Life of a Two Time Kidney Transplantee
It was a busy day today.
Woke up at 7 AM. Went to see the nephrologist. The new kidney is excited again. So I was advised an injection, a couple of blood tests and a renal doppler. Bummer!
We go to the billing section and find out the Single Bead Antigen test costs 30,000 rupees. And along with the other tests, injections and the doppler, a 50k was easily on the cards. Why put a hole in our pockets when we can put a hole in the company's pocket, we thought.
So dad goes to the office to fetch the company credit letter while we wait in the hospital cafeteria. Burning holes in pockets is the company's concern now.
Meanwhile I realized I had a project to be delivered in 6 hours. An article to be written for a client. And I hadn't even started writing.
My kidneys and my medical bills weren't the only ones showing me the middle finger that day. Now I had to race against time to deliver the project. Plus the client was the kind of guy who'd tip me extra every time. Snubbing him out, disappointing him like that was out of the question.
So I take my phone out and start to write. I open Google Keep and put down my first words on the yellow note. Turns out writing on a phone was harder than it seems. But I kept at it. Everything I knew about mesh wifi networks, i wrote down.
In a couple of hours I had written half the article. Sitting in the canteen trying to research the mesh wifi networks for 2020 and forming opinions was something I never thought would happen.
Anyway, dad arrived with the credit letters. A tiny speck of dust lifted off the shoulder.
Lunch was taken. And then I went for renal doppler, ultrasound in common terms. Half an hour later, another job done. I realized we were crawling to the finish line, albeit at snail's pace. A ray of sunshine, however small it may be.
Next stop was the injection. After another half hour struggle at the pharmacy, we took the injection and equipment to the procedure room. After all the waiting, the nurse tells me 250ml NS solution is missing from the equipment. Another bummer!
So dad goes back to the pharmacy when the guy finally informs him that a fucking international hospital doesn't have a saline solution in stock and it may take an hour to get it from elsewhere. Wait what?
Dad comes up and informs us the same while I lie on the hospital bed contemplating life decisions. We decide to scram as there is no point waiting any longer. We tell the nurse that we'll get the injection at some other hospital.
The nurse, a really sweet girl, then somehow manages to get a 500ml saline solution from their own stock. And starts the injection.
Injection was to be given over half an hour. But it too takes the mickey out of us and lasts an hour. The nurse then waives off the procedure charges out of kindness. Our shitty mood is less shitty now.
The medical procedures are over. But not so soon. The valet takes half an hour to get the car while I barbecue in the sun. The car finally arrives and we are on our way home.
I reach home and check my clock. I have exactly 35 minutes to deliver the article. I open the laptop and race through the rest of the article. I finish it within 25 minutes. 10 minutes to go. I deliver a sub-par mediocre article. Never did I think I'd be delivering work I did not fully approve of. But here it was.
Nevertheless, I convince myself to let it go this time. Wasn't the best of days but at least I could take comfort in the fact that I'm free now.
That was pretty much how my last 8 months have been.
Get a transplant they said. It will be fun they said.
Woke up at 7 AM. Went to see the nephrologist. The new kidney is excited again. So I was advised an injection, a couple of blood tests and a renal doppler. Bummer!
We go to the billing section and find out the Single Bead Antigen test costs 30,000 rupees. And along with the other tests, injections and the doppler, a 50k was easily on the cards. Why put a hole in our pockets when we can put a hole in the company's pocket, we thought.
So dad goes to the office to fetch the company credit letter while we wait in the hospital cafeteria. Burning holes in pockets is the company's concern now.
Meanwhile I realized I had a project to be delivered in 6 hours. An article to be written for a client. And I hadn't even started writing.
My kidneys and my medical bills weren't the only ones showing me the middle finger that day. Now I had to race against time to deliver the project. Plus the client was the kind of guy who'd tip me extra every time. Snubbing him out, disappointing him like that was out of the question.
So I take my phone out and start to write. I open Google Keep and put down my first words on the yellow note. Turns out writing on a phone was harder than it seems. But I kept at it. Everything I knew about mesh wifi networks, i wrote down.
In a couple of hours I had written half the article. Sitting in the canteen trying to research the mesh wifi networks for 2020 and forming opinions was something I never thought would happen.
Anyway, dad arrived with the credit letters. A tiny speck of dust lifted off the shoulder.
Lunch was taken. And then I went for renal doppler, ultrasound in common terms. Half an hour later, another job done. I realized we were crawling to the finish line, albeit at snail's pace. A ray of sunshine, however small it may be.
Next stop was the injection. After another half hour struggle at the pharmacy, we took the injection and equipment to the procedure room. After all the waiting, the nurse tells me 250ml NS solution is missing from the equipment. Another bummer!
So dad goes back to the pharmacy when the guy finally informs him that a fucking international hospital doesn't have a saline solution in stock and it may take an hour to get it from elsewhere. Wait what?
Dad comes up and informs us the same while I lie on the hospital bed contemplating life decisions. We decide to scram as there is no point waiting any longer. We tell the nurse that we'll get the injection at some other hospital.
The nurse, a really sweet girl, then somehow manages to get a 500ml saline solution from their own stock. And starts the injection.
Injection was to be given over half an hour. But it too takes the mickey out of us and lasts an hour. The nurse then waives off the procedure charges out of kindness. Our shitty mood is less shitty now.
The medical procedures are over. But not so soon. The valet takes half an hour to get the car while I barbecue in the sun. The car finally arrives and we are on our way home.
I reach home and check my clock. I have exactly 35 minutes to deliver the article. I open the laptop and race through the rest of the article. I finish it within 25 minutes. 10 minutes to go. I deliver a sub-par mediocre article. Never did I think I'd be delivering work I did not fully approve of. But here it was.
Nevertheless, I convince myself to let it go this time. Wasn't the best of days but at least I could take comfort in the fact that I'm free now.
That was pretty much how my last 8 months have been.
Get a transplant they said. It will be fun they said.
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