26th Nov 2008 – Morning Shift 6am – 2pm
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7am: I went into the ICCU to see Guru Maharaja. He looked very fresh with
clean shaven face and was relaxing on his bed. When he saw me next to him,
he asked, “Were you here since last night?” I said, “No. Bhadra Balaram
Prabhu was here and I just came in for my morning shift.” I called Srivas
Pran Prabhu to come in and read from Caitanya Caritamrta for Guru Maharaja.
Guru Maharaja is still without the speech valve. Sometimes his voice is not
audible and sometimes it is fairly audible.
8am: Dr.Shiromani and Dr. Acyutananda went in to see Guru Maharaja.
Dr.Shiromani was showing Guru Maharaja all the get well cards she had
received. As you all know from the yesterday’s report Guru Maharaja was told
HH Radhanath Swami was supposed to come and visit him but he didn’t make it
because he was not feeling well. Dr.Acyutananda is an official doctor who
looks after Maharaja’s health. So this morning Guru Maharaja asked
Dr.Acyutananda Prabhu, “How is Maharaj’s health?” Dr.Acyutananda commented
on HH Radhanath Maharaj’s health. He then continued, “Today is Radhanath
Maharaj’s Tithi Vyasa puja. But he has cancelled the vyasa puja celebration
because of your health condition.” Guru Maharaja with his eyes wide open
said, “He should celebrate it. It is one day per year for the disciples.”
Dr.Shiromani immediately passed on this message to Dr.Madhavananda at
Bhaktivedanta Hospital. Guru Maharaja also commented about some defects on
his eyesight. Dr.Shiromani said she will inform the ophthalmologist
regarding this.
8.30am: We fed Guru Maharaja with 3 mashed kiwi fruits mixed with almond
powders. He ate all of them.
9.15am: Dr.Ashok came in for his routine check up. He told Guru Maharaja,
“You are doing too good.” Guru Maharaja asked Dr.Ashok, “How are you
doctor?” Dr.Ashok said,”Oh I am fine.”
10am: While I was chanting in the relative’s waiting room, Dr.Shiromani said
the physiotherapist is calling you to come in. When I went in, the
physiotherapist explained to me that today for the first time they are
going to make Guru Maharaja to sit on the bed with legs hanging down without
any support on the back to lean. Two nurses, Miss Priya and Miss Vanita, the
physiotherapist and myself lifted Guru Maharaja. We made him to sit on the
bed. Although it was very difficult to lift him up I noticed that Guru
Maharaja has lost his weight. Muscles below his both upper part of the arms
was hanging down.
The physiotherapist was addressing Guru Maharaja, “Guru Maharaj! Guru
Maharaj! Keep your head straight up and sit straight.” Guru Maharaja tried
but he kept falling sideward and was not able to sit on his own without the
support for the back. I realised how weak his body is. The bed was lowered
down to help Guru Maharaja put his feet on the floor. Physiotherapist told
Guru Maharaja to put his feet firm on the floor and hold the side railigs of
the bed. Even then Guru Maharaja kept falling sideward. Then 2 male
attendants came in to help holding Guru Maharaja. The physiotherapist also
introduced few other theraphies today especially to strengthen Guru
Maharaja’s arms. She said when Guru Maharaja’s arms become strong enough
then he will be given a walker to practice walking.
Then I noticed Guru Maharaja’s sikha was matted and tangled because of his
constantly lying on the bed. We combed his sikha only once or twice in the
last 32 days of him being in the hospital. I told Miss Priya that we should
comb the sikha to make it look neat. I brought Guru Maharaja’s comb and hair
oil. While the male attendants were holding Guru Maharaja I started applying
oil on Guru Maharaja’s hair. I did it very gently. Miss Priya and Miss
Vanita became uncomfortable. They told me, “We can only hold him on this
position for 10 minutes and you have to finish combing his hairs by then.”
Two minutes later one of them grabbed the comb from my hand and the other
one brought a bigger comb to comb Guru Maharaja’s sikha. I was applying oil
wherever needed especialy on the matted part meanwhile they kept combing. I
told them try not to loose a single hair. Guru Maharaja heard what I was
saying, he said, “Dont cut my sikha.”
I explained to Guru Maharaja about the condition of his sikha hairs and what
are we trying to do for him. He nodded yes. At one point, while they were
combing, Guru Maharaja shouted,”Ahh! Uhh!” I told the nurses, “Careful! Comb
slowly!”. Both the Marathi nurses with smile on their face asked Guru
Maharaja, “Swamiji, paining, no? Paining, no?” They were very personal and
caring towards Guru Maharaja. Most of these nurses in ICCU are very caring
and always address Guru Maharaja as ‘Guru Maharaj’ and ‘Swamiji’. In twenty
minutes we finished working on his sikha. Though we lost some of his hairs
they did a good job. His hair was tied and plaited (braided). I was
explaining to Guru Maharaja of what they were doing to his sikha. He
said, “Roll it up and put band.” I said we are doing that. After that Guru
Maharaja was put back into his original position on the bed but he was
asking the nurses to put him on the chair. They did that after 15 minutes.
11am: Guru Maharaja was asking for water since he was feeling very thirsty.
He asked for Tata Himlayan water. His latest favorite brand. Then I fed
breakfast for him. While I was feeding breakfast to Guru Maharaja, Marici
Prabhu came in to see Guru Maharaja. Guru Maharaja asked him how he was and
about his South American Tour. Marici Prabhu explained to Guru Maharaja
about his tour to South America. Even with this kind of health conditions
Guru Maharaja’s interaction with Marici Prabhu appeared to be normal. Later,
ophthamologist came in to check Guru Maharaja. They advised Guru Maharaja to
blink his eyes very often to avoid dryness which can cause infection. Right
now he is not able to do that because of weak muscles.
Then Marici Prabhu was showing about the get well painting sent from
Santiago, Chile. Then a collection of beautiful get well cards put together
in a single folder from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. They were very attractive.
2.30pm – Lunch was served. All the food items were cooked soft to suit
according to Guru Maharaja’s diet. We served basmati rice, dhal, spinach
sabji, beans, etc. We mixed them well and was feeding him little by little
by spoon. Guru Maharaja commented prasadam was great. At the end Marici
asked him what else he wanted. Guru Maharaja said, “cake.” Of course
jokingly!
Yours in the service of Guru Maharaja,
JPS servants