Incense Stick Maker, Mysore, INDIA

As I'm typing this, AW is spending the night at the local hospital.  It's a private hospital and the facilities are good, and the service is quick.  He was feeling okay this morning but then suddenly had stomach pains in the afternoon which just wouldn't go away, so I went to the hotel reception desk and they suggested we drive him to the hospital.  He got a painkiller injection that didn't work, so they gave him another which seemed to work, but in the meantime they took a blood sample and had him undergo an endoscopy scan, just to rule out certain things.  Because he needed another injection for the pain, they suggested an overnight, to which AW agreed.  I agreed, too, as I am not a medical prof.  The tests came out negative, so good news, but the diagnosis was some kind of gastritis, or irritation of the stomach walls.  He's allowed to continue with most of the meds Chamu prescribed, so that wasn't bad.  Right now, he's on an overnight drip, with meds.  The stomach specialist will check him out mid-morning tomorrow.  For now, we realize one thing -- his tolerance for certain food has gone down and he will have to be very careful from now on every time we holiday abroad.

This morning began well enough.  He came along as we drove back to the hill I visited yesterday.  He saw the temple and the monolithic bull, and we were able to appreciate the view of the town from the hilltop.  After that, we visited a parrot-specialized aviary, and there were some huge exotic specimens there, really beautiful, colourful, and screechy.  After that, the driver suggested returning to Mysore Palace, and it was my turn to function as tour guide.  He tired more and more quickly as the morning progressed, however, sitting down as often as he could.  There's an extra of Mysore Palace taken with today's sunny weather.

After that, back to the hotel and he thought a nap would be sufficient, so I left him and set out again on my own.  I visited the Lalitha Mahal, a palace turned hotel (barely 60 years old and owned by the same owner as Mysore Palace), where they serve the most delicious cake.  After that, a visit to the local market, where this shot was taken.  This young man actually owns the incense shop and makes the incense sticks by himself, too.  He made me a free sample.  Then back to the hotel, and that is when I noticed that things weren't getting better.

At the hospital, we finished everything after about 3 hours -- registration, testing, waiting for the room, settling in.  Then I left for about an hour to go to that restaurant for the dinner gift and they were very sympathetic and hoped to see us another time (they'd even prepared a special dinner, but the travel agency warned them ahead of time that we had problems).  After dinner, back to the hospital, where I hung around till they administered the drip and I knew he was being cared for.  Later on, I had a chat on Messenger with Chamu and promised to update her on his condition.  I also informed his friends.  One by one they are getting on in age and feeling the changes.

THANK YOU ALL for your sympathy and kindness.  I hope to have better news by this time tomorrow.