From medical to........(Part 2)

6months after i wrote my very first blog,on my journey through Class XI,im now ready with the part 2 of that journey-Class XIIth........................

March was nearing an end,we were done with our final term exams.shortly after our exams,12th started,classes were being held.But,someone was missing!my dear friend Pooja,she had left our school.I felt really sad but my other friends comforted me. In the last week of march came the farewell party for our seniors.By that time i had bonded well with my classmates,so we enjoyed the evening in each other's company and danced a hell lot on the dance floor.

Then came my 16th birthday on April 1st.It was the most eventful year of my life.

Synchro classes were going on as usual,and school classes had started taking normal routine shape.The coaching schedule during vacation months may-july had already been chalked out and was very crucial as XIth revision formed an important part of it.I had geared up myself for real hardwork.I was determined to improve upon Physics and had plans to revise my XIth well.The time from May-july is very crucial for students preparing for entrances because this is the only time they get for brushing up their XIth portion which significantly features in all entrance exams.I had chalked out my own revision schedule as well,but it seems God had some other plans,infact at that point of time he had really ruined it.

Mid April there was a tinge of backpain and what followed was bad real bad.........

Now i had experienced the same kind of pain earlier about 6months back during Diwali time(when i was in XIth) but with rest it went away over a period of time.

When it came back,it became a matter of concern and there was some other development which further raised our suspicion.There was a lump on the right side of my lower neck region.

My mother was very worried and shocked the moment she saw it.Being a doctor herself,i guessed she had detected something but dint tell me anything.I was getting really curious-"Whats wrong with me?",i had asked my mum.....She showed me to her colleagues,i went for blood tests etc.And then there was MRI.Now,this was at Apollo hospital.The radiologist told my mum to go for further check ups coz he thought it was cancer/tumour!My mum was shattered,shocked,depressed all at once.I saw it in her eyes.She suggested it maybe Koch's(Another name for TB) but he denied.It was a rainy night i remember,the storm was as much inside my poor mum's heart as it was outside.

We took a rickshaw, were returning back to our place.As soon as she entered she rang up my dad.They talked,then suddenly she took an umbrella and we left on foot for her colleague's place.It was just a block away.But i can still remember the lightning noise and the silence between us....Ironical.........

All through this while i was absolutely calm and had no sign of worry or fear.I have always been an optimistic person and i knew that it cudnt be cancer/tumour and told my mum not to worry!

After her friend checked my lump,he suggested her to go to a path lab and get the lump pricked.Now,that was supposed to be the final test to know the disease.

The very next morning Dr.Mudgal uncle another of my mum's colleague took us there.We got it sucked by the needle.It was a funny sight for me,i could see the lump getting deflated.haha!

But i also saw a sigh of relief and a smile on my mum's face(the first after i had showed my lump to her) i asked her "What happened?" Both uncle and mum laughed and said-"No problem.Its Koch's,its curable"......Actually when the doc sucked the lump through a syringe,yellow pus-like fluid came out,it was an indication that it was due to the bacterial infection.If blood would have come out,then there was some other reason like cancer/tumour. The lump was on the front,but its exact origin is where my vertebrae were.

That bloody radiologist from 'Apollo' was plain careless in his diagnosis.When we later showed the MRI film to other doctors.Everyone instantly detected that it was indeed TB,they said it was pretty much evident from the affected vertebrae.And can u believe it,that doc from apollo said he wasnt sure whether its cancer/tumour but he said he was sure it was not TB!!!

Imagine,What would have happened if we would have blindly followed him.I woudnt have started ATT(Anti tubercular Treatment) and it would have spread.Already,many of my vertebrae were affected.A lil more time and i would have,well,need i say more?.......

On the same day when we reached home,my mum called up papa and for the first time in my life i heard him crying,he cudnt talk,he kept on crying and saying"Bhagwaan ka shukar hain,dont worry now beta ul b fine.just take those medicines regularly" o man! o god!i can never forget that feeling and i never wanna experience it again,the one u get when u c ur parents crying........

I was bindaas as usual.i told mum"Kya chinta hain(not to worry)?Its curable then y worry.Medicines lo theek ho jao" lol.....I think it was my free-spirited,optimistic attitude that helped me sail through that 'painful phase' as my mum says.

I had bone TB,the non contagious one.My whole back had been infected,it was the timely detection that saved me.I had 3 medicines every morning for 1.5yrs.They kept changing after phases(3-4months) they are a bit tough to manage with, cause the body gets time to get used to it.With some u feel dizzy,with some nauseating and with some there is some deficiency so u need to have supplements too.Yeah i accept it was tough but i dunno,i was cheerful throughout.For me just the thought that it was curable was enough.Me and my mum were each other's strength throughout and my whole diet chart comprising LOADS of PROTEIN was chalked out.

(A hell lot of Protein and calcium was required to recover/refill those eaten up vertebrae of mine!) [sounds funny na? :)]

In between my mum kept blaming herself;sometimes me for my poor diet that led to this.The same old thing yaar,junk food,missing out on ghar ka khaana(She said its all coz of ur coaching)

The pain disappeared in 3weeks flat!I mean wow.My mum told me that ATT kills all the bacteria of TB in 1 month max.You still have to take the medicine for more than a yr to make sure that it doesnt come back and all remnant ones are killed too.

It is said that Mycobacterium tuberculum (bacteria that causes TB) is there inside each one of us Indians.TB is most common here.Its just that those bacteria need a chance to cause disease.So,as soon as ur diet goes haywire/ weak(read junk) u get signs and symptoms of TB.

Now, Lung TB is really common,Bone TB is not and Lung TB needs medicine intake for just 9months.Bone TB needs double the time.

Now as soon as i started taking medicines,i was also advised to take complete bed rest and ultra care as my back had gone weak and to ensure that it doesnt get deformed i had to wear a brace all the time.i was too conscious to wear it to school so i dint use to wear it during school hours but otherwise,always.

At school noone knew this. I just told them there was some back problem.Only 2-3 close frnds knew besides family. Its difficult to explain all this,not everyone understands,form unnecessary perceptions.So my doc only advised me not to tell.

So,basically,i missed out on all those vacation Synchro classes.Dint study a word,felt very very very bad.And as school opened it became even more tough and i struggled to cope up with XIIth forget revising XIth lolz........

It was a well kept secret,but now its OUT! ;-)

Man,that was long.I hope u ppl are still reading.......

Coming back to my XIIth.........

Something really sad happened,Ajay sir and Mumtaz sir,botany and zoology teachers respectively,left Amity.It was the biggest shock to us and we felt really really bad and sad.they were more than teachers to us and we were really attached to them.They had some dispute with the management.And lemee tell u the management was getting worse day by day.O we just hated them.They were doing a 'Bad job' for sure.Some miss was playing a real hitler in the name of 'controlling' the institution.huh!

In Sept end came Amity's ETP.ETP stands for Extensive Training Programme.Yeah right!!il tell u what it was,there were some students selected from each branch-noida,saket,janak puri and they were put together as one class and sent to Amity's Def Col. Centre.It was a Big Dud!duh programme......lolz

Imagine after school hours we were taken there,used to return by 7:30-8pm!My god and how angry my mum used to be,i remember!hehe she was like "u need rest" "dont go there study at home"

"all these things are crap" "ur diet will again suffer"

hehe :)

Yeah it was indeed a failure, a big waste of time.I mean i had not even revised my XIth dude!Was coping somehow with my back and the load of 'XIIth'!I dint noe where my life was goin and these bloody ppl were coming out with ETP....hahahaha my foot!!

The year was nearing an end.I had no clue Where my year went away?Whats gonna happen?

And i definitely knew it was not gonna be a 'HAPPY NEW YEAR' for me.haha

So,as jan,feb were approaching 'BOARDS tention' was growing.I had left all my coaching studying stuff and was concentrating on 12th exams........

But also,my school life was coming to an end.....

So,i gave away my badge (i was the school captain,u see) There was scribbling day,Citation ceremony on feb 14th.O how can i forget that.Whole day spent with friends,blessings were showered upon us.It was great and every1 felt nostalgic.

Then boards came and went.Then came our Farewell night!it was awesome,photo sessions,all that dancing, that too in saree.

So this way school life came to an end in 2006.But another Ordeal began,Medical entrances.

O the most interesting part of my life.....I have got loads of incidents,experiences to share....

But this post has already become so huge!It will take some time i guess for all of u to digest what u read!!hehe ;)

So lets take a break!il c u soon......... And by the way am absolutely perfect and fit now!my haemoglobin level is 13.5!!(im so proud of it) and my back is as healthy as ever. :)