It all started when i was 3. i had a huge tummy. everybody got concerned.
My family took me to RED CROSS HOSPITAL,SILCHAR to show DR L.Das. He checked my blood pressure and ultrasound. From that he concluded that i had high blood pressure and guessed that i might have some kidney problem and referred to a nephrologist in GUWAHATI MEDICAL COLLEGE, GUWAHATI.
In G.M.C the doctors were confused with my problems and admitted me in the hospital. On the first day a junior doctor came to check me and told my mother that both my kidneys had failed. On hearing my mother started crying uncontrollably. Just then a doctor came and calmed her by saying they had not come to any conclusion by then, as the tests were yet to be done. From that day on all kind of tests were done like ultrasound, blood tests, x-rays, etc. After 15 days the doctor concluded that i had polycystic kidney.
For further satisfaction, my mom, grandfather, uncle and sister took me to CHENNAI MEDICAL COLLEGE,(C.M.C) Vellor. On reaching they took me to C.M.C Nephrologist Dr. Joseph who went through my health history and came with the same conclusion that i have polycystic kidney.
I have polycystic kidney. It’s a genetic problem which occurs in rare cases. A person with polycystic kidney can live a normal life.
So i led a normal life. I went to school, had wonderful friends, was average in studies, had great interest in drawing and won many drawing competitions, i even took swimming lessons. I loved my life, my family and friends. After finishing 10+2 i joined Institute Of Hotel Management (I.H.M), Guwahati where i always dreamt to be. My life was going smoothly until one day i discovered that my kidneys had stopped working!

April’09, i am going to turn 19 this September. My exams were almost finished just two more to go. For some days i had this strange pain on my back, i got cramps all over my body and sometimes my vision went blank. I felt weak.
Since childhood i had low haemoglobin so i was always looked pale and anaemic. So this weakness made me strong mentally. Haematologist called it an E-disease that usually happens due to heredity.
I was used to pain and weakness so i did not tell my mother about my problem. But when the exam started the problem became worse and it was then i told her. She guessed it might be due to low haemoglobin and decided to go for check up once exams were over.
Anyhow i gave my exams through my weakness and pain. It was production practical that day and my friends knew my problem and helped a lot.
Between exams i had excessive bleeding. I went to gynaecologist. He advised to check me with a haematologist first as i had excess blood loss and then a Nephrologist.
The next day, my parents took me to haematologist. On reaching his clinic i became restless and it became difficult to breathe so i breathe fast, i started shivering, my whole body cramped with pain and it was unbearable. Though it was a very hot day, i was terribly shivering. I went out and sat inside our car which was scorching hot but i felt a lot better there. Just then my name was called. Doctor saw my past reports and estimated it was due to low haemoglobin and needed blood. He immediately referred to admit in Dispur Polyclinic.
We were on our way to hospital, when my parents suggested they drop by home and pick up a few things before getting me admitted. On reaching, i couldn’t move so my sister hold me in her arms and sat me on a chair. I was in no condition to sit as my breathing became faster. My sister tried to calm me down and screamed at them to hurry up. My mother was picking out some clothes and stuff. Just then I felt numbness slowly spreading all over my body, when suddenly my breathing stopped.
It was the time i felt i was dead. At that moment i was trying to reach for a light or a sign to show me the way to heaven.
Just then my eyes opened and i started breathing again, i saw my sister was crying and pumping my chest swiftly.
My father raced the car to the hospital. I became very restless. I was carried in a wheel chair to casualty and was given oxygen and injections. Slowly the pain reduced and after that i felt asleep.

I woke up and found myself in a different room. I was given blood. Tomorrow was my last exam, i talked to the doctor and he allowed me to go. A doctor came by to check when i told him i felt itchy. He immediately ordered nurse to prick an anti-allergic injection. Just then my grandfather and uncle came to see me.
After a few seconds i felt dizzy and all of a sudden i rolled my eyes and bit my tongue so hard, my mouth bled profusely.
I opened my eyes and this time i was in I.C.U. The room was quite cold. It had five beds where there were only three patients. The nurses were busy. I felt my stomach croak in hunger. After ten minutes my mother came with food cooked by my father. She said i was on dialysis (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dialysis) while i was unconscious. I opened the Tiffin it was rice and chicken. It smelled so good that i couldn’t resist and took a great bite. To my disgust it was so salty my mouth burned.
On the next night in I.C.U, i was alone. The room was empty. Just then a nurse came and brought with her a carton of syringes, pipes and stuffs that made me uneasy. She told me to calm down as she was going to give me a dialysis. I didn’t know what was going on and what it meant. She injected local anaesthesia in my arm and upper thigh. Then she injected a long needle and bandaged it with tape. It pained badly. She fixed the pipes to the machine and adjusted it. My blood started flowing through the pipes. On seeing my blood flow i started crying uncontrollably. She tried to calm me down and then tied my legs and hands with a rope so that i don’t move. It was a long process almost took two to three hours. Suddenly after a while i started shivering uncontrollably. She gave me two to three blankets but that didn’t work. We were all alone in that room and she felt helpless as nobody was there to help her. Then she called my mother to hold on to me. Then she hurriedly pushed injections through the pipes afterwards it settled down and i felt relaxed.
On the next day i was shifted to the ward. My mother was my attendant. She was with me the whole time. She narrated the event that took place when i was unconscious. The previous night was a nightmare for her as she couldn’t sleep a second in tension and didn’t have a single drop of water. She cried the whole time.
From that day on, there were millions of restrictions on my diet. I had to have salt free, no protein and low potassium diet. Vegetables had to be boiled and the water had to be thrown out before consumption. Green leaves, pulses, nuts, fruits were a total ‘NO’. I was mainly given energy drinks and a biscuit. Following that i became weak and my weight reduced to 35 kilograms.
Today was my last practical exam and i had missed it. My friends came to see me after exam. They came and cheered me up. I was admitted for about a week after that i was discharged to go home. The doctor guessed the problem to be kidney infection and after a few dialysis and medicines the infection could be cured. He gave some tests to do and told to come next week for review.
On reaching home, i discovered that my left leg was bruised. I was given iron and saline through vein, when they couldn’t find my veins in hand, as they were very thin, they decided to insert needle through my legs vein. It must have gone infected, since i couldn’t move my leg. I had to be carried or sometimes i crawled to move here and there. It became very difficult for us as trouble came one after another. But i remained calm and didn’t take it the hard way as i knew i would be fine soon.
After a week my mother went with my reports to Doctor. He saw the results and with great regret declared that both my kidneys failed. On hearing she felt as if the world had ended. He immediately referred to the Apollo hospitals, Chennai.

May 15, 2009, my mother and i caught the train to Chennai. The journey took two nights and three days. We reached Chennai central by 1pm on Sunday. We stayed at Mackeys Garden near Apollo hospitals.
During this time, Chennai’s weather was scorching hot. My body cramp more and more and it became hard for me to bear. My mother was helpless as she couldn’t figure out what to do. I spent the night in pain.
The next day, my mother and i went to the Apollo hospital. We waited outside Dr Rajeev A. Annigeri’s cabin. It was pretty crowded outside and my pain was getting worse. Until we were called after 10 minutes. Dr Annigeri asked several questions and noted down about everything from my birth to present health problems. He examined for about half an hour. Then he immediately admitted me to renal ward. The ward didn’t permit attendant to visit at that time. So i was alone and scared. Just then sisters came and we talked and became very good friends.
After a while a doctor came, he looked quite funny. He was pale and had curly hair which seemed as if it hadn’t been combed since ages. He spoke Hindi in a Tamil accent. He introduced himself as Dr Nimesh and he was going to insert a Venous catheter tube through my neck through which temporary dialysis would be done. It lasts maximum one month.
As he started preparing for the venous catheter operation for temporary hemodialysis, i felt so scared that tears started streaming down my eyes. Just then he started singing song. I didn’t know if i should cry or laugh. He injected local anaesthesia and then implanted a long thin tube. He inserted it for about two or three times until he found the vein. It pained a while as i couldn’t move my neck. It was uncomfortable and had to lie down in a position. After a while i fell asleep.
I was woken up by sisters who were ready for my dialysis. Pipes from the machine were fitted to my neck tube. It didn’t felt any pain unlike the dialysis done through the thigh. Just then my mother came. She seemed tired as i could see dark circles and tiredness in her eyes. Her face wrinkled in tension. On seeing her i started crying as i had to go through so much and she didn’t come near me. Tears streamed down through her eyes too. All this time she was running up and down paying bills and bringing medicines and she was not allowed to visit.
I was shifted to ward at 2:00 am. I was very weak as my blood pressure was very low. My condition was so bad that a sister and my mother had to look after me 24/7. The next day i was taken for fistula operation and the other day for endoscopy. After i was shifted to my room my brain stopped working. I became so angry that on seeing my mother i could scream and yell at her. I couldn’t move my neck, and both my hands bursting in pain.
After two days doctor came with the reports and told my mother in private that the transplant is not possible as my liver seem to have problem. I have to live all my life on dialysis. On hearing this mother felt as if a huge affliction had fallen on her.

After 5 days i was released from hospital. We decided to go back to our hometown. Before going home i really wanted to see the Marina beach as last time i came here i was 3 to 4 years old. My condition was not so good with two operations done but she did not want to disappoint me and we took an auto to the beach. It was a Sunday afternoon and the beach was pretty crowded. We had to take a long walk to reach the water so my mom was quite worried but to my surprise the people were generous enough to make way for me..i think it is probably because of the catheter hanging out of my neck and the bandage on the fistula. The more we reached the water the more i was excited though i was warned by my mom not to go near the water. The waves were very high too. I let the water touch my feet and felt relaxed after a long time and memories of the good times flashed on my mind. Just then a giant wave made me thoroughly wet due to which both my bandages were soaked wet. Panic ran through my mom and people surrounding us helped us remove dirt and water on me. We immediately caught an auto to our hotel. She locked me in the room and ran to get bandages from a pharmacy at about 8 pm. We were also expecting some friends Mr Gurumurthi and his wife who helped us book the ticket to guwahati for the flight next day. After half an hour they arrived while i was asleep.
The next day we caught the flight early in the morning to Guwahati. It felt wonderful to be back home. The atmosphere in the house was sad and gloomy. So i continued my dialysis in Dispur PolyClinic. The dialysis was done through my neck by catheter. A week went by, one night i began shivering very violently. Everybody became restless and worried and mom called the doctor. The fever also raised very high and this time i was sure i was going to die. I was carried and just then i vomited vigorously. The shivering stopped and i felt a lot better. Next morning i went to the hospital and the doctor concluded infection and removed the catheter from my neck.
Life after removing dialysis through neck line (also called a haemocath) was no better as dialysis was done through my upper thigh which was like being ripped and pierced in hell. I exactly have no idea what type of dialysis it was but it looked quite dangerous and much painful than other dialysis.
• I was moved to Guwahati Medical Collage Hospital (GMCH) for further dialysis. My experience in GMCH was the worst nightmare ever! the moment i entered the dialysis room i had this fear of not returning back..the room was damp and the smell of spirit made me dizzy. i quickly hid behind my mother but in vain. As i lay there every second felt like years of torture. after 5 hours of dialysis i felt paralyzed and numb. As i lay deadlocked, a boy dialysed next to me was trembling in pain and cried for water but as water was restricted he was given a few drops of water in his lips. he was so restless and shouted in pain that he removed the needles inserted on him. as i watched him tremble, he kept staring at me for a long time. i avoided his stare. after a few minutes the nurse observed the boy and called the doctor shouting he had no pulse. on hearing that i couldn't stop crying loud. i was scared as i someone die like this. i was calmed by doctors and my mom. she hugged my face tight. this was the most horrifying experience i ever remember..
• My experience in GMC hospital was terrifying. so we decided to return back to Apollo Hospital Chennai. My mother and i had no idea where to go and stay in a totally alien place. from station we took an auto and stayed in the same room we when we last came.
• On reaching a lot of tests were done. To my disappointment and horror, i was detected HCV and my transplant was not possible. i was injected with Injection Viraferonpeg for 6 months which costs us about 2 lakhs and after injecting i had fever, itching and many other side effects. i was dialysed in an isolation room. my doctor Dr Annigeri came to see me and patted my head with a smile. on seeing doctor smile all the technicians were shocked as they never saw him smile. Mukund, the head technician told me he would be doing my dialysis. we became good friends. He was a tall dark healthy typical south Indian man around his 40' s. he had a daughter who is very dear to him and he would tell me about her all the time. we shared and discussed about our cultures, environment, politics and many such things.
• my mom and i moved to a cleaner lodge where we made friends with other kidney patients. Life got a bit better over there... all day long my mom and i used to watch tv, sleep all day long crying or make rounds to hospital every evening. My sister whom we left her all alone at home would call us everyday hoping for a good news so that we come back home soon. She, my sister is a very strong girl...all this time while i was in Chennai she took care of herself alone, looked after our grandfather who had Alzheimer disease. 
• so my mom and i spend the rest of the year in sadness, prayers and hope to be back home happily with a good news but each day seemed like a year. Chennai city later became quite familiar to me and my mom. My mom used to bring vaccine every week be it on a very screaming sun or during thunderstorm. even thought we didn't know the culture or language we got adjusted to this place... often we used to go to our favorite mall "Spence Plaza"  to window shopping and have ice creams. whenever feel sad we would go to the marina beach and look at the sunset. it was like never-ending...
• Time went by days turned into months, months into year and i kept getting weaker lost weight when one day doctor announced i can proceed for transplant..it was the day we were waiting for we couldn't control our happiness as we hadn't heard good news for a very long time. we were called in a meeting room where the other nephrologists disapproved going forward as my case was serious..i started crying as again i had lost hope after fighting for so long...then i said "If you are not going to operate me please give me a painless death, i will take the responsibility of my death but please operate me" on this the doctors became emotional and they proceeded for my operation.
• the procedures were going on when my mom told me we are short of another 2 lakh rupees for the operation....we were helpless...but i strongly believe GOD exists a family friend of ours a Gujarati family called us and helped us with the money. it sure was a miracle!  
• My mom and i got ready had to visit all the doctors for last approval as it was the big day. my mom went to hers and i took my heavy files and visited all the doctors myself (where generally a guardian does that)  Dad came for the further procedures and formalities, the doctor called my parents for the last formality that is the agreement signature. i quietly sneaked in behind my parents. the doctor started saying that as per the letter it is said that after the transplant Sujata  may not survive even if she survives due to  the rejection of the medication she may not live long..there are many complications in this disease, if anything happens to her the doctors are not responsible. on this i started crying doctor was shocked to see me and apologized as he didn't know i was there. all the sisters took me with them and cheered me up. my mom and i were dress up in robes and got us all ready. my favorite sister Priya stayed extra hours for me. it was my first operation that too a major operation, the operation theater was just like that in the movies the doctors were so friendly they were all cheering me up when suddenly one of them injected anesthesia n i couldn't remember what happened next...i slowly opened my eyes and the doctors were cheering me with their thumbs up! i was in pain but there was a great happiness in my heart. 
• I was admitted to the transplant room, i was thirsty but i was not supposed to drink water but after day one all i was given was water and medicines due to which i formed gastric and my tummy became huge, after that i was given boiled food with no salt which was pathetic. i terribly missed my mother..she was admitted in some other ward. on the forth day i was made to walk slowly i felt like a baby walking for the first time. 
• it was christmas eve, i got visitors from my dialysis room, a brother brought me plum cake which was forbidden still couldn't control my sweet tooth. my friend Priya came i made her promise to take me to see my mom, she was scared as sisters in transplant room  were strictand it may cost her job, i insisted and she slowly took me out of the bed i somehow crawling went two floors up and finally got to see my mom. i kissed her and went back to my transplant room. after 1 week or so i was shifted to the special ward with my mom. i was happy to be with her. after that we were discharged.
• we went to our apartment building. i was so happy and healthy, it felt like a beginning of a new life. my appetite started increasing...my results were perfect. i could eat like a full cooker of rice and still i be hungry. i became plump in just few days. my sister visited Chennai to see me and started laughing uncontrollable to see my new look.
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