Introductions! A brief history

"Chemo, Diapers and life in between" - what comes to mind when you first read this phrase?

I'm sure it's clear chemo is for cancer. Diapers can give double meanings though - it could refer to a person with small babies or it could also refer to an old person who needs adult diapers - either ways when dealing with diapers, life can present with tricky situations! And then of course, life in between is clear I suppose. 

Before you put your thinking hat on, let me clear the air. This book is snippets from life of a 29 year old bubbly and ambitious girl who was blessed with motherhood along with blood cancer. The mini stories are about the everyday and the one of instances she found interesting and thinks have helped her carve the year round 2020 journey. It's about her reflection of the year it has been - being a new mom to a cute premie, to getting cancer and getting rid of it. 

That girl is Me. This is my story.

A bit more details here. My name is Thanisha. Yes that's just Thanisha without a surname (will talk later about why I don't have a surname and what all it leads me into!). I like to believe that I'm a simple girl from a small town - Chandigarh in north of India. I'm the only child of my parents who made sure they brought me up with all the love but didn't turn me into a spoilt brat (if that's what you thought).

I'm a computer science engineer by background who went on to do a year long unique (at least to India) experiential postgraduate in liberal studies and leadership and went on to have a career in product management. Fast forward to 2017 when I got married to my ex-colleague (yes it was office love!) and the love of my life and moved with him to the sensual (that's what more than half the Indians would believe) city of Bangkok. Right after arriving, I understood two things - Google translate is a must!, Married life is very different from love life (even when you marry the love of your life) but we'll keep the talk for another book may be haha. I started working at this cool startup - Pomelo Fashion and what looked like a short stint expanded into me turning into the Director of Product at Pomelo. 

Fast forward to almost the start of the year the world would never forget - 2020, when it all began. I still remember it was Christmas of 2019, when I realised it was a good thought to pee on a pregnancy strip as my periods were never late, ever. And, we were pregnant! :) 

Nobody tells you the different things you are going to experience after you get pregnant and nobody at all tells you how life might look like after you give birth! Not to say that I regret it, but still just to put it out there - nobody prepares you for life in between these phases. 

Fast forward to about 22/23 week when I first noticed the swollen right side of my neck, to about 28/29 week when it was finally diagnosed, to 34 weeks of delivering my bundle of joy (All details coming later). And then to the many weeks after that spending hours in NICU, hours on the road, many many hours in the hospital and funnily more hours at the cashier waiting lounge than in the treatment rooms (Believe me many interesting details to follow later)! It's been an endless journey and will continue to be so for - time I hope short.  

When I look back, I laugh at the year it has been - of becoming a new mom, of endless hospital visits, of becoming a family from a couple, of hardships in finding nannies, of patience of a snail,  of strength of a lion, of getting cancer and getting rid of it!