It was after our brief but necessary stay at the first hospital that we took the next big step in my recovery process. After our successful venture with hospitals, we were starting to get comfortable with the whole hospital stay feel and it was quite clear that it wasn’t going to be a today-admission tomorrow-discharge affair. During the week at the first hospital we were simultaneously filling forms, completing paperwork, formalities and getting prepped for a shift. This was going to be another shift in space-time reality for me. We were about to move to another multi-specialty hospital in Mumbai for intensive neuro-rehabilitation, way more intensive and structured than in the current one. We – being amazing in our timing as usual – shifted to the second hospital on a weekend, as a result of which there was practically nothing significant done for the first two days. It was only on the third day that my therapy sessions officially kickstarted.
My first therapy session was with the occupational therapists. My parents tell me that while the therapist was busy trying to get some response from my immobile left hand using external stimuli like mild electrical impulses using a device called tens, I was busy staring at her all the while with a cold stone like stare, almost like that of a statue, and my right hand was busy playing with whatever it could find subconsciously. Kids, this is why you should never increase your level of exercise so high that your brain gets disinterested in anything else. The best part was that within the first week itself they had me up and out of the bed for my first stand with the help of a walker. Imagine my happiness to that! Getting out of bed after nearly a month and half! I still remember when I was first asked to stand up, I was unsure if my legs could take my weight, even though they had and would take me the distance eventually. According to witness reports, my walk was completely robotic – a sign that I was going to become a cyborg eventually, but that, is a story for another log- , a small issue but none that couldn’t be fixed. Over the course of the next 8 odd months, we faced many challenges. What makes my story worth reading are not just the challenges we faced but how we chose to face them. After all folks, it is not the destination but the journey that counts!! Stay tuned for the journey folks…