My brave son Sulay

Yesterday - 18th June 2009 was a very tough day for me and my family. My 10 year old son Sulay was having fever for nearly 2 weeks and we were seeing our pediatrician Dr Kiran Shah every alternate day. Dr. Kiran Shah, Ahmedabad is a very well known pediatrician and is a close friend of my dad, Dr. Priyavadan Shah. Sulay went through series of blood tests as it was important to know what caused the fever and what treatment course could be taken. Sulay was put on different medications because fever was nearly 104 degrees and resurfaced every 12 hours. We used to put cold water bags on his body to bring down his body temperature.

The fever gradually went down with medication and it remained at 100 to 101 degrees after 2 weeks. This still was a concern as the fever persisted. My dad, who himself is a doctor was also perplexed with this. On 16th, Dr. Kiran Shah and our family agreed that Sulay should be admitted in his clinic and put on 48 hour observation.

We took Sulay to Hospital on 16th June evening and he got needle on his back palm and the glucose + medication bottles + injecting of medicines began. His fever got into 99’s but his body still persisted being bit warm. On 18th morning, we went through more tests as the root cause was not found. Sulay was asked not to eat anything except fruits and juices since he was moved to Hospital.

In the afternoon, we came to know that Sulay had typhoid + jaundice. We then had series of tests to decide the treatment. The whole day we were running around from laboratory to laboratory and from specialist to specialist to get opinions. With Dad being a doctor, we were given quick appointments. Although we were very tired, we were glad that things were moving at a rapid pace. Dad also accompanied me and Rina at every place. My father-in-law Maheshbhai Saraiya – Sulay’s Grandpa also arrived from Nadiad. Sulay really likes company of his ‘Nana’ and seeing him Sulay’s eye lit up. Maheshbhai also accompanied us during the day for tests.

Sulay is a very brave kid. His ability to handle pain is amazing. I have hardly seen 10 year olds like this. As per Dr. Kiran Shah, even adults cry out in pain when specific medicines are injected in veins. Sulay had pain and he did complain about the pain but he put up a very brave face. Dr Kiran Shah in his own words put it – “Your son is very tough. He has capability to take a lot of pain and this makes it very difficult for any doctor to treat such patients as they don’t usually tell what’s going on in their body” Sulay since he was 3 likes to become a soldier. Even with a lean body that he has, he is known to be a very tough guy. He always likes to wrestle with me to show how tough he is. Maybe I will miss those fights for few months now.

Besides preparing myself for tough three to four months handling Sulay’s situation, my biggest challenge was that our apartment was being renovated for last 3 weeks and the pace was really slow. We have shifted to our second adjacent apartment but that place with all the things moved in was very congested. As soon as I came to know that Sulay had jaundice and would need 6 to 8 weeks bed rest, I immediately realized that there will be more people needed to support the family and my congested apartment will be bottleneck. I immediately called my cousin (Architect) Hiten who was overseeing the renovation to speed up the renovation and put more resources as we would be needing the apartment soon. My 88 year old grandma was in tears when she heard that Sulay was getting so many injections for his treatment. She was going to call my cousin Hiten and ask him to speed up renovation so that Sulay can get into a spacious place when he is discharged from Dr. Kiranbhai’s clinic.

Another challenge I have is regarding my second son – Aman who is 6 years old. I haven’t spoken to Aman for even 5 minutes since last 4 days. He has been shifted to my second cousin Jignesh’s apartment since Sulay was shifted to hospital. Aman’s school was close by to Jignesh’s apartment and Jignesh’s 4 year old son Nitya also goes in same school as that of Aman. They are taking care of school duties and managing Aman. I went to their apartment yesterday night at 11:30 PM. Aman was almost at sleep. I slept next to him. When I told “Aman – this is your dad”, he couldn’t believe it. He got up – was very happy and wanted to talk to me. I was very tired at night so I requested him that we should go to sleep now. He also had school in the morning so I didn’t want to keep him awake more. I started this morning at 5:30 since I had to get to Hospital to see Sulay. I also had to bring few tablets on the way that Sulay was supposed to take in empty stomach.

I took my shower and reached hospital at 7:15 this morning.

What I came across yesterday was another “1 Second shocker”. This 1 second shocker about Sulay’s Jaundice and extended bed rest got tears rolling from my wife Rina’s eyes.

I wrote to Sulay’s School today that he will not be able to attend school for extended period. Rina also met the principal.

Doctor also advised Sulay to now start eating home cooked light food. Sulay became so happy that he is allowed to eat after 3 days.

I have decided to spend maximum time with Sulay till he recovers. This means that I may have to work in night shifts. I hope my Internet connection at the currently renovated apartment gets connected as soon as renovation is finished.