor that the Asal Tamizh Penn is not a journo with TH as many assumed. Probes reveal that her blog is half fiction. Has been a big let-down ...
  • A cousin I grew up with, and the one who had nicknamed me dosamma, got married last week in the US. God bless him and his new life.
  • Mira has 3 days leave for Pooja beginning the 8th.
  • Some milk sweets and an apple come courtesy the office. Being professed atheists (at least some of us comrades), we always invest in the fund for the puja and decorations on eatables.
  • Ash arrives on the 9th with his two grandpas and Aunt Renee.
  • My brother and wife arrive on Sunday before heading for Kerala.
  • Last Sunday we attended the Aavanipoovarangu (Chennai Malayalis' idea of a belated Onam celebration) Food Carnival and eyed the Maruti SX4 at the Popular Vehicles' stall. V still prefers the Honda City as the next buy.

Aavani poovarangu

Tuesday, October 07, 2008

The gravity of things

My mom sounded pained when I called to enquire about Ash today morning. The law of parental gravitational energy is such that you call the house where your child is domiciled more than the other. The law applies more for the inlaws' house. I call mil morning and night when Ash is there but otherwise I cut the calls to once a week. She doesnt blame me - such is parental concern.
Coming back to my mom. "What are you two working people going to do with this poor boy when he comes there?" she asked. She told me that Ash began itching the moment he hit bed yesterday(though I had asked mom to use a freshly laundered bedsheet for him in case it was dust mites that was aggravating the itchiness). What baffles us is that he is fine throughout the day - it could be because he is too busy playing to bother about his body. (I need to take him to Dr Patrick or Dr. Thambiah, keeping aside the traditional medicines for a while.)
She is doubtful if the maid will help relieve Ash's discomfort when we are away at work. One cant expect the maid to function the way the grandmothers do - sponging his body in hot water adding a pinch of salt and potassium permanganate or rubbing the affected area with their blunt nails. "Ammachide kayyilu nakamilla," Ash complains, and takes up the job himself. We take care to keep his nails trimmed, so that he doesnt bruise himself too much.
Ash butts in and tells me that the Papa next door (my uncle) has a moustache, that Appacha is watching Pogo (!!) and that Bruno is in his cage. I tell him to he leave his wagon set back there; I dont want it going the way of all toys here - broken or missing. He understands when I tell him that Vaava will lose it.
I guess we adults ought to stop cashing in on the sibling rivalry.
Mira is no better. She licks her icecream cup clean and confides: "Achacha cant have this. He will itch."
But sometimes she pretends to be suffering from a very itchy eye and skin. She rubs her eyes and howls: "Ente kannu muriyunne."
And today it was a mosquito bite on her chumbi (bum) .

A bone and back

If there is one thing that maddens me, it is people (read my hubby) who make me book doctor appointments (after waiting endlessly on the line listening to some recorded crap about what the hosp does to provide quality health care etc.) and then decide not to honour the appointment. He needed to see the orthopedician about removing the screws that kept his femur bone together after the accident, so I book an appointment for myself too regarding my post-partum gift of lower backache. In the end I meet Dr. Jaishankar while V skips saying he is too busy at work.
I do a week of physiotherapy for my aching back on the doctor's advice. Something called interferential therapy using a Vectrostim and then some exercises for the back. The Xrays say everything is normal save for something that look like gall stones to the Xray technician.
I manage to drag V along for the follow-up appointments, though 10 minutes late. He can have his screw removal surgery any time he fancies (which is January 2009). To our surprise it is a minor surgery and will require only a day's hospitalisation.
The doctor tells me to take a walk now and then, and mind my posture. I ask him if I should see the physician about the gall stones. "Dont invite trouble if you dont have any pain," the doctor advises.

Monday, October 06, 2008

The VIP grandson

Ash has gone off to my native place, Chandanapally, along with my parents when they came to visit him at Changanacheri. They had been in two minds about taking him since he had a couple of doctor appointments on Tuesday - both ayurveda and allopathy!

But the moment he saw them he wanted his bag packed and his clothes changed. Achacha naatil povvaa, he told his paternal grandparents and left to see Bruno the lab and the Other Ammachi's hens. When I called him at night he was busy playing with the wagons and railtrack set his London ammacha had got him. He sounded impatient and asked me to cut the call since he had to go play. But before he hung up, he pleaded: "Appa and Amma please come fast and take Achacha back to Madras."

One house has suddenly become dead quiet while the other has woken up to the squeaky chatter of a 4-year-old.

Friday, October 03, 2008

Miraspeak

Yesterday being Gandhi Jayanti the father and daughter are at home enjoying a public holiday. The mother is at work enjoying overtime wages.
Since Mira has been clamouring to go for a walk (nakkaan ponam, she says), the father takes her out in the evening. He sees a puddle and offers to carry her for a while. Thereafter she insists on being carried. My feet will get dirty, she says.
Then what is the purpose of walking, says the father and puts her down.
A car comes in that quiet street and V decides to carry her again. Vandi icchum (vehicle will hit me) she says and refuses to leave her lofty perch. The father makes her see reason again.
After a while she says: "Appa, I am sweating. Please switch on the ac."
The pleasures of walking with a modern-day toddler.

Later in the night, she finds her father pouring over a book. She is bored. The nanny is either reading or preparing for bed. The father entertains her for a while later and goes back to his book. "Oh! you reading again?" she asks aghast.
When I call her, she tells me: "Amma, come fast. Put Tintin for me."
I disappoint her though. No, I come soon after she entreats but it is too late to watch Tintin. There is a tantrum until the father comes to resolve it. She recites Psalm 23 and goes off to sleep on my arm. Happily ever after.

Wednesday, October 01, 2008

I surrender

Mira has become a great fan of Tintin ever since I got her a Moser baer dvd (read cheap and affordable) of the Cigars of the Pharoah. She can watch it again and again without getting bored. Only problem is that it results in a tiff with her brother who prefers to watch Popeye. Anyway both are fascinated by the Indian fakir in the Cigars series especially where he hypnotises Tintin with his "I surrender". Both initially called Tintin Appa but now they have graduated to calling him by name.

Thinking that she'd appreciate more Tintin DVDs, I bought Tintin in Tibet (one that had had me in splits when I read it ages ago) and King Ottokar's Sceptre yesterday. But she is not interested in them. She wants her I surrender dvd.

I surrender to her whim for now. But I will have to find something that will fascinate her in the new ones. Maybe the Yeti.

On the penultimate day of reporting duty at the photography festival, the boss of the English writing dept, came and told me: When we both a...