On a drive from Chennai to Kumbakkonam, with family, to spend
the long weekend in a scenic, serene village 10 kms away from Kumbakkonam...
The very thought was so rejuvenating. The family was so eagerly looking forward
for the drive and the days after that. Plans were made carefully. And we left
as per plan… without realizing what was in store for us.
We, as a family, are used to traveling by road quite often.
We are proud that we are one of the maximum toll payers for using the wonderful
highways. Starting from the junior most in the family all of us are quite
experienced in navigation, exploration, map-reading and all the associated
skills of travel by road.
What we had not experienced was a traffic jam on the high
way in the past 20 years of our driving. So the first surprise started there. We
started the journey by 4 PM.
What should have taken us just 5 hours of drive or probably
6, took 10 full hours. And how! The first four to five hours were spent in
listening to the radio and inching the road thanks to the heaviest traffic jam
we have ever witnessed on a high way. The 4 of us were shut inside the car each
one lost in his/her own world. My hubby and I were alternating taking our
official calls. Some time was spent playing video games which exhausted the
mobile batteries to the extent the additional battery pack was also drained. All
was still well though the traffic was irritating and taking a toll on our
patience levels.
By 9 PM, we had reached half the distance. Even then, we
thought, next couple of hours we will reach our destination. Though destiny had
other plans!
At around 9ish, when we stopped for a break, I started
feeling a kind of “catch” on my right waist. I owed it to the long journey and
longer hours of work that I clock in. So, took it easy. Very soon, in less than
an hour, the pain started traversing to the right abdomen. That was not all! I
started feeling severe nausea. I asked my hubby to stop the car, rushed out and
started throwing up profusely until I was almost drained.
From there on, every 10-15 minutes, the car would stop. I
would throw up and we would continue the journey. All through, the pain was
getting worse and excruciating. My sons were tired nursing me and handing the
bottles of water to me every time I vomited. The little one got all too tired
and slept off in a couple of hours.
My older son looked around for clinics, hospitals, medical
centers, pharmacies. As (bad) luck would have it, we could not spot a single
one of those! Desperation was going high and my pain was growing higher. What a
miracle God’s creation is! My brain, in spite of this entire trauma, did not
stop reasoning. Why am I going through this? What did I eat that did not suit
me? Is it a relapse of Appendicitis? What else could it be? Why this pain? When
did I eat junk last? All calculations and permutations and combinations…nothing
yielded a cognitive response that could be reasoned for all this hell!
We kept driving into the woods. As midnight drew closer, we
were still a couple of hours away from our “scenic resort”. At that point, I fell semi-unconscious which
my older son mistook for passing out. He held my pulse and gave out a very
alarmed notification, “Dad! She is not even moaning now!!”
Worst was yet to come…we thought we had reached the resort.
It was 1 AM. My mobile was out of charge! My hubby’s mobile had 6% battery
left. The battery pack had died. Symbolically, everything around and within
seemed out of charge! We had used the GPS to find the place where we were
supposed to go to. After we reached where GPS took us, we realized we were lost
and in the middle of darkness and nowhere!
This is when panic struck all of us! Not a soul on the
battered roads. No lights. Mobiles are all down. My pain is increasing by the
second and my vomiting is non-stop. Heavens! Am I destined to die this way???
With every move of the vehicle, my scream was hitting higher decibels. The
roads were adding to the pain.
With the balance 6% charge, my hubby called the resort
(finally!!!) I was throughout asking him to do that which he refused to listen!
And the guy on the other end did not know where we were in spite of us giving
some “landmarks” in an unknown, God forsaken land! Not sure how we got guided
to the destination. Reached the resort at 1:45 AM. Phew!
I thought all will be well after I get to crash on the bed.
The climax was yet to come. My hubby asked if we should go to a doc nearby.
Since the roads were so terrible, I instantly refused saying I would be ok if I
am left to lie down and sleep for a while. But sleep was not written for me
that night (and for him as well!).
By 3:30 AM, I could not take it any longer. I said let us go
wherever but I want this pain to stop. Back of mind my speculations revealed
that it could be “kidney stones”. My sister had had similar symptoms years
back. I had used the rule of exclusions. Nothing else could be it. With the
help of the resort stewards, we went to a near-by clinic (10 kms away from our
place of stay).
Screaming and vomiting continued all through! Never in my
dreams would I get into such a hospital. Such was the maintenance standards of
the hospital. Terrible! But when one is in pain, none of this matter! The duty
doc came in checked and declared it was indeed ‘kidney stones”. He injected me
twice and the pain stopped like magic. Vomiting stopped. I slept immediately.
After observing for 20 mins he let us go.
The next day, I took a day of rest. Family had to tend to
me. So, no outing, no sight-seeing. There was only one sight for all of them to
see…me gradually recovering from the 7 hour non-stop pain! They were all just
relieved with that!!
Next day we all set out and came back to Chennai! What an adventurous
journey this was!!
Silver lining in this episode – this did not happen while I
was traveling in a flight to or from the US; this did not happen while I was
away from family on work.
Life is short. Life is unpredictable. Let us enjoy as long
as it lasts!
