A major MILESTONE on the journey....

November 10, 2008 GRADUATION DAY, CMC Vellore.
Three Cheers for the Silver and Blue!!

Today - I have been given the Degree of Master of General Surgery (M.S. Surgery) by my Alma Mater. It's a HUGE deal. It's not so much the achievement or the relief of being done with a major part of my education - it's the disbelief that I could walk onto stage and walk off having received the accreditation that I have satisfactorily completed my training.
When I started to write this blog, I was uncertain of so much..... questions and doubts were always on my mind - would I complete chemo? what about the radiation? Costs of treatment? what would happen to the baby we were expecting in all this chaos?....My mind kept me busy enough to push finishing my training to an obscure spot maybe in the background - living seemed a priority over the learning!! I took time off (6 months) my course to be treated and it was done in the faith that I would get back to training some day..... I remember sitting after my shots of Vincristine (a chemo drug), my fingers numb and devoid of sensation (a side effect that can be permanent) - banging the keys of the computer as I blogged- without a tactile feedback and silently wondered if the side effects of lost sensation of my chemo, would wear off and let me get back to feeling human tissue as I would cut it...... Today I have my sense of touch as good if not better as the day I started my training...
As I graduate, and look at the 'plot' of the past 3 years- I realize what insignificant a role I play in the list of credits - 'I' actually play the smallest role in putting me on that graduation stage..... My family has undoubtedly been my strength and fuel. Anne, My parents, Anne's parents, Tripti and Santosh, Cherry were so much like solid anchors that I never felt tossed around as the waves hit. My God has, without doubt been my boat. I have had the comfort of feeling his security as I travelled this journey.
As I share this milestone with the world - I really hope that it can be an inspiration that there is NO IMPOSSIBLE, with our creator. The Lymphoma I had could be beaten and similarly I feel the problems that we all face can be challenged. It's just a question of believing, hanging on for the ride and not quitting early on.
Love from Tarun, Anne and Koby.