Real life heroes- Donating a kidney

I didn't know of anyone who had donated a kidney till two days ago.
But now I do and consider him to be a true hero.
Someone who took a decision to donate his kidney to save his cousin brother's life....

The decision to donate can never be easy for anyone and so it must have been for him as well.

But its probably when one sees a close family member who has End Stage Renal Disease(ESRD) and will not be able to live much longer without a new kidney,  it pretty much must be a real reason in changing an individual's perspective.

A whole lot of soul searching and discussions with Doctors and close family members are entailed when it comes to taking the final decision.Donors need to be should be in good physical condition and between the ages of 18-70.

While it is true that one can lead a normal , healthy lifestyle with only one kidney, the risks associated with a kidney donataion are  much the same as those involving any major surgery--viz, the bleeding and the risk of infection. Yet in today's world, the option to the old fashioned way of surgery is that of laparoscopic surgery.

And while our friend recuperates in  tne hospital for the next few days, we can only and wish him all the very best.Along with applauding  him for his decision and the courage  that it must have taken..

Climate change and what it really entails

About four years ago, I happened to see a movie called 'The Day After tommorrow, starring Dennis Quaid.It stayed in my mind because it was a tecnically very well made film and its special effects excellent.

But even more than that, it stayed in my mind because of what it portrayed...a world which changes completely because of the effects of climate change and the havoc that can be wreaked on all those who somehow manage to survive.

Then last week I saw '2012', another movie with the same theme, only this one one seemed much more real.

The reason for that is not too difficult to look for, as a whole lot has been said and done on Climate change during this period.Not the least by Al Gore and his team winning the Nobel Prize for their pathbreaking work on this.

Now over a 100 world leaders have gathered at Copenhagen where they hope to look for some real and lasting solutions.So that the next few generations could have a future.

According to Ban Ki Moon, of the UN, "The objective of the Summmit on climate change is to mobilize the political will and vision needed to reach an ambitious and agreed outcome based on Science at the UN Climate talks in Copenhagen."

Today, the  issues at stake are very critical and the success or failure will depend on economics, and not environmental science.This also entails things like moving away from carbon based energy sources that one has depended on for a long time.

Countries like the US, Canada and India, will have to stringently monitor their oil and manufacturing industries and this is bound to have major potential economic and political causes of imposing stricter limits on greenhouse gas emissions-most notably for their coal, oil and manufacturing industries.

All that is for governments and countries to deal with, but on a more personal level- What exactly are we doing about this?

Let us all really take a deep look at what our own way of life and living is all about and make a conscious resolution.

Simply that we too will do our bit..
Because every drop makes an ocean, and hopefully tommorrow will still be another day.

Life without coffee

Day 6 and counting.
For those are the number of days that I’ve managed life without coffee.

Reason- Coffee does not go well with the Homeopathic medicines that I’m currently having.

For someone whose day had been structured around the number of cups of coffee in a day, life is not easy, giving up that same basic premise.

Then of course, there are the very real withdrawal symptoms.
The headaches, the loss of concentration, not feeling like my usual composed self, et all.

Along with dealing with the fact of having to avoid all my ‘associations’ with coffee. Because these are the very real triggers that just might make me crumble.

Such as not going anywhere near Starbucks, Darcy’s, Costa. Simply because even the slightest whiff of that delightful fragrance of coffee that seems to floating come out of the open doors, tempting even a non coffee drinker, might just do me in.

I’ve also tried very hard to fill up that vacuum with a range of other hot beverages that might possibly substitute for the real thing- hot milk, a range of teas, or even cocoa, but nothing seems to do the trick …

Yet, I doggedly persist, for I know that the first few days are usually the hardest and that if I was to cave in now, I might not be able to do it ,yet again.

And suddenly realize that I have a whole new found respect for all those people who’ve ever battled with other issues such as quitting smoking…or then alcohol…