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Going through surgery was my last resort and 2 weeks after the surgery, I did in fact have a significant improvement. I was finally happy and was anticipating a painfree hand. However, at my 2 week post-op visit, I got my stitches removed and soon things began to get worse. A few days later, I started noticing a bump and pain along my thumb and wrist. I didn’t think much of it until it began to progressively get worse. Today, I saw my doctor for what looks like tremendous amount of swelling and hardening around the incision site. I have limited flexibility due to the hardening and tightening of my tissues. I can feel the resistance when I try to move my thumb. Once again I am in excruciating pain. The doctor said it was due to scarred tissue and is often caused when the injury does not heal properly. This is called the “peak effect”. In my case, the post surgical healing process is causing the internal scarring of the soft tissues. I have been prescribed another regimen of oral steroids to get the inflammation in control and to aid faster recovery. Let us hope this works. If it does not, I have to prepare myself for yet another steroidal injection that will be administered directly into my scarred tissue. There is no guarantee that it will completely heal. I may need weeks of physical therapy, which I am not looking forward to. I am going to try to stay optimistic although it is difficult when your hand is stubborn and does not want to heal. I hope that this so called “peak effect” will subside soon. I don’t want to train myself to live with pain. Never…

I think the perfect gift for Riana this season would be a baby hair trimmer. Born in March, she is only 9 months old and has already had two hair cuts at the salon; three if you want to count the one I attempted. There seems to be a big selection of baby hair clippers online but I wonder if I have the necessary skills to be a Do It Yourself mom. I gave it a try with the scissors and needless to say that I failed miserably.

On the second thought, I thought perhaps the perfect gift for her this season would be to get her some wonderful hand made hair clips. So, now Riana will get some beautiful handmade clips along with some other surprises! As far as the haircuts are concerned, I think I will save that job for the hair stylists.

My husband and I are enjoying every bit of Riana. From her messy feedings, to her dirty diapers. From her crawling around the entire house to her trying to stand up on her own. We are enjoying her frowns just as much as we enjoy her smiles. It is difficult to imagine a life withour her. She brings immense happiness and satisfaction to our lives. We didn’t know what we were missing until we had her.

As first time parents, we couldn’t ask for a happier baby. She takes after Ashwin in terms of her calm behavior.

Lately though things have been especially difficult for both Ashwin and I. She got sick with a fever of 102 degrees that would not respond to Infant Tylenol. We spent the night of Halloween in the Pediatric Urgent Care in Worcester. What was more difficult was to see my 8 month old go through the torture of various exams. The staff was not equiped to handle a baby. After three failed attempts to insert the catheter, they asked that we get the blood drawn until a more experienced nurse started her shift. They poked her several times to draw her blood. Again, after three trials, I was done with them. They somehow managed to draw a little blood from her forefinger. It was not enough to run all the tests but just enough to run some basic blood counts. Needless to say, her WBC was very high. Riana threw up that morning but other than that, she had no symptoms of cold or flu. A WBC of 27,000 is unusually high for a viral infection so they suspected it was a bacterial infection and wanted to start the appropriate treatment. Riana received two antibiotic shots that day. The next day, we visited Fallon clinic in Leominster for her followup appointment. She got two more shots that day and felt great the following day.

She seemed well for the next week and then got a nasty cold. It was difficult to see her struggle to drink her formula while trying to breathe. We spent that week using the saline drops and nasal aspirator just trying to make her feel comfortable. She slept in her bouncer because the only way to keep her from getting congested was to keep her head elevated. Then finally, last Thursday, she developed a mild fever again along with really bad cough. She was wheezing and coughing a lot. After being seen by a new Pediatrician at the Acton Medical Center, she was diagnosed with Bronchitis. She just finished her five day antibiotic treatment and is feeling much better now. She still has residual cough.

Despite being so sick, Riana was never fussy and was playful and happy for the most part. Now that is what I call a really happy baby. It is such a bliss to have her in our lives.

As much as I realize that this is part of growing up, my heart still aches to see her sick. I feel miserable, helpless and frustrated. I remember getting very angry at the staff but there was nothing I could do. I am glad I finally found a good Pediatric facility.

It is fun to see her grow and reach her milestones. She is 20 lbs and 30 inches. She likes to immitate us and show off her newly acquired skills. She has mastered crawling and she finds it funny when we have to chase her. She likes to talk a lot although it still doesn’t make much sense. She has repeated the word “Hello” after us a few times. I can not wait for her to say Mama and Dada.  

These are the joys and sorrows of parenthood… and I hope everyone gets to experience it at least once…

Cheers.

Going under the knife… fear free…

I have always been afraid of surgeries. Few years ago when I was in college, I got into an accident and the doctors said that I would need about 12-15 stitches for my injuries. I chose to heal slowly and scar instead of have someone sew me with a needle. Then, when it was time for my Dental surgery to get my wisdom teeth pulled out, I was terrified. I asked them to put me under general anesthesia because I did not want to be conscious knowing that I am being operated upon, regardless of how trivial this procedure was. When I got pregnant last year, my biggest scare was what if I needed a C-section? I knew I could never get prepared for it. I was extremely anxious as my due date approached. Thankfully, I had my baby naturally and did not need a C-section after all. I felt like a winner. However, I did require a few stitches. It wasn’t as bad as I had imagined and I was pain free in a week’s time.

Many of you are already aware of my battle with the hand pain due to De’Quervain’s tendonitis that I developed post-partum. After going to a bunch of doctors, corticosteroid injections, splinting and physical therapy, I still had no relief. The pain got worse over time so my doctor decided to do an X-ray which showed misaligned ligaments and an MRI of my wrist confirmed severe damage to my tendons. I have thinning and severe atrophy of my hand tendons, a one centimeter cyst and inflammation. What does this mean? It means that my only option is to go with Hand Surgery. Once again, I am faced with a difficult situation except this time; it is not a difficult choice to make. I know if I want to be pain free, I have to get this surgery done. I am not afraid of going under the knife. I am actually looking forward to my surgery which is scheduled for Nov 21, the day before Thanksgiving.

Wish me luck. I am counting on this surgery to fix my hand problem. Hopefully after this, the pain will be gone for good…

Is it the quality of shows or the quality of audience that we should question

In the recent years I have noticed a marked improvement in the quality of television shows. However, it is disappointing to see a lot of nice shows like Studio 60 on Sunset Strip being canceled year after year. I moved to the US four years ago. When I first came here, I had nothing to do. So in order to keep myself entertained, I would play computer games or sit and watch television with my grandmother-in-law who would wait anxiously every afternoon to watch an episode of Matlock. My father-in-law has a vast collection of movies and TV shows of yesteryears. I began watching a lot of old shows including the Honeymooners and I love Lucy. I immediately got captivated by to these shows and I could sit there and watch it for hours. I realized that though simple, the shows from the past were really fun to watch. Then my husband introduced me to a bunch of nice shows including CSI and West Wing. He also had a collection of Sports Night which was fun to watch but I heard that it was one of the shows that only lasted a season. For comedy, I would watch Friends, Simpsons and Mad about you. I try not to restrict myself to one particular kind of show. I like variety although I am not a big fan of reality shows like the Survivor and American Idol. American Idol has it’s moments but after a while, it is saturating. Today there are over a hundred channels to watch but only a handful of them broadcast good quality shows. It is not hard to find reality TV, game shows, Hollywood shows, adult soap operas and nighttime dramas. I watch TV every evening before going to bed and among my favorite shows are 60 minutes, Cold case, CSI, Criminal Minds, House, Bones, Cane and CSI: NY. I like to watch drama and thriller. I also like to watch football especially when the Pats are playing. I watch news occasionally though the quality of news that you get from the TV is atrocious. More than 95% of the news is filled with negative information and it brings negative thoughts to our minds. Sadly, this is the kind of news our audience likes to see and hear.

Why is that a vast majority of audience watch dumb shows like The Office and Desperate Housewives? I remember the hype for when they were to broadcast the pilot episode of Office. After having seen the movie Office Space and really liking it, I decided to give this a try but to my disappointment, it was really boring and in some ways an annoying show to watch. A better comedic break would be The Family Guy. I had stereotyped all nighttime dramas to be full of crap until now. One of the new fall shows from this season called Cane casting Jimmy Smits is a nighttime drama and is a really nice show to watch. It is a story about a Cuban-American family running rum and sugarcane business in

South Florida and their family foe, the Samuels. Pushing Daisies is yet another show to look forward to. It is comedy in fantasy land. The story is about a pie maker who has the ability to bring dead people back to life. It is not what the show is about but about the way it is shot and narrated that makes it so special. Journeyman, another good show that started this Fall, is a time travel drama. I think it would be great to have more science fictions. My husband, who also has a similar taste, loved watching Star Trek. Another hot new show from this summer was Damages.

I am excited to see this positive trend where there is variety and quality. Although after seeing a lot of great shows like Studio 60 on Sunset Strip, In Justice and Standoff being canceled, I don’t know if next year, we will have these wonderful shows to watch. Let us hope that we continue to move in the right direction and that more and more people start watching these wonderful shows.

Cheers

I started working for Wyman-Gordon recently as a Network Engineer. I really enjoy my new position. It’s a very challenging position and gives me the ability to get exposed to other areas of Engineering such as Industrial Automation and Robotics. It is a critical position because I am responsible for the plant’s network infrastructure which runs the 35 million dollar Press machines. I especially like my short commute to work. It allows me to spend more time with my daughter.

It is a very different environment. I have to wear my safety shoes and glasses when I am out in the shop. Wyman-Gordon is a metals forgings company. We supply materials to all GE and Rolls-Royce Engines and virtually every commercial plane including the Boeing 747 and Dreamliner has our parts. Wyman-Gordon is a part of PCC, Precision Castparts Corp.

It is a great company to work for. I am enjoying the job. I will post some pictures shortly.

My husband thinks I am a geek but I am no geek compared to the thousands of people nationwide, who spent days lined up outside the AT&T stores to get their iPhones. Personally, I think they are crazy.

iPhone has some outstanding features including music player, web browser, wireless phone, GPS with touch screen, all in one small package, but it comes at a premium price. A 4GB iPhone comes for 499USD and a 8GB will run you about 599USD with a two year service contract with AT&T. To top it off, you still have to pay for the service itself which can run you about hundred dollars more per month!

I am happy with my Motorola Verizon phone for now. I have the chance to upgrade my phone now and I could get the Motorola razor for free. I am glad I did not spend 400USD to get my razor, just as I don’t intend to purchase my iPhone right now. I am sure once Apple launches its next gizmo, the price of iPhone will automatically go down. That is when I will get my first. But if anyone was thinking about buying one for me, by all means, go ahead!!!

 

“I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

Thursday, June 21, 2007, I was Naturalized to become a citizen of the United Sates of America. It was an exciting day for me and my family. My parents, my husband and my daughter were allowed to witness the entire ceremony. It was amazing to learn that there were more than four hundred people from over 150 different countries being naturalized that day.

To me it means a lot. I can now vote, serve the jury and apply for federal jobs. To my husband this means the end of paperwork with the INS

Please check back my gallery for the ceremony pictures. Cheers.

Ashwin and I have been to a number of barbeque parties and have enjoyed eating outdoors for many years now. We knew that when we get our own space that we are going to build a nice deck. When we got the house built, we opted not to go with the deck that the builder provided since it was only an 8×8 feet deck. Of course, it suits most people if they don’t plan on spending much time outside the house but it certainly is not big enough for entertaining. If you throw in a decent size grill and seating for four, suddenly it seems like a pretty tight space. Finally two years after moving into our home, we got the deck of our dreams constructed. It is a 14X16 feet deck with a bench running along the entire length. It has ample room for an outdoor grill and to seat enough people.

After much research, we bought a nice four burner Char-Broil grill with a side burner. With so many competing brands on the market, it is difficult for a novice griller to know what to buy. After reading the reviews and discovering that this particular grill won the consumer reports ‘best buy’ award for a mid-range grill, there was little to worry about. So, the grill is here. Now what? Needless to say that Ashwin could not wait to fulfill his pursuits of grilling so last night we tried an awful lot of things, grilled vegetables, corn, potatoes, BBQ chicken and hot fiery wings. Everything was delicious! I look forward to enjoying many more sunny afternoons and evenings cooking outdoors. It is such a nice way to spend time with your family and do something fun together. Please click here for the pictures.

Just when I thought it is all over, the pain came back. Throughout my pregnancy I fought a battle with extreme hand pain. Something that started out as a mere swelling in my hands, transitioned into more painful carpal tunnel syndrome. I counted on it going away after the delivery. That is what everyone said would happen! In most cases, that is true. But then again, there are exceptions. In my case, the pain got ten times worse postpartum. I struggled through holding and feeding my baby. It was physically as well as emotionally challenging but with the help of my husband Ashwin and my parents, I got over it. The swelling subsided but the pain got more intense. Finally, after seeing a sports medicine doctor, I was diagnosed with deQuervain’s Tenosynovitis, a fancy name for tendonitis of the thumb side of the wrist.

My treatment plan included administration of cortisone shots, wearing spica thumb splints and six weeks of physical therapy. I felt great after the treatment and was very cheerful. I had an entirely new perpective of being a new mom.

Now, two weeks later, the pain in my right hand is back. My thumb snaps out just like it did before and I have very restricted mobility in my hand. I also have nerve damage. I experience numbness and funny sensation. From what I hear, pregnancy and nursing can cause hormonal changes which along with caring for a new baby often puts new moms at risk to develop this condition. I am considering switching Riana over to formula by the end of May. I plan on returning to work in early part of June and am hoping that the condition will improve. I am seeing my doctor again on May 1st to evaluate my options and see if I would need a surgery. Surgery is often the last resort for this condition when all else fails.

So for all those who are wondering whether I want to have another baby, my answer is, absolutely yes! There is no greater pleasure than to look at your baby and know that you are the one to bring this beautiful little being into this world. It is indeed a miracle and regardless of the amount of pain you go through, it is definitely worth it. Now as far as when we’ll have a second one, my answer is “not anytime soon”.