Illness, in any form,
often leaves a person in predicament . The condition of those who suffer
from chronic diseases and cannot take care of themselves is so
dissuading that the patient mostly prefers to refrain from normal
activities and live in a state of isolation. In many such cases, the
affected are left in the lurch, with their own family members either
unable or unwilling to provide the much-needed care. For those who reach
the terminal stage of their life owing to illness, there is nothing to
replace love and care as they largely help to soothe their emotions and
thus offer peace amid bewilderment.
The experience that I have had in taking care of my father for an extended period of over five years before he ultimately died in 1997 in the Southern Indian metropolis of Chennai (formerly `Madras’), when I was 28, is not only unforgettable but also something that I would like to share with the society, hoping that it educates care-takers of many other parents, struggling elsewhere in the world, to shower love and affection on them in times of such serious health crisis.
Soon after my father was diagnosed with acute renal failure on account of multiple stone formation and put on dialysis (after one of the kidneys that was severely punctured by the stones was removed), he looked physically very fragile and mentally more sick, demanding round-the-clock attention from the family to carry on his day-to-day activities. His bones were so brittle that a slight fall could have led to multiple fractures and he was also suffering from sudden loss of memory. Most of his problems , were due to his decades-old smoking habit, supported by occasional drinking, that surprisingly died down only after Doctors warned him of his nearing death.
