July 20, 2006

I was going to sit down and journal on my own but thought I might share my day with everyone. I just realized that it has been exactly 4 months to the date since Mom was admitted to the hospital. Mom and I went to the hospital very early in the morning with Dad and Jagdish kaka on March 20th, 2006. That is quite a coincidence since I just happened to go visit the hospital again this morning. I had wanted to go thank the nurses and staff members of the open-heart ICU for several months now. The gentleness and compassion with which they took care of mom was really out of this world. They were so very gentle when talking to Dad and I. I know it must be really hard to exactly know how serious a patient's condition is and at the same time say something positive to their family members and give them a ray of hope without completly lying to them about the patient's health status. I wanted to thank them for trying everything they could to save mom. For many months, I carried a thank you note I wrote to them with me in the car. I would set out to go give it to them and then turn the car around and run another errand. A few weeks ago, I talked about this with Sheila aunty and she said we should bake some brownies and she and i could go give them to the ICU. So, that's what I did. I baked some brownies yesterday and put some kaju katri in the box (I had to add a little indian touch to it for mom's sake) and Sheila aunty and I walked it up there this morning. I handed it to Debra, the only nurse I recognized there. Debra took care of mom during her first few hours out of the OR. She was so so very gentle with Mom and comforted us during those first critical hours after mom's surgery. She is a face and a person I will never forget. I tried very hard to maintain my composure but it didn't happen. I ended up making her shed a few tears. The lights, smell, and sound of the ICU were just all overwhelming. It brought back memories of my mom's last days and those last few hours. Debra said to me, "you know, your mom was a trooper. she tried really hard. she's resting peacefully now." I know it.
Mom was a really special person even to these nurses who only knew her for a few days. They still remembered who she was and were able to take to me about her. Think about how many patients they must've taken care of before, during, and after mom. It makes me feel good that she had such a positive impact on people even when she was so sick. Mom's always sending me so many lessons. She may not be physically around to joke around with and laugh with but its times like this when I know she's helping me do whatever I need to do in life. Thanks to Sheila aunty I gathered the courage to go up to the ICU. I'm so glad I did it.

hi everyone,

I got your comment, Joe. I'll definetly try to post more often. I've just been in the summer-mode these days. Dad and I are doing alright. We had guests these past two weeks and enjoyed spending time with them. It was nice having the house full for a few days. We're taking a short trip up to Detroit at the end of this week and then when I come back, I'll be winding things up to move to Atlanta.
I think I'll start a new blog or just send massive e-mails out every now and then. My e-mail address is shaylee.dave@gmail.com, if you want to send me an e-mail. I hope everyone is having a nice summer.

lots of love,
shaylee

july 3rd

Hi Everyone,
I'm sorry I haven't had a chance to write much on the blog lately. The summer has been going by so fast for both me and my Dad. We have been busy getting ready for me to move to Atlanta in August. We've also been taking time to relax and try to get stuff organized around the house. We've spent a lot of time with several close family friends that have visited/are visiting this summer. Dad and I took a trip to Washington DC in the middle of June. We drove up there to visit one of Dad's very old friends, Shankar Rao. We had a very nice time there and I was able to spend some time with my cousins and friends as well. We're back in Augusta now and have a few family friends visiting us till the second week of July. I hope to be able to go on another short trip before medical school starts.
Our vegetable garden is blooming well. Some of the plants grew from seeds that had fallen last year. So we're keeping up the gardening tradition. Dad knows a lot more about the garden and such than I and it's mostly his job to take care of that. We're trading off kitchen duty's and I've learnt a lot of recipes from my Dad as well as family and friends. I'm becoming pretty domestic although all that will end pretty soon when school starts.
So, there's an update on what's been going on down here. I hope things are going well with all of you.
lots of love,
shaylee