Returning to (ab)normal life.

Returning to activities construed 'normal' takes lot of doing, especially you have the surgery wound across your abdomen. However this is the most common question you get, 'when are you going back to office?'. Well, I would like to get back to the grind as soon as possible. It would be quite a distraction from the pain and other things (e.g. having cancer).

In medicinal parlance there is a term called, 'quality of life'. Doctors claim that they try to improve patient's 'quality of life'. This generally covers, all the inflicted injections, see-and-don't-touch nurses, surgeries, etc. Of course they mean well. In doctor's opinion a walking and standing patient with little grin on face is an assurance that they treated patient well.. (or earned day's salary). Doctors would always insist that you should resume your regular activities as soon as possible. They want to make sure that you can stand, walk and work after their deeds. What nerve, one would say, but that is their way of ensuring your quality of life. I remember when my brother had angioplasty, the doctor was insistent that he should start working again as quickly as possible. Probably he wanted to make sure that the blood is flowing after he put in the stents (one can never be too sure, you know!). In my case doctor should be happy if I can stand again(!).

All said, there is no normality to resume to. After you have been diagnosed with a major disease, every small symptom is looked in a different light ('you have dandruff? I guess we should better check it out!'). Ordinary people can get away with headache and broken limb with simple treatment, cancer-patients, no way. If they get headache it must be some form of metastases, if they break their leg, it must be because of weakened bones. If cancer patients lack the desire of sex it must be those injections of chemo, ordinary people can simply get away with 'headache'.

Then there are multitudes of suggestions on how to resume normal life. Some people advocate to take it slowly (of course these people never worked in IT services field), others advise to jump into it. I like the later approach. It is more attractive than answering one mail at a time in my inbox of 1733 'unread' mails. It is amazing how quickly a large inbox with multiple 'cappings' can get you back in circulation.

Returning to normal life takes little getting used to. For example, driving the car around the block. I felt that I had almost forgotten how to drive. Fifteen days of compulsory bed-rest and no bath can make a man lethargic. However, the overbearing thought of disease seem to diminish over a period of time. I no longer worry about tumours or their ability to grow or the fact that I have to live 'an-injection-a-month-life'. I am more worried about mundane things such as what is happening to the engagement I was involved in, why the steering wheel of car is making so much noise and why Kareena Kapoor is having affair with Shahid instead of me.

For all good reasons, I like to return to normalacy. It would make me forget all the treatment and blood sucking nurses (you may not believe it but I have distinct marks on my body where nurses used their teeth to suck out the blood from my body... I can prove it). However, I would be a changed person now. I would be more educated about cancer and related treatments. I would also know what an enima means ( ok.. I did not know about this procedure before!) and for sure I would know how painful hospital diet can be. Like I always say, it is a great learning experience. At a cost of course, but there are no free lunches.

I am looking forward to getting back to the normal life. Like an injured warrior returning after a big fight, I would resume my life where I left it, as if nothing happened. People would look at me with an awe and whisper quietly about my courage. Young people would respect me and aspire to be as courageous one of these days. In short it is going to be a grand return. It does not happen every day that people return from celebrity hospital without meeting Bipasha Basu, especially when she was there to meet them. It requires lot of courage!