"I am blessed in more ways than I can count ! "
Blessings from Family, Friend's, Ancestor's, Guru's ,God, Stranger's !
The one's who have been following my blog , will know , that it was my Nana who decided on my Nani being the Donor, inspite of strong opposition by a few. Had it not been for his firm decision, this story would have definitely had a different plot!
My Nani did not question her husbands decisions. She went with the flow. A simple woman , who went through the entire process of check up's & then the surgery , with a strength that belongs to that generation. Her prayer & blessings for my recovery ! Ignorant that she was , no fear, no stress , her indomitable Faith and a surgery that went off smoothly. Her recovery , swift & uneventful. She never gave a thought about the risk involved , to the fact, that she was giving away a part of her body, never realised the worth of her precious gift. She just gave, to give Solace to her daughter & healthy life for her grand daughter.
A child , spoilt & pampered , by her zamindari background, a young woman , married to a man who belonged to the same culture , however , had broken away from traditions. Spirituality seeped in every pore of his being, knew the Bhagwat Gita , verbatim , a Goddess Kali devotee . He believed in the ideology of Gandhi , simple living & high thinking, wore only khadi & made sure his new bride followed the same. This made my Nani, resilient to any situation. Like any Indian woman , her life was all about giving , giving to her family , friends , social obligations, taking care of anyone & everyone , but never Time for Her! And she eventually gave the most precious gift of all , her Kidney , to Me !
She was one tough woman ( pre & post surgery) , physically very active, never did one see her laze, always on the move , never a dull moment for her . A Lord Shiva devotee, her prayers , her faith , her unconditional devotion , almost always gave birth to a new miracle. My Nana a vegetarian ( sans garlic & onion) , had managed to convince my Nani to leave non vegetation. Although vegetation, their diet - very balanced & healthy.They never ate out, meals were freshly prepared - the dietitians of today , would have definitely learnt many an important lesson from their dietary habits. It was this life style , that made her , such an ideal Donor & her recovery, fluid. As such, People from Orissa, have a very healthy diet ( lets discount the pizza & burger eating generation of today ) , they do not mix proteins or carbohydrates & leafy vegetable is a part of their daily routine,
She lead a normal life , surgery did not dampen her spirit for life. To say , that her energy level had gone up quite a few notch , wouldn't be wrong - like , going up & down the stairs of her 2 storey home, innumerable times , without missing a step , vis a vis , just once was enough for me !
A Vivacious woman , she passed away at the age of 94 years , with her zest , intact. She has left behind a Legacy of Unconditional love !
Organ Donation , is the most difficult decision to make. An Emotional, physical & financial , conflict. And yet , once made , it create's a Miracle - a whole new world of Giving, Gratitute, Appreciation.
*Source: Medical College of Georgia at Georgia Regents University
When
a single kidney is removed because of injury or for transplantation, the
remaining kidney can rapidly get 50 to 60 percent bigger, an apparent
physiological attempt to expand its capacity. Now, scientists have found an
explanation for the century-old observation that if you end up with just one
kidney, the lone organ gets bigger.
* https://www.kidney.org/transplantation/livingdonors/what-expect-after-donation
* Some links on Organ Donation are on the Intelligence & Emotional Quotient page.
* Some links on Organ Donation are on the Intelligence & Emotional Quotient page.
An apt message from Vasundhara Raghavan - “ A time when a man decided for his wife and her acquiesce is so characteristic of those times; romantic.
ReplyDeleteArt of giving doesn't come so easy.”