My dad died today. After a decade of cancer and kidney failure. He died in his sleep, and Iโd like to think he was dreaming of better times. Please say a prayer for him, if you can.
This is my mum. She is a trained gynaecologist, with over 3 decades of private practice. She spent the last 10 years being the primary cancer caregiver for my dad.
Once he passed away, my mom was distraught. We live in the same matchbox sized Mumbai apartment, but we wouldโฆ..
โฆ..when Muffin came , we learned how to live in the moment. B is our rock and M is the light of our lives. They taught us to be happy again. Weโre blessed to have them
#NationalPetDay
๐งฟโพ๏ธ๐ฉต๐พ
โฆ.into our lives. He made us communicate, though in those early days most of our communication was worrying about him. We began talking again, little by little. My mom laughed for the first time in 4 months after my dadโs death when B destroyed a remote. And thenโฆ..
โฆ..not talk to each other for days. My mom was grieving and I didn't know how to reach out to her. Plus survivor guilt kicks you in the gut.
Then little Bailey came into our lives. A colleague was moving overseas and he couldn't take B along with him. B brought light.โฆ
I hate sharing this - but if you are looking at a crematorium in Mumbai, the one near Juhu Garden has very empathetic staff. They also don't charge for cremations, you can make a donation if you wish to.
Binge watched the Netflix Indrani Mukherjea documentary and if anything, I'm even more convinced she killed Sheena Bora. Also, everyone on it is shady. Except perhaps Rahul.
@Nicole_Cliffe
got slightly better, but needed 4 pints of blood a day. I sent out a tweet for help - and literally dozens of twitter strangers came forth to donate blood.
I have never been so grateful.
@Nicole_Cliffe
My dad got very sick last year. He was in the ICU and we were certain he was going to die. I was overwhelmed and distraught and I stood outside the gate of the hospital sobbing. A watchman on night duty saw me, sat with me and prayed with me. I can't ever forget this. Then, dad
@IronmanMann
My father was diagnosed in 2012 with Stage 3 spine cancer. We've been through radiation and chemo and hospitalizations since then, but he is here and alive and I am so grateful.
@zigzackly
helped him gather some Bougainvillea because there were no flowers available anywhere. I donโt think Iโll ever forget bf and the autowallah showing up with armfuls of bougainvillea.
Today is dadโs first death anniversary. My dad had a green thumb, and spent hours pottering over his plants. His beloved monstera has a brand new leaf today.
I like to think that Iโm a fairly rational person but sometimes, especially in matters related to dad, I start believing
Help me with this, twitter. I didnโt have the heart to clear out dadโs cupboard after he died . I finally managed to do so today - and I have a wardrobe full of suits, shirts, trousers & tees all in very good condition. Is there anywhere I could donate these clothes? Khar/Bandra?
Everyone who reached out to me, thank you ๐. Iโm so grateful for your kindness today. The funeral was peaceful, and exactly the kind dad would have liked (he was a bit of an introvert). Dad loved Vishu, and as we were taking him inside the crematorium - a dozen odd
flowers from the Indian laburnum floated onto his body. Maybe Iโm desperately clinging to signs here, but it made me feel that he was going to a good place.
Yesterdayโs
@MumbaiMirror
carried a story of how doctors saved the life of a domestic help who had 24 fractures.
Kudos to the medical team - credit where itโs due. But why isnโt anyone asking why this lady was cleaning windows of a 10th floor house with no safety precautions?
My folks were stuck on the road because of water getting into the car while returning from dialysis. 3 college students near Santacruz helped lift dad from the car, bundled my parents into a cab, dropped them home.
For everyone wondering what high grade cancer is: Your cells tend to grow and spread more quickly than low-grade cancer cells. High-grade cancers usually have a worse prognosis than low-grade cancers and require more aggressive treatments immediately.
@zigzackly
Iโve said this here before, but anyhow. My dad died this year - April 14. My mum, bf and I were the only people at his funeral. Bf was coming from Chembur to Khar, and got stopped by the traffic police. When they heard what happened, the autowallah bf was traveling with and a cop
Me. Full-time cancer caregiver. Juggling lupus, higher ed, anxiety and a relationship, while learning to respect boundaries and live up to peopleโs trust. Constant work in progress.
Iโve seen some bs takes on caregiving here and thereโs a bunch of things Iโd like to address : Caregiving of any kind, but especially cancer caregiving is a lonely process. Your life is divided into pre-cancer and with-cancer eras. It eats away at you and leaves you soul weary.
#WhenIwas
9, and on my first long distance train journey, I was groped and forcibly kissed by a commuter. He patted my hair while he felt me up all over. I have a debilitating fear of train travel till today.
Quite an unexpected โmastermindโ of the Bulli Bai plot. 18 year old girl in the hills, Shweta Sigh. Lost father to Covid, mother to cancer: Hereโs what we know so far about Bulli Bai mastermind Shweta Singh.
The pain is real. PMS isn't a joke. 'That time of the month' is awful, physically and emotionally. If I am able to work from home those days, I'm more comfortable.
Mary Oliverโs words are comforting when youโre struggling with grief. You might think her work is banal, but when thereโs nothing to keep you going, her poetry is like a warm hug.
Today I held a stranger's hand when he talked about caregiving for his brother who is paralysed waist down. He held my hand when I talked about Appa. It was almost restorative - strangers comforting each other
#hospitals