Saturday, December 17, 2005

Mutton Biriyani with Arpith

A lot has happened today. I woke up early and rode in with Amma to hospital. There was a talk on PET imaging by Dr. Michael Spieth from Wisconsin, USA and I wanted to hear the latest on the topic. It was an interesting talk and he really praised our nuclear medicine department saying that the work here was really top class. Too bad CMC is too far away from a cyclotron to have the radioactive sugar to do PET scans here. I then went shopping and also fixed myself a pulmonary function test for Wednesday– to see if the last dose of bleomycin has affected my lungs before I get my next dose this week.
I got back mid morning and spent some time on the computer answering mail. Arpith is coming to dinner today and I have made some Mutton biriyani. Arpith is a year senior to me in the General Surgery Registrar rotation and is also Dr. MC and Anna Mathew’s Son. His brother Anandith, looks after my Bullet – and does a great job of it too! I have mentioned them time and again on the blog and links. Arpith was probably the first friend I told when we saw the X ray in hospitaland I was getting ready to have my CT scan. I can remember his eyes nearly popping out when I told him. He and his family have been such an incredible support to us that it’s not really something you can describe with adequete juistice on a blogspace.
Anne is working hard and Tripti was not really in a mood to study today, so she tried to teach me some anatomy -lazy me didn't listen
12 pm - Dinner was great. Arpith said the Biriyani was good (being polite of course) and we watched Motorcycle diaries. Anne decided that she'd give the books a break and joined us. A good end to a great day!
A lot of people say Arpith looks like me..... eh? I wonder why.....

2 comments:

Carl said...

Tarun,

How wonderful it was to hear from you! I'm still marvelling at how it happens that two people from such different places can have so much in common.

I've written something in my own blog about the experience of hearing from you...

"December 17, 2005 - A Passage to India

The internet is a strange and wonderful thing. I’ve been getting many warm, supportive comments from church friends and family who have been reading things I’ve written here, but one of the most remarkable is from a new friend who lives halfway around the world. Tarun Jacob is a medical doctor from India, who happened to run across my blog while doing some kind of web search. He sent me an e-mail, and we’ve been corresponding.

Tarun also happens to have non-Hodgkin lymphoma. He’s currently receiving chemotherapy, and has a wonderful, upbeat attitude towards the whole experience. But he and I have more in common than that. First, he too has a blog, which he’s been using to record his experiences; you can visit his blog by clicking here. (You really ought to check it out - he’s got way more cool pictures on his blog than I do!) Second, he’s a Christian. And third (along with his parents and his wife, who are also physicians), he’s associated with the Christian Medical College in Vellore, India, which began as a Presbyterian medical mission and still has strong ties with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Small world!

I’ve written in earlier posts about what I call the Cancer Underground - that invisible network of support that has immediately reached out and enfolded me in love and caring. Well, it seems the Cancer Underground has a very long reach indeed. Amazing!

Or maybe it’s not so amazing... because, I hasten to remind myself, God is at work in all of this. Who else could reach all the way to India, to arrange for a Christian brother and fellow NHL survivor to contact me and share his faith and concern?

Like I said... strange and wonderful!"


Rev. Carl Wilton
http://cewilton.blogspot.com/

Anonymous said...

They say that cos he does look like u.