Cheese Off

"I have won a bet with Verghese," I announced to my wife. She could sense the glee in my voice and asked, "What about?" 

"Verghese and I had a bet about who would have a cardiac arrest first, and I have won," I replied. 

"I don't have time for riddles in the morning," she said and walked away into the kitchen.

I told her, "I was at the balcony when the ambulance stopped below our apartment. I asked Hanif for whom the ambulance had come."

"He informed me that the Uncle at 410 apartments had had a heart attack. His son Jeenu had called for the ambulance. Verghese had a running bet about who would succumb to an attack first. He did. I won the bet."

"Heartless, you are," my wife retorted. "I lost it to you many years ago," I quipped. She glared at me and walked away.

"Let me go down and get the details." As I went down, I saw Jeenu getting into the ambulance, and it left for the nearby Koshy hospital.

I came up and told my wife, "I am going to the hospital. I am sure Jeenu can get by with some help."

I cycled down to the hospital as it was only ten minutes away. Cycling and yoga were my daily fitness recipes. I felt both would keep me in good stead, and hence the bet with Verghese.

I said hello to Jeenu and asked him, "How is Verghese?" Jeenu was outside the emergency ward. After a brief talk with him, I approached the doctor in charge. She informed that the ECG shows some activity. She advised it would be better to go to Wockhardt Hospital. Dr. Mani works there and is a consulting cardiac expert here.

As soon as Verghese saw me, he said, "You won the bet, bro."

He already looked a few years older after the attack. He looked to be in discomfort. I didn't want to dwell on the bet. I said in a soft tone, "Jeenu and I are taking you to the Wockhardt to see Dr. Mani. You should be alright. Relax till then."

The ambulance ride was quite bumpy. Verghese wanted to pull out his oxygen tube, and he seemed to be in some pain. I wondered if the next attack was imminent. We reached the hospital in good time, and the emergency unit was quick in response.

While we waited, Jeenu filed in the admission papers. He also shared the details of the insurance cover he got provided by the company he was working with. The receptionist said he would check out if cash-free facility was possible.

It was mid-morning by the time the doctor in charge called us out. He ushered us into a small cubicle with a desk computer. He showed us the scan they had taken of Verghese's heart and the arteries. He said, "Verghese has a single block, and the episode was an attack. We need to go angioplasty now."

The lady assistant who was waiting briefed us about the cost details. There wasn't much to decide except saying go ahead.

While we were waiting at the hall, Verghese's elder sibling Keerti walked in with her fiancée.

She was in tears and asked, "How is papa now?"

Keerti was going strong with Jayaram. Verghese disapproved of their affair. Jayaram was a Hindu and that too from a lower caste. Relatives back home in Kerala were already deriding the relationship. There was tension already between Keerti and Verghese. They were not in talking terms. "Love Jihad" is the new vocabulary one hears often.

Mine was an inter-religious marriage, and it happened in nineteen eighty-five. Thirty-eight years later, here was Verghese opposed to Keerti's marriage on the basis of birth.

My wife and I have told my daughter that she is free to choose if she decides to marry. Caste no bar, religion no bar. She would only be 'cheque-mated. We would bless her with a cheque to meet her post-marriage expenses settling into life. Marriage, of course, would get done ala 'COVID' style, as I didn't believe in ritualistic affairs. This would cut down related and unnecessary expenses.

To me, marriages are neither made in 'heaven' nor in front of a havan. It is a matter of two hearts and their endurance capacity to run a marathon in life.

While talking to Jayaram, whom I had met for the first time, he came across as a nice fellow.

Doctor Mani called us out and informed the angioplasty went well, and he has put a stent. He added that Verghese would be in ICU for the night for observation and he would get moved to the general ward. Then discharged in another day if all goes well. Keerti went to meet her dad, and some ice got broken. She smiled as she said, "Papa and I could take talk like old times."

Jeenu, in the meantime, got the news that the insurance provider had approved the cash-free facility. What prompted their decision was the emergency of the case.

A week later, I was cycling to a hospital where a doctor friend worked. I had availed of a heart package, to be sure of my condition too.

Apart from a blood test, I underwent ECG, Echo Test, and Treadmill. While you had to lie down for other tests, I got a chance to prove my fitness while doing Treadmill. Apart from the customary sweat as they tested my endurance, I passed the test in flying colors.

Two days later, when I met the chief doctor, he announced that I have high cholesterol. He added, "I am going to give you a strong dose. That should bring cholesterol down. Meet me after a month once you repeat the test for cholesterol. You have added risk as your dad has a history."

He looked at other reports and asked, "What about alcohol and smoking?"

I said, "I smoke one cigarette a day and use a few drinks in a week."

"As a doctor, I cannot recommend you to smoke. It is your call. But the main thing in your case is high cholesterol. Take these medicines and meet me after a month," advised the doctor as a parting shot.

I took a leaf out of pages of the history of Verghese and learned something useful about my own health.

A cursory browse on Google informs you that cholesterol is produced by the liver. Statins, the standard medication, suppress this production. You have to maintain diet control too.

I took to statins like my new best friend and brought down my cholesterol level to a safe level.

The only thing that has changed is that I cannot say 'cheese' anymore. The doctor has asked me to partake it once a month or avoid it to be on the safe side.