In Nov of 2007, I came back to india bangalore from dubai with my wife and kid. I stayes 3 days in bangalore then came to noida to join here. My wife was in bangalore and she noticed that our 17-month-old son, was coughing excessively. My parents took him to the emergency clinic several times. Each time, the doctors prescribed antibiotics for a cold and cough infection. Since this treatment didn’t work, They decided to consult an allergy specialist. The results were negative. After a week tikku (my son) got very swollen around the abdomen, legs, feet and ankles, and his face was completely swollen. My wife called me and i went to bangalore. Tikku continued to gain weight, and one morning he woke up with eyes so swollen that we couldn’t see his eyes and he stopped to eat and had a hard time breathing. Also his urine output had diminished quite a lot. I felt hopeless and desperate. I could see and feel the pain in his eyes and will never forget those sad little eyes looking back at me, crying for help. Finally after many tries with the medical and examination, the doctors told us that Tikku needed medical attention immediately. Doctor noticed that tikku's body was filled with water. That night the doctors performed multiple tests on his including lung x-rays and an ultrasound of his kidneys. They suspected that he had Minimal Change Disease, which was confirmed by the results. The doctor gave us a brief description of “Nephrotic Syndrome” and started him on medical tablets immediately. Things did not go easily from that point. There was no improvement after a couple of days from tablets and tikku gained more weight and was not urinating. It was a very hard week for us, with the doctors checking on his constantly. He had an IV inserted in his arm to administer medication to help her eliminate the extra fluids that had accumulated in his body and to avoid infection. Tikku did well for the next week — spilling protein from 4+ to 3+ to 2+. We were confused and mostly frustrated because the cause of this disease was unknown. For the first time in my life I had no words and was afraid of what was going to be said next. Tikku had several blood tests each week, and I remember his little arms being bruised from the needles and red with blood. After a while, he started responding to the medications and his protein started dropping. When the doctors stopped the antibiotic, we were relieved because tikku's little body had fewer medications to cope with. Since night he has been sleeping in our room. I made sure he was comfortable at night and spent countless hours staring at that little face, wishing a million times that I could go through the pain instead of him. After a while, tikku body got used to the medications.
I beg God everyday to help cure our son and help me through this pain devouring my heart. Many prayers from family members, friends have helped us along this hard road. I believe that my son is strong enough and we have faith in him ability to fight this disease like a champion. Please remember that there is always a reason to stay positive. There is a light at the end of the tunnel and no matter what awaits us in the future, we will hold on to that light when we feel helpless. Keep your faith in God.
