(Part 1) - http://www.christianstories.co/2012/02/accident-experience-gods-healing-true.html
Ok I think this was long overdue to do this write up and on the offset this doesnt seem to be the best frame of mind to do this... but I am going ahead otherwise this will be delayed yet again...
Wont follow a day by day report as I did earlier but assuring that this will definitely be a long read so if you have the patience and the time... Read on.
Last time I winded off, I ended with saying “God is good and he doesn’t do anything which isn’t within his plans.” I stand testament to this truth today on my own 2 feet with out the support of a walker or any other support.
Oct 15 till today Nov 24, A month and a half has passed (41 days to be exact) and I have no regrets about this entire ordeal… It’s been a time when I can say I have matured, taken certain steps for the future and above all come to a point where I have begun to realize that if it weren’t for Gods powerful hands guiding us every step of the way, we would have ended up going down a totally different path…
The first night that I was back it felt really nice to be back from the hospital and sleep in my room and see the roomies of Tulip 201, I guess the feeling was mutual and they went out of their way to make me comfortable… Joel my adopted roomie for the time being was there every step to ensure I have my medicines on time, and he along with Vinay… muscle man, were the one who helped me with my bath in my helpless estate… Trust me people not a fun place to be to have people help you do some of the very basic things we have to do… From the offset I had been resolved towards trying to do things on my own… been a painful exercise but definitely worth it.
Decided not to log into work on Oct 15 but started going through the mails from Oct 16th. My company managers have been instrumental in sending me my ergonomics chair to my home which was a blessing in so many different way in those initial days at home… Later on I could move myself around as it was on wheelz…
On Oct 16, Friday I got to be back to the Tulip 201 traditions of hearty meal of Bacon, Ham, Eggs, Sausages & cheese. Boy and was Joel trying to have my share with the pretext of me putting on weight… speaking of which I just found out some time recently… through this time I had lost nearly 9 Kgs… not bad.eh… another way to loose weight but not recommended… “Have an Accident”…
I guess I am been rusty trying to recall the happenings as it did… but I am sure to cover most of it… Tuesday went for my first checkup by Cab and Joel was there with me… Met the Doc in the lower floor and got on the wheel chair for the first time… The walker was nice but it kept delaying my progress and strain on the forearms to push my self forward… Felt different in the wheel chair with a bald head going to the treatment room.
Remember the Doc taking some pictures of the wound and don’t worry this time not posting any photos After the Docs first check up there wasn’t much change as such but he did a dressing for the wound area.
So I had officially started working from home and started contributing within a couple of days… In one way it was good as it kept my mind occupied during those hours in the morning… We had a setup in place… Joel used to be home till about lunch and then head for his class and Surej would be back early… Vinay just in time to give me a bath before the dinner marathon… Sunny when he was at home was just a phone call or should I say miss call and he would coming running to help
Josh called and fixed up with me that he would love to pick and drop me to the hospital when I needed to see the doctor. I know this hasn’t been easy on him as he stays in Cox town and to drive all the way to Sarjapur and then to Bannerghetta was no joke and I am grateful for those times we could just talk. Been blessed and felt loved through those times. On the second visit to the doc, it was like I belong to this place… Saw the guard who used to leave people up to my room when I was admitted. We exchanged greetings and the Docs assessments were that the graft was taking but there were big islands that need to connect. Dr Gunashekar, is a gentle doc and he has a calmness in how he goes about doing things… Since I was becoming a regular didn’t carry any of the earlier reports so one of the nurses was try to get some number / id they wanted… called Joel and he said some number… which didn’t happen to be the one and then somehow they got it… Anyways I stored the number on my phone that day to use it once later in one of my followup visits. I was chatting with the doc on how simple software would be to query information by the person’s name… It’s seemed so plain simple to me that they needn’t break their head for… I then realized it could be said of us s/w engineers as well when we browse on the medical threshold… So I kept mum about it…
I don’t know the date but one of my juniors Jones... he thinks he’s funny but he isn’t… found out through Facebook I think that he comes through our side of town and we planned to meet up. And our hero comes I think the next day right after Josh dropped me back from the hospital… He brought a big bag of fruits, some of them I would have never brought myself but it was nice… We brought out so many of the old memories from coll days where he used to get beaten up by my batchmates… We even talked about the football game where we beat them in the finals for hostel day. Oh and our hero told me the news that he’s getting married sometime about now… He truly can turn your day… with his comments at times… but he thinks he’s good all the time… We synced up on each of our batchmates and he left late that night… oh by the way he had a palio… moves around in 4 wheelz now
Mahind anna and Shyla Akka, came home to visit me too that week and it was nice to just catch up on what’s been happening with EU and we talked for a long time… It was comforting to know that prayers were being made even at EU where I had taken a sabbatical this year.
One of the surprise calls for me was my School Principal, Mother Cat as she is popularly known call me and enquire about me… Found out she’s in Bangalore and eager to meet up sometime but somehow we haven’t been able to till date… will definitely work towards that… She was also so keen on a OOEHS AA meetup in Bangalore and in our extremely long conversation we found that there were so many in Bangalore… Hoping that it happens sometime in the near future… Do recall she was heading to Hyderabad on some job opening which I found out later didn’t work… She was eager to meet me on Sunday but I kind of made plans to be at church. And she had her flight in the afternoon. So we agreed to meet up when she got back.
Sunday the 18th of October, had resolved to go to church… wasn’t easy but decided I would… Hired a cab as I couldn’t get on the bike and Vinay goes early for church… Joel was there to help me again with my walker(foldable), my bamboo stool and pillow. He put me in the cab and off I went to church in a cab… must do it sometime.. can be the most desirable drives if you are in time… I guess one of the known factors about me has been the one of me being late… oh yeah and even to church… folks at GH can concur on that… Anyways that was one time I was early… and it was good to be there… as soon as I got out so many came to my help… I was more focused on getting inside as it would take me some time then… anyways went in.. Needed help from Stancy and TitusChayan to get on the 2 steps into church… Hoped to my normal seat besides Bengy on the right corner and Vinay sat beside me on the other side… The Worship time was one of the best I have been to at ARF and it felt nice to be home in his presence. Got to share my testimony at church that day… I can still remember the sentiments that went through my mind as I shared… Oh I wish I had recorded what I said… Standing on one leg leaning against the wall I was overwhelmed with the fact that I was alive… like a flury of the wind… everything that had happened suddenly flashed before my eyes… As I spoke I was at a loss of words but I know I spoke without a break. Those moments declaring what the Lord had done in my life was something I will never forget. Time wasn’t a factor when I spoke but when I did finish I was so drained out. It was a wonderful time of worship. And it was Richie and Ruby’s first time back at ARF after they got back from the US too. After church about 25 people came to our place in Sarjapur to have lunch, Vinay had called and told the guys a battalion was coming and the three of them scramed to go to koramangala… so much so that I was left standing on one foot outside the door of Tulip 201 for about a good 15 min before which we had to get a chair from my neighbours. Vinay had gone to get some stuff for lunch. We played Mafia… it was first time for many… I was the speaker for sometime and then Jerine took over… Stanley my friend from college was over and guess what he was the Mafia…none of the other knew him but he wasn’t successful in the end. But he managed to get quite a few out… hadn’t it been for the hitting from all the dead people… U never know…
Tuesday was the next appointment and this was about the time when Josh relative was admitted in the hospital for Cancer… So I called and said it was ok and that I would go by cab… and that day surprisingly of all days the lift wasn’t working and the cab was downstairs and by the time I got down hoping on one leg down the stairs from the first floor and by the time I was down it was over 15 minutes or so… and guess what the cab guy left since I hadn’t come down for 15 min. Yeah tell me about it right… anyways called Dr and rescheduled for Wednesday because was so pissed and frustrated with the whole situation and I remember the min I was back in the room I went straight … to the bed and knocked myself out… Took me a while to even get up and speak…
The following weekend missed church as I had gone for the bible study on the 17th to PhilipChayan’s place and Cherry and Sara drove me back to my place…
It about the previous week when I started planning for my trip to Manipal to be there for the GH inauguration on Nov 1st… initially we were planning by train and we had booked the same earlier and it was WL 25 or so and it got close to time to consider Takaal, it had only reached WL 20. After trying hard to get the tickets we finally managed to get tickets for me and Vinay by bus… The doc had earlier said that it was recommended that I don’t travel by bus and was ok if it was by train… This trip was kind of decided way before the accident… I had forgotten there was another trip on Oct 15 which I had planned with Cherry earlier to go for the missions India conference in Kerala… Infact had both the tickets booked as well and had to cancel since I got discharged just one day before… anyway coming back to the manipal trip that week was confident of making the travel…
When I visited the Doc before the weekend, I had my spleen removed as to my uncomfort without the support every jerk felt like a blow on the spine… without the spleen it was going to be difficult to travel on the bus & I was totally at a place where I wanted to go but circumstance just forbid me from… I know at GH they had even planned my coming and arranged a wheelchair for me… It was hard but had to call and ask them to cancel my return tickets since I wasn’t going to make it. Wasn’t easy to make that choice… but I guess I believe everything happens for a reason…
Juny chech had come that Friday and she called me over home… And to those of you who know her… there better be no arguing with her… So kind of decided to go over to Joey’s and Juny’s that weekend for a couple of days then… but one thing led to another that I have been here for nearly 3 weeks now… Josh and Jess too offered to have me at their place… Infact one very close friend soon to be married called and told me if they had been married they would have definitely had me over too… I must take this time to tell that everyone Gods placed in our lives whether they go the extra mile or not are blessings in our lives… I cant say anything but thank God for the number of people who stepped in to make me comfortable… I am greatful to each one of you who has invested time in prayer for my recovery and gone the extra mile for me.
That Saturday the 31st, made plans to go for the bible study at Philip Chayan with Jaff as he had come looking for a place in Sarjapur as it would help them with respect to work… showed him a couple of places that he could consider. Got a couple of contacts as well… Headed towards Philipchayan’s place for the study with my bags packed for a week and my chair from office… Had a wonderful study and we were studying the life of Jesus with respect to Judas Iscariot… One of the biggest take homes for me was even at the last moment Jesus was open for Judas to turn back and treated him with utmost respect…
Well been in the Babusapalya part of town since then… about 3 weeks now and its made a lot of things easier for me… and I cant thank God for the many things I learned during this time... some I can openly share some I cant but I can say this one thing… Every step of the way there was learning’s for me specifically…
I am writing this bit 3 days after my initial attempt to finish this post… it’s 28th November and its Saturday Early morning 12:30am… one of the things I realized through this writing exercise was that I didn’t want to end up writing about myself rather what the Lords done in my life… I have realized it so easy to think that you are doing things for God but seem to loose direction and focus on what God really wants to do through our lives… Praying that whatever I write hence forth might be a blessing to who ever takes the patience to read…
Don’t know where to begin so will start with the Doc… In my interactions with the doctor… he was pleased with the way the graft was healing… the nature of healing wasn’t uniform and the noticeable part was the swelling between the toes and the wound area… pain wise I was slowly getting used to it now since I could now feel every jerk without the spleen. Doc kind of expected me to start walking without support in a month or so…
Most of my roomies we planning travels during the first 2 weeks which is also one of the factors I decided to come to Joey & Junys… So after the bible study came to Shanti Kiram Apts… and its been my home until now… Got a room to myself…with a Balcony so to speak… The other plus is a lot of close family stays around the area as well… Cherry & Sara stays downstairs Stan & Susan stays upstairs… Initially it was a workout to climb the stairs… Initially even had to have support going up and down…
The first week was a week with many of my first time events like having Oats 4 breakfast… and Revant’s been on my case to have it for lunch and dinner… now I guess I can make my stand of not having oats anymore… surprised to find that it comes in many flavours… during this time there were moments which I kind of had first time experiences in waiting in silence… and in fact in praying for various needs for many people… I been amazed at the kind of needs of people only if you were to take the time… Another change which I experimented upon was sleeping early… not my fortay so to speak but been times of just rest. Times to just open up before God, bring requests before him and trusting him with the end.
About this time we heard the loss of an uncle who was travelling back from Bangalore… Uncle died on the spot, it wasn’t an easy time for people closely related to them and the feeling of pain and hurt clearly could be felt… I couldn’t help but recollect one of the statements made to me while I was at the hospital… God has something in store for me to be alive… I pray that I would be ready for whatever it is that the Lords going to lay on my heart… The END is so near… we are closer today to his coming and I pray that on that day I meet him…I would hear Him say… Well done.
During the first week I kind of missed not being at Gracehome for the dedication service… But was in sync with the guys there… so had heard all went well… looking forward to one day go and see it in action… The doc had suggested that I do some kind of exercise for the feet so that there is circulation… I was very much dependent on the walker this week and I was so tired after climbing up the stairs to the house during this time… At this time I felt so dependent and honestly speaking didn’t feel so good about it.. being the person who is more self dependent it wasn’t a great feeling to be looked after… I still can hear Juny giving me the stern look when I try to do things myself… Weekends were a blast with John over and gang meeting up for breakfast… bible study at philipChayans and Sunday Worship… I think it was this weekend I got to go in a wheelchair in one of the Malls… We lunched at “”, cant recall the name now… been to their outlet in Chennai and the buffet was excellent. Also while doing shopping for this close friend of ours; I happened to see a Dad who was on crutches. They were looking out for a blazer for the kid who was part of some debate… talking with him since I was on the walker, found that he had met with the accident on June and he was still on crutches with a rod in him… could see the uncertainty written on his face and it made me realize that the hope that’s in us gives us an inner peace that we cant sometimes explain ourselves… Praise God that my accident isn’t as bad as so many others and I am alive today because of his mercy.
Remember Cherry wanted to go to Saiacs to listen to a speaker Brisco who was internationally known and the theme was on missions, similar to the theme of the Wingspread Camp 2010… So had planned to go earlier since Sara was working… Oh also had Saras pancakes for breakfast. I had to go and check out CornerStone campsite as well that day… John was there for the weekend and he had brought KFC Friday night… I must say we belted it that night… and saved some for Joey to have the next day… Anyways we reached towards the end of Pastor Arun Andrews breakfast session. Its always a joy to hear him articulate his thoughts. The next speaker was Cherry’s Close Friend and he did a good job too… but we couldn’t stay for Brisco’s talk since we had to go to the campsite… Juny and Jenine also had come to see the campsite… The place was good but the accommodation for the crowd we are considering for wouldnot have been apt. So folks if you are in the vicinity of Bangalore around Apr 30th to May 2nd please try to make it for Wingspread 2k10.
There was this family friend of mine staying close to Saiacs that I had been meaning to visit for a long time… and I got Cherry to go with me to their place. It was a nice time with that family and I think it was Gods way of connecting his flock… We could share with each other the experiences that life has taught us and Cherry got to display his guitar skill for uncles son, who had an accident on his arm playing basketball. We were able to connect the dots of people we knew and it was a nice time at their place… by the time we left it was late in the afternoon and barely made it to pick up Sara from work.
Mondays usually Revant would come down before going to work to catch up which we haven’t been able to do lately… One of the things I got to do at this time is connect with people closely… Though in some cases it wasn’t as easy… but to know that you are not just somebody that has an existence… to have God repeatedly tell you I am right besides you… through the storms and adversaries that come your way… The following weekend was Bengys & Preeti’s engagement and its been a blessing knowing them both… their stands and their trust in him… Been a blessing by association… Tuesday visited the doc again… wasn’t much of improvement but I guess this was when I got to see a colleague of mine in the hospital being treated by the same doc… She had jammed her fingers and since she was an intern she couldn’t work from home as I could… Speaking of which, I am grateful that I could work from home for over a month. Surprisingly my contribution to work has been above par during this time… It’s the Lord that’s enabled me to work this well. Thank God for the provisions he places before us… and many times I for one have taken it for granted. This about the time I started planning for my vacation in Dec. Oh yeah I am planning to be in Alain for one last visit Dec 17th till Jan 10th… Going to be an interesting trip… hoping to catch up with my friends there and walk the grounds of the place that shaped me to be the person I am today…
The second week too was not so easy with my mobility been a struggle but had pushed myself through it… The least bit of exercise I was getting… This weekend was Jade’s birthday and I remember deciding not to climb up their short steep steps and met Josh and Jess downstairs… So sat in the car… Also during this week Asgar Ali a friend of mine from Hyderabad had called me and told me he would be in blore this weekend and he was looking for a place to go for Sunday Service… It was a surprise since I met him only twice before… He works with Sakshi ( Indian Apologetics Organisation). When he was given time to speak… I recall him challenging each of us to get 3 PHDs minimum… The passion with which he spoke on the convictions he had was a change from the common norm we were used to. One thing to note was he wasn’t aware of the accident I had and he assured me of prayers from the team in Hyderabad. Will explain why I mentioned this in the following paragraph. Kind of missed working in the office setup but I am sure to miss working from home later… Some of the nights have been extremely long working from home as well… Been able to contribute a lot to work during this time... the best thing was, that I never was constantly in front of the mail box. One of the favorite songs of mine I was constantly listening to at this time was “ I bring an offering of worship to my king”… Its 2:30 am now I am going to play the song in low volume… Cant somehow get enough of that song… surprisingly it was sung during the first week of the month.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcXSNJNHmoc
This is the link I have been repeatedly listening to… The words of the song bring a new meaning for me personally… its only by your blood and its only through your mercy…
16th November: Another miracle in my life… I walk without the support of the walker… It felt normal and there was no thunder strike or power surge through me… I just walked as if nothing happened without the need for a support… it felt exciting and I continued as if things were normal… I am sure that it was a result of prayer especially the brothers in Hyderabad… Amazing how God brought about the entire sequence of events to happen. Can feel the strain on the wound area when I walked but I didn’t need support though on and off I straighten myself by some support in my immediate reach. I don’t think even I expected to walk as I did… Remember Stancy getting me the single stick walker for me and I said I don’t need it… Because God enabled me to walk and I didn’t want rely on support. Been a crazy week all in all… the period of silence was kind of getting to me at times but talking it out made me realize everything happens and works together when it has too… Made appointment with a physio Susan who had treated Jacob and Deema in Kalyani Nagar part of town since the doc had recommended to do so close to where I was staying… Hadnt it worked would have been back in Sarjapur now… Since I was planning to be there for Vinays birthday… Managed to get him a cake and the guy was blushing…. We order from our usual BFC… hearty meal.
Started Physiotheraphy from the 18th and Dr Susan is a nice hospitable person and she is a believer and it was assuring to know while she relaxed them muscles and tendons she was praying for healing. She has instructed me over the period I have been going for therapy to use some homeo medicine for healing the wound… I had no qualms about it since I know fully well it God that brings the healing. These have been 45 min sessions and been a good time so far. The swelling have reduced drastically and my ankles are more moveable now. She has even invited us to a musical that she has been working with on Dec 13th. Looking forward to going for it.
The third weekend most of the folk this side of town decided to meet for breakfast and I send out the message to come by 8:45 thinking along Indian Stretchable time… unfortunately Richie and Ruby ( US returns ) were there on time and by the time we reached it was about 9:30… we then went see Geoffory Junior… Geoff’s Dad welcomed us and we chatted for a bit and got to see baby Geoff in pairs… In the evening Joeys old friend Viju and his wife came. Bliss had come to anoop’s place… Joyce and John had come and we had a killer dinner… Cherry was leaving to Singapore that evening… Silence had broken and made short intermittent conversation but as in the words of a wise man… patience is the key… Sunday was another Jam packed day… finally went to Millers 46 for lunch… Except the lasagne, the food was awesome… evening went to Josh and Jess place so we could see the birthday girl Jade… Nice to be back at the home that catered to so many of us… Sajan also had come which was nice… Got to hear from Shaheen about her admittance for higher studies…how God opened that door for her… also about the atrocities of what’s happening in her homeland…
This week has been hectic at work and home… there was a power surge that blew my laptop charger and it sure has been painful for Jenine with the ear infection due to ear rings… To have to hold her while she was wriggling in pain was no fun… I know it must have pained the parents even more… Been a toll on my wallet with the ticket and the other expenses…Next month nearly over half the salary will go in clearing bill which by the way we received yesterday. I am planning to watch the Arsenal Chelsea match this weekend with Bengy and then head back home. I have arranged my initial travel to work with some colleagues who were kind enough to offer their help. Looking forward to being back in action at work…
The week that is just gone by was eventful and it helped me make plans for my move back to Sarjapur back with the guys… I would miss this place and I comfort it has been for me… I know it has been easy to open up the home for me to stay but I have been blessed to be part of this home… Learned a lot of lessons seeing the family in action and know for surety its not going to be a walk in the park
This journey that the Lords taken me through has made me see how short I have fallen inspite of the seeming spirituality that we project… God is more concerned about our time with him… I have slacked at it and I am working towards getting that in shape… I started playing with the soft ball in the house now and looking forward to playing soccer sometime in future… Gods been faithful, gracious and good to me during this time… He been the provider for every need… even the ones I never realized I needed. He deserves all the Honor.
Will be seeing the Doc on Tuesday and I am sure he would be impressed with the recovery… I haven’t seen him in 2 weeks… When I walk now, there isn’t much of limp as before but after sometime you can feel the strain on the grafted area…
Gods been so good to me…
I think I will wind up now… its 4:00 am... hope this been a blessing for you as well
cG
PS: As we just celebrated Thanksgiving... I present this in thanks to the maker who redeemed me from death...