Wishing for an Arsenal Win
It’s been four months since he was discharged from the wonderful care at South Austin St. Davids. He’s always been a sports enthusiast, playing football and field hockey until he was about 78 years old. He’s always been a sports fan and has been doing everything he can to be a winner so that we can take better care of him at home.
His condition is so rare that it’s not worth a drug company investing in a solution for these cases. We were hoping he’d comfortably reach the centurion mark, but we’ve had to accept that he’s not going to make it. But we’re still so grateful to have him with us. We celebrate every day that we have him.
We’re so lucky to have so many friends who make the time to visit him and engage him in stories. His sharp mind, almost 94 years old, still has so many stories to share, some of which are soon to be lost forever. After 33 years of knowing him and listening to him, there’s always something new to learn.
Yesterday was a rough day. He had a severe reaction from his transfusion and coughed for nearly 3 hours continuously. For a man who walked to his in-patient visit for transfusion, when he was home, he could barely walk. He was running a high temperature. We’ve never seen him this weak. Ruhin rushed back home from work and held him in his lap so that he wouldn’t choke, and Minnie could give him the medications. Only when he was in Ruhin’s lap did his coughing subside for a few minutes. Again, the superb attention from Dr. Ramakrishna saved the day. He phoned in some medications, and his fever broke later in the evening. We camped outside his room, with Ruhin and Minnie taking turns to watch him. By morning, he was back to himself. When asked if he saw heaven’s gate, he said, “What? I have to support Arsenal in the return leg with PSG. I truly believe that they will crush PSG this time, and Arsenal will be the Champion of Europe!”
I’ve attached a few videos for you to enjoy. One of them shows me trying to get him to acknowledge Liverpool FC winning against Arsenal, which could have been the runner-up. You may have heard before that he’s been an Arsenal fan for over 75 years, even when there was no TV. Back in British Kolkata, he could only read stories or watch black and white reels before the start of a movie. I offered to take him to see his beloved team in action in London, with all the care and support we could afford. His response was, “No! No! I would have gone if I could talk to the players in the bootroom. If I could discuss with Jamie Carragher, Thierry Henry, or Arsene Wenger.” He thought for a moment, waved his hands dismissively, and said, “Wenger would say who is this guy? I don’t talk to such fools.” :-)
The second video is probably the last time he’ll wish Minnie and me on our anniversary. Coincidentally, his good friends from the neighborhood had come over to visit him, which ended in Rudy’s barbecue and champagne.
The last video shows him doing the warmup to get ready to watch an Arsenal match on January 4th in his hospital room.
