At 6:00AM Deepika and her friend arrived at Stanford. By this time, Stanford had already conducted a basic echocardiogram, confirming the findings from Enloe but with results that indicated that a more extensive battery of pictures would need to be taken.
The doctors told Deepika that they would know more, later that day, and to try and rest and take care of herself so she can be healthy for the baby.
Through it all, one asks, how much more can a person take? How much tragedy can befall one person. How can such a good and wonderful and kind woman go from having the best year of her life with her best friend , her husband, finding out they would be parents, having a successful life...to losing her love and now watching her child fight for his life.
They allowed Deepika to see Jevesh, who had been taken to the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) at the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford. There are no words to describe the heartbreak a mother feels as she sees her child lying in a hospital...IVs, breathing tubes, machines, ...to see her child try to cry, unable to make a sound...and as a mother, unable to do anything but caress his hand, whispering calming words, words of love, praying that everything will be ok...
The doctors told Deepika that they would know more, later that day, and to try and rest and take care of herself so she can be healthy for the baby.The day was full of waiting...waiting for the pictures to be taken, talking to doctors and answering their questions, sitting at the "bedside" of Jevesh, seeing the pictures, then the results.
That evening, Deepika was able to speak to one of the doctors on the team that would be responsible for taking care of Jevesh...the news was not good, though the doctor's were hopeful...Jevesh did not have a single heart defect, he had multiple heart defects...What Deepika would later find out was that little Jevesh had 5 heart defects...no reason, no cause, simply a fluke, a genetic mistake during the early period of development...the cells got the messages wrong and as a result, Jevesh had a heart with defects...The doctors were kind, they were informative, but that much information at once tends to overwhelm...you are hearing the words while at the same time hoping they are wrong, that there is some mistake, that Jevesh will be ok...they ask if she has questions...but where to begin? what questions to ask? Deepika would ask many questions, get some answers, mostly vague, and was told that they would know more after further study of the echocardiogram pictures and consultation with other doctors...
One thing was certain, Jevesh would need surgery.
Through it all, one asks, how much more can a person take? How much tragedy can befall one person. How can such a good and wonderful and kind woman go from having the best year of her life with her best friend , her husband, finding out they would be parents, having a successful life...to losing her love and now watching her child fight for his life.Deepika is one of the strongest, bravest women I know. I am proud to know her. Blessed to have her as a friend. I only wish I could do more to help her...Keep her in your thoughts, prayers, positive vibes, hearts...
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