Monday 18 July 2011

Life gives you a second chance.....


Mimi, our help in Yemen was instrumental
 in making Kittu an independent baby...
Kittu arrives in Sana'a and my friends poured in to welcome her in the big Taj Family there....it was a mixed feeling to be there coz news of Kittu's ailment...if that is what we can call it...had reached there before our arrival...so people congratulated us with a subtle tinge of sympathy...unspoken emotions! But we respected that...a feeling noone can help....I would do the same....Time flew n things took their course.We had an Ethiopian maid,Mimi....she literally adopted Kittu.She would massage her with olive oil twice a day,specially her legs,to strengthen them,monitoring her medication,Habcaps n flexseed oil to be given on time....Kittu started getting used to things around her and we started getting used to her....a baby with very few demands.... a content child !
 9th April '04 ,a date unforgettable. All of us were going for a picnic from the colony....all set n ready...got Kittu ready .As I was to leave the house...I remembered something I had forgotten behind...least realising that we were warned about Kittu not being able to sit,stand,walk...etc etc ,I just put Kittu on a low seating sofa and turned away....lo! Kittu was sitting....I just couldn't believe it...and first thing I reached for ...was the CAMERA...which was ready 24x7 in my house...My camera has been my soulmate...sharing all unforgettable moments in my life....I clicked lil Kittu sitting...and we had crossed the first MILESTONE....the doctors were proved wrong for once and I felt victorious....coz now I saw HOPE!!!
Kittu sat for the first time on 9th April'04...
Her first milestone achieved !
I shared the news with everyone around and we literally celebrated....
May month it was and Kittu was down with fever,which continued for sometime and wouldn't come down.It worried us but there was nothing we could do.Medical facilities in Yemen were not all that reliable.And then we were to get her vaccinated,and we came across an Indian nurse....she just looked at Kittu and startled us by saying...Baby is turning blue....we didn't know what hit us...she was very cooperative and immediately arranged for a machine to check oxygen level in the body...it was 51%.... Downs children are supposed to have at least 94%...we didn't know what to do.She was brought home...her cardiologist in India was contacted,who told us that they needed to immediately do a surgery on her for PDA closure...which they were planning to postpone till she turned 2.She had to be rushed to India...where Dr.Kohli was waiting for us to do the needful.
The couple of days that we passed to reach India were like a nightmare. The cooperation we received from colleagues and friends was overwhelming...tears well up when i think of those traumatic days. Be it Mr.Katoch who organised huge oxygen cylinders to help Kittu get her share of free flow oxygen or be it a group of catholic friends who organised a special prayer meet for Kittu's well being,in the church.Can we ever forget those selfless gestures?
We departed for India....ready to meet Dr.Kohli....who was instrumental in giving Kittu a second chance to live....because the condition we had taken Kittu in...to India...we had to place our trust completely in God n for that moment in Dr.Kohli....

2 comments:

  1. Some moments in life always stand still and can never be forgotten.Kitu has decided to live life on her own terms and she is.Am sure these special kids come with a written plan and we just are instruments to help them achieve and implemment it.

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  2. Yes true ruchi,U put it forth so well....

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