As a diplomat's daughter the word protocol entered my lexicon at a very early age. My parents often used the word whatever language they were speaking in. As I grew from a toddler to a child I realised that the word could be associated to many things: a person (Chief of Protocol) - the man who use to come to our house to escort my father to the head of state of the country we were posted in to present his Credentials -, to a situation - when mama used to flitter around the dressed dining table with a list in place cards in hand as everyone was to be seated according to protocol and so on. Everything had to be done following protocol and every thing was spelt out in a hard cover book called: Manuel Pratique du Protocole. I remember once way back in the mid sixties during a rather choppy journey between Marseilles and Algiers where we were posted, having the fat book fall on my hand as the boat rocked and rolled. When my parents asked me what happened they went into hysterics. I do not know why it sounded funny as the book had hurt my head, but since that day the mention of the name of the book sent us all on a laughing spree.
Mt first job too was linked to this word as I was the Social Secretary of the Ambassador of Belgium for more than 2 years. This I was in charge of protocol and it was a pain in the you know where! I had hoped that it would be last time but not quite as I chose conference organisation as a career and protocol was a huge part of it and how can I forget that I was chief of protocol for the Asian Games 1982. One should write about these experiences as some of them are rib tickling!
When I decided to make a huge career change and chose the slums as my beat, I truly thought I would never hear the word again. But my friend the Fates had other plans. I was to discover a whole new meaning of the word, one that I wished I never had.
The meaning I am referring to is: course of medical treatment, most often use for cancer. Actually I am in the midst of reading about its origin in The Emperor of all Maladies. I am in the middle of the book reading about how chemotherapy came to exist and how protocols were first established. It is scary as the drugs used are nothing short of poison. I guess it is far better than the initial ablations and surgeries done without anaesthetic! I still have to read about the progress made in administering poisons but I am not sure I will learn to accept let alone welcome it.
It is easy to decide for yourself. You can either go the mama way and turn into a stubborn child pretending to have lost her memory, or maybe she actually did as a way of dealing with a situation, or like my pa who accepted everything suggested as he knew he had to go so that I could fly. He needed an excuse and found one.
We have made a decision and I will stick by it as R has to get the best available. I will sit by him as he is first slowly poisoned. I can understand now why one of the side effects of chemo is nausea. It is the intelligent response of an intelligent and wise body to any form of poisoning. I can understand why the hair falls as all growing cells including the healthy ones will have to die. The blisters and ulcers are because the healthy cells of the digestive tract will also. I will watch all this with a smile on my face as I see him lose weight and become weaker and try and remember that all will be well one day, some day...
I hate this new protocol business. I find chemo too brutal. If cells go haywire there must be a reason. Why don't find the reason and reverse it.
Mt first job too was linked to this word as I was the Social Secretary of the Ambassador of Belgium for more than 2 years. This I was in charge of protocol and it was a pain in the you know where! I had hoped that it would be last time but not quite as I chose conference organisation as a career and protocol was a huge part of it and how can I forget that I was chief of protocol for the Asian Games 1982. One should write about these experiences as some of them are rib tickling!
When I decided to make a huge career change and chose the slums as my beat, I truly thought I would never hear the word again. But my friend the Fates had other plans. I was to discover a whole new meaning of the word, one that I wished I never had.
The meaning I am referring to is: course of medical treatment, most often use for cancer. Actually I am in the midst of reading about its origin in The Emperor of all Maladies. I am in the middle of the book reading about how chemotherapy came to exist and how protocols were first established. It is scary as the drugs used are nothing short of poison. I guess it is far better than the initial ablations and surgeries done without anaesthetic! I still have to read about the progress made in administering poisons but I am not sure I will learn to accept let alone welcome it.
It is easy to decide for yourself. You can either go the mama way and turn into a stubborn child pretending to have lost her memory, or maybe she actually did as a way of dealing with a situation, or like my pa who accepted everything suggested as he knew he had to go so that I could fly. He needed an excuse and found one.
We have made a decision and I will stick by it as R has to get the best available. I will sit by him as he is first slowly poisoned. I can understand now why one of the side effects of chemo is nausea. It is the intelligent response of an intelligent and wise body to any form of poisoning. I can understand why the hair falls as all growing cells including the healthy ones will have to die. The blisters and ulcers are because the healthy cells of the digestive tract will also. I will watch all this with a smile on my face as I see him lose weight and become weaker and try and remember that all will be well one day, some day...
I hate this new protocol business. I find chemo too brutal. If cells go haywire there must be a reason. Why don't find the reason and reverse it.
No comments:
Post a Comment