Second round (or is it the third)

Second round (or is it the third)

I have often heard the phrase that when it rains it pours. Now, living in Udupi is certainly an example of that with its almost incessant monsoon rains etc. However, on a personal side, I have been experiencing just that. Well, to be honest, Gopi's been experiencing it and I have been along for the ride.
Essentially, Gopi has been ill since mid Febuary 2007. Rather, she has had a series of illnesses since then. First, the foot, then the lungs (TB), then the surgery. Somehow, I've had a feeling that it's not over.
Then last week ( a week ago from today), I was in Chennai trying to get my passport renewed so that I could work on getting Gopi and the kids visas updated etc. and I get a call from Gopi saying that she was experiencing serious pain in her pelvic region and was losing blood.( She had been having a urinary problem for the last month. We saw a couple of Ayurvedic docs apart from the allopathic doctors who were treating her for her lung issues.) So, she went in to the hospital for a check up and to have some tests done. That was last monday. By friday, I get a call from Gopal (I think this is the first time he's used the phone by himself) saying that his Mom was seriously ill. Luckily for us, there were two south African devotees (Mayapur Chandra and his wife Suvarna Manjari - really wonderful, delightful devotees) who we had befriended over the last few weeks, who stopped by to check on Gopi.
Anyways, the word from them and Gopal was that Gopi was losing a lot of blood (from her vagina) that she had thrown up a couple of times and that she had lost consciousness (fainted) a couple of times too. They rushed her in an ambulance to the KMC hospital, where she was treated earlier. I was still in Chennai trying to convince the local honchos to release my passport (as things would be there was date problem on my passport of 10 years -- my DOB siad 15th instead of the 5th).
Well, anyways, Gopi was admitted to the hospital and yesterday thet gave her some blood because she had lost a lot and her haemoglobin was low.
The docs say that all signs are indicating that she has a malignant growth on her cervix. We won't have the results from the tests for the next few days - to know for sure if it is malignant or benign.
I would be lying to say fear has not crept into my heart and mind. When she had her lung problems in the last few months, obviously I was concerned, but this time I am worried serious. I have faith that Sri Krishna has his plan, and from a philsophical perspective I am trying to be sober and unaffected. But as good old Jim Morrison once said - the future's uncertain and the end is always near.....


So , dear friends, please keep Gopi in your prayers and wish for her (and us - the kids and me) that the storm will pass...