Hi again friends,
I decided it's been at least a couple of weeks since my last blog so maybe you could stand to hear what's going on with Dan and Karen in New Delhi. If it's seemed kind of quiet lately, that's because Dan has never been busier in his life - and it has nothing to do with flying. In fact, I was really hoping the phone would ring and take me on a flight so I could hire someone or get a friend to come over and do the nursing care thing for awhile.
On September 23 Karen's new cosmetic surgeon, Dr. Rashmi Taneja, who did her training at UCLA Medical Center in the USA, decided it was time to, as they say in India, "Do the needful." The needful was brought on by back problems brought on by carrying around more than she should on the front. So, the doctor started with a breast reduction and then went on to do a tummy tuck and liposuction while she was at it. Karen was like a kid in a candy store when we went in to visit Dr. Taneja to talk about the process. And, the candy was on SALE. It is just so different here. The doctor told us to call her when we were with our driver and she would give him directions to her office. She would call and give us the reports that came back from the medical pre-tests and so on. We were just shocked to have this type of communication with the doctor herself. Because both Karen and I had been affected with diarrhea for a couple of weeks before the surgery, it turned out to be a little more exciting than we had imagined. Even though they did a blood test right before the surgery and the hemoglobin came back a 14, which would be a hugely good number, we now think it was a false high and, with the diarrhea, came dehydration. They told me Karen's surgery would be 4 hours and it turned out to be 6 and 1/2. The doctor called to say Karen was fine but would be spending the first night in ICU. I didn't get to see her until 8:30 that night, which was 12 hours after she went in to surgery. She was in ICU and I went up there. She immediately saw me and started asking for COLD water and a fan. She was feeling like she was dying of thirst. I guess the dehydration manifested itself greatly in her recovery. After they brought a fan in and aimed it straight at her head, she was happier and then I made them get ice water, which is a rare commodity in India and I hand-fed her ice for about half an hour. She said she felt like she was stranded in the middle of the desert without water. Said she never wanted to feel like that again. But, that was as bad as it got and they had given her three units of blood, two during the surgery and one more in ICU, as well as a saline drip, so she was getting rehydrated as rapidly as possible. That was as bad as it got and the next day they took her down to normal hospital care. I visited her for three more days and then, on Monday night we brought her home. Amazingly, even though the company had given me two days leave to be with her, I didn't have a flight for 5 days. That flight was only gone for a few hours and I came back without her even knowing I was gone, and haven't had a flight for 5 more days, so that is a miracle.
During the Commonwealth Games, which start tomorrow, the local police put out a notice to all the illegal immigrants that they would be searched out, found and prosecuted. Apparently, our househelp is from Bangladesh and is illegally in India. We had no idea as she has a security clearance and a worker's ID card. Anyway, without any notice she disappeared and then called and said she would be back on the 15th of Oct. So, right when we really could have used extra help around the house, we had NONE. And, that's the reason that I am looking forward to the phone ringing and taking me on a flight. At home, I am cook, cleaner, dispenser of medications, changer of drain cannister, back scratcher, laundry guy, cat mess cleaner upper, cat food guy, litter box changer, errand runner and general go-fer. Please ring, phone, and take me to work so I can get some rest! Actually, there is nothing like this experience to bond you together as a couple. Karen keeps lifting up the covers and remarking about her new body shape so I assume she is going to be very happy with the results. And, it was all done for a small fraction of what it would have cost in America. We know because Karen went and met with a cosmetic surgeon in Pittsburgh and got his quote. When I described the procedures to my Anesthiologist cousin in California, he was quoting prices for these same things out there that would make your head spin and your wallet thin. I have included pictures of the front of the hospital so you can visualize that this was not some fly-by-night jungle hospital operation. Everything was new and modern and very clean. Plus, I doubt your hospital has a guy dressed like the one above to open your car door for you and welcome you with praying hands. The nursing staff was amazing and so nice. The last day Karen was there she had her cellphone out to call family and tell them she was still alive and it was apparently too tempting to someone around there and it got stolen. It has a tracking device built in so we turned in the information to hospital security who said the ID number would be put on a police watch list and it would probably turn up. In the meantime, since we are in India, I bought another phone for $60 and put $20 worth of credit on the card and she can talk for months locally, as well as calls to family in America, for that amount. By going to the AirTel office, I managed to keep her same number and have a minimum of fuss about the whole thing. The funny part about the hospital and doctor bill was that they put up an estimate of charges as you arrive, including the doctor's fees, which was exactly as the doctor said it would be, and I didn't know this part, but they don't take checks and are leary about credit cards, so I went to the bank and got cash for most of the transaction. Because this involved a one hour delay, the doctor herself signed a surety for the bill, while I rode to the bank, and since it was in rupees, had to carry the large bunch of bills out in my briefcase, hoping to not get robbed on the way to the hospital. In the end, because of the extra care and more days, I put the last little bit on a credit card and it was all settled. Just very different from America, where the patient would be dismissed and the bill settled with whoever over a period of months. They wouldn't release Karen until the bill was settled and there was no getting her out of the ward without the signed release papers. Checking out of anything in India always takes way longer than it ever should and at times I thought I wouldn't get her out. Money here is just such a huge deal, all the time.
Our smaller jet the CJ, should be back from America this week. It has been gone for over two months to get paint and interior. I am excited to start flying it when it comes back, as I am sure it will look very nice. Then, around the end of the year, our Citation XLS, which is the main plane that I fly, is going to go for the same thing. Since our XLS is a 2005 model and sits outside all the time, it is starting to show it's age a little bit, although the people here keep it very clean and neat all the time. We have hired two new captains, one for the CJ and one for the XLS. They are both retired from the Indian miliatary and are both off to school right now in England. One is at FlightSafety, the other at CAE Simuflite, and when they get back they will start flying with me until they get 100 hours of pilot in command time in type. Then, they will be released as full captains, if they are able to handle it all and get recommended. I am hoping that it all works out because for the last 15 months it has been tough to get time off since I am the only captain on the XLS and our only captain on the CJ just retired last week. We had a nice party for Dhaka and his wife, and the owner of the company, Mr. Jindal, bothered to come to the party for an hour or so, so that was very nice. I will miss Dhaka and his sense of humor and informative ways teaching me about how things work in India. He has already found another job in Malaysia as a chief flight instructor for a big flight school and where the age 65 rule doesn't arbitrarily matter.
We are looking forward to company coming from Tennessee. Dr. Tim Jennings is coming to New Delhi at my invitation to make presentations at both the SDA church in Delhi and the Delhi International Christian Fellowship, which is the Sunday church that I attend here because there are so many expats to network with and form lifelong friendships with. The guest speaker today at the SDA church was a lady from Spain who works with Literature Evangelists from around the world and was here for some presentations. It was her first trip to India and she said that she can see now why people keep coming back to India as it gets into your blood and really gets to you. I have to admit that India has gotten into my blood and at times I get emotional, thinking about the blessing it has been for me at this stage of life.
I just found out that my friend Maria Lopes, from Portugal, who is here with her husband, is one of the most popular writer's of children's religious books for various publishers. Someone told me today that she is outselling The Bible Story and the Bedtime Story sets worldwide and in America. I am amazed as I have been at their house several times, she offered to come take care of Karen last week, and this is the first that I have heard about all this. Wow!!
Take care, my friends, and hope to hear from you!
Dan
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