2/13/2011
Susan had been to Fairfield Iowa to the Vedic City for Ayurvedic Pancha Karma treatments a couple of times prior to my diagnosis. Ayurveda, which translates to “the science of life” is probably over 3000 years old. It is a system of health that sees the build-up of impurities in the body as the cause for disease and uses a combination of the Pancha Karma treatments and herbs to build the immune system and clean the body of impurities.
I had seen these treatments work well for Susan and what really piqued my interest was the immune system support that was an integral part of the science. The whole idea of the interferon was to boost my immune system and I thought that Ayurveda could be a good substitute. After a lot of research, and speaking to someone in Fairfield who connected me with Dr. Raju here in HyderabadI I had to decide if I was going to take the plunge and come to India. It was going to be a huge commitment for me and my family as Dr. Raju had thought that 40 days was needed. Finally by the end of the first week of December my family and I had decided I was going to come, and I put the wheels in motion to set up the trip. Although there were a lot of pieces to the puzzle that had to be taken care of quickly: new passport, visa, applying for short-term disability etc, everything fell into place and I showed up here on the morning of February 11th!
The clinic had setup a driver to pick me up at the airport which was really a blessing. Not having slept very well the last two nights it was nice to just stumble off the airplane and look for driver holding up the sign with my name on it! It did not take me long to commit my first cultural faux paux, upon entering the car I took off my hat and tossed it onto the dash of the car. I had not noticed but the dash of the car had been made into an alter with a number of deities and the buddha. In the process I knock around a few of the flowers on the alter. From the look I received I knew I had screwed up so I quickly moved my hat! After apologies everything was fine and off we went into the chaos that is driving in India. Cars, scooters, trucks and people all jockeying for position in a dance that to me seemed a little frightening. The cars here are mostly much smaller that we have in the states. Sub-compacts with I think two cylinder diesel engines seem to be the norm. Not a lot a protection in my mind for playing chicken with an oncoming bus! After about a 45 minute ride through alternating commerce centers and agricultural areas (all considered Hyderabad) we arrived in a guarded multi-block community with a combination of houses and apartment buildings. I was shown to my room which is in flat 103 of block 1.
The flat has three bed rooms and one common area which has a breakfast table and chairs. The flat felt a little bare at first but I have quickly come to consider it home. The biggest issue I have had so far is that I do not have an internet connection in my room! If I walk the block down to the clinic then I can get to intermittent wi-fi. The good news is that today(Sunday) I found an internet shop in the business center which is close-by. For 10 Rupees(about $.25) an hour I should be able to access the internet via a hard-wired connection! More on that later….