Like a Leaf, Driven By The Wiind

I am not allowed to drive for 6 weeks after the operation, so I need someone to take me anywhere I go. At this point, this seems quite logic to me. Hopefully, I’ll be chomping at the bit by 6 weeks, but so far I have no desire to drive, and have no faith in my ability to do so. I had sort of already come to this point even before, as I usually had someone driving me around anyway due to fatigue from the dysfunctional liver. The outmost limit of any self-driven excursion was about 30 minutes one way, on a good day. So I am already pretty conditioned to this limitation.

This needing to be driven is complicated by the fact we don’t have our own car. I had to wait to be admitted to the hospital for the transplant until 12:01 AM on a Tuesday. This because of health coverage – to check in early the previous evening would have cost a whole day and it wouldn’t have been covered. Our plan was to go up Monday midday, check into the Family House, and nap and relax until midnight. The Family House is a partially subsidized place for patients and family to stay that are going through the transplant process or other long term hospitalization. Anyway, Sunday night the transmission went out on our car. I called Balabhadra and he came and towed it home (fortunately, the tranny went out on the ridge). He also offered to make arrangements to get it replaced, which was a great relief to me as I knew I wasn’t going to be able to and he was competent to go through the process of shopping around for best value and getting it replaced.

We had to borrow a vehicle to get to Pittsburgh, about 1.5 hours away off peak traffic. Rush hour traffic can add another 30 minutes to that. As I recollect, my daughter, Vraja, visiting from Colorado with her daughter Gracie, lent us her vehicle to go. Ever since then, we have been borrowing vehicles or have been driven by friends. An independent variable that affects recovery is a good social network, and I feel that somehow or other, mostly undeservedly, I certainly have that. Last Friday, Gopisa spent virtually the whole day driving me to my weekly appointment, and many others have also come forward.

For economic reasons, we couldn’t go to one of the national transmission franchises. There is a local guy with a good reputation who specializes in trannys, so we used him. A problem developed because he ordered a used tranny, and when it arrived, he wouldn’t put it in because it seemed too worn out, so he ordered another one. That arrived last week and the car should be ready for pickup today, ending 3 weeks of being without.

Which is why my wife, using my daughter’s vehicle, drove me up to the temple yesterday afternoon about the time the feast was being served. The temple area was quiet, as the feast was being served up the hill where all the entertainment had been happening. Bhajan was going on in the yajnashalla, and it was pleasant being able to talk to various devotees who wandered by. The awkward part was so many wanted to shake hands or hug me and I would have to wave them off explaining that I was immunosurpressed and needed to avoid contact. Did get to spend time with a lot of devotees, including Chaits and his 4 siblings who were all in town. Got reports of how things had gone over the weekend, so vicariously was able to experience a lot of what had transpired.