Why Oh Why

• Why am I bothering to write this? 
• Why would/should anyone bother to read this?

                  Everyone  seems to be happy in their own comfort zones....

                    Why should I invade their private thoughts, 

                       expecting them to reveal their reactions 

                         to what has so far been my personal experiences? 

                     I have spent a lot of time pondering about these and other questions.

After being on both sides of the fence I finally decided to resume writing with the understanding (to myself) that I will continue to write if and only if I believe that there are (new) readers. So this is my plan. Writing something like this requires a lot of discipline, both during the years about which one is writing and also when recalling the relevant years. Some sensitive information will have to be touched upon.

So I decided to write this in the form of a set of musings to myself,  one “note” every few days, sometimes more, depending on interest and time availability. I would like to write about topics that will benefit others.  If there is something about which  you would like to hear from me, or obtain my perspective, please let me know by adding to the comments section of a relevant blog entry below. If I can do justice to that topic I will try to respond.

 

• Why do I presume that my experience will help others ?
  
  My fight with leukaemia (La for short) and the side-effects of its treatment lasted several years. The occurrence of  La is on the rise - if one goes simply by the number of questions that have come to us from friends and relatives of patients affected by it. Globally, WHO statistics also corroborate this. 
  
  
  The same is true for the neurological disease (I prefer to call it ND for now) that I am supposed to have. This was diagnosed in 1987
  
  Neither of these is a so called “Lifestyle Disease”, one that can be cured by a change in lifestyle - say by following a disciplined daily regimen of healthy food, exercise, sleep, etc. Neither can be "cured", at best they can be observed and controlled and even that is not guaranteed.
  
  
  But life has to go on. By sharing my experiences and narrating it in a way that comes to me naturally, my hope is that it will help others - affected by these and other similar diseases and ailments and cope with their problems and also ease the pain for their near and dear ones.
  
  
  Yes, more than the uncertainties and pain felt by  patients, is the agony and helplessness of friends and relatives close to them, people who regularly interact with them.
  
  

  
  The (In) significance of Dates and Times
  
  As time goes by, for the mere mortals amongst us, even the dates and times of occurrence of many seemingly significant events become difficult to remember. So when one is asked to narrate events from the past, quite often myriad of  dates tend to get associated with those events. Reflecting on such cases now I realize that independent of the accuracy of the dates, if the date and time of the event in question seems plausible, one should examine the intent of the speaker / writer in narrating the event in question, and if that is compelling, move on. It serves little purpose to dwell on temporal aspect of the narration, especially if  there is some reasonable takeaway from it. Throwing out everything that is said is like throwing the baby out, with the bathwater.

  This is the principle that will guide my writing in these blogs.

  
  

  A celebration of life and thanks-giving
  
  
  In some sense this attempt is also a celebration of the many people whose good wishes and sincere help contributes to the recovery of someone whom they may never meet but are compelled to help by their humanity and selflessness.  May this tribe grow !
  
  
  How can you help?
  
  
  Please let me know what other topics you would like to hear about. I have a list of my current thinking in one of the notes.
  
  
  
  
  With respect to the topics I have covered already, I would like to hear your views about the tone, style, usefulness, etc.... 
  
  
  Corrections/comments very welcome and will be appreciated. 
  
  

  These blog entries reflect the encouragement from many + the edits and changes suggested by a few wonderful friends including  Jayant, Malini, Nanditha and Sudarshan. My sincere thanks to them. Of course all the omissions and commissions are mine.

  Please include those who are afflicted by the likes of La and ND in your prayers and hope these will be tamed soon.
  
  Finally, 
  --- use every opportunity that comes your way to donate blood and platelets.
  --- sign up as a stem cell donor.
  
  
  Thanks in advance!
  
  Krithi