My Advisor.....

On Saturday night at 9 PM my advisor, Dr.Njus, fell off a ladder and fractured his skull !!!!!!!!!!!!! Yes, its very unfortunate but right now he is still in the ICU . He has been in the ICU since saturday night and has been in a critical but stable condition. His condition has not improved but Thank God his conditioned has not worsened. I got a call from Dr. Taylor (my Master's advisor) on Sunday afternoon....I was fast asleep as I had not slept the whole night on saturday, I answered the phone in a sleepy tone and once I heard what he said I was wide awake in a shock!!!!! It took sometime for the news to sink in.....I mean I was going to meet him that afternoon to test some samples in the lab......I could not believe that it happened....I told Bhaddhu and he was shocked toooo.....he was Bhaddhu's advisor too when he was in school. Both of us then decided to go to the hospital to see him......Rajesh had met Dr.Taylor in the department and he got the news and I called Dustin, Avinash and Mrityunjay (rest of the lab mates)....to let them know abt the sad news. They were all shocked and didnt know how to react. It was an awkward situation to be in. All of us went to the hospital but we weren't allowed to see him as we got there during the non-visiting hours...we waited for an hour as the visiting hours started from 4:30 PM. We were all very tensed and all we could get from the nurse was that ....."he is still in a critical but stable condition and I cannot give any more information as I am tied down by the HIPAA rules"....the rules forbid the hospital employees to give information regarding the patients to non-family members. THat was very very frustrating as we were probably 30 feet from him but still could not see him.......then at 4:30 Pm we were hoping to go inside and see how he was doing.....the nurse walked in and I had high hopes but she said....

"I just got off the phone with Nina Njus (My advisor's wife, she is a hand surgeon) and she wanted to let us know that she will keep us updated about Dr.Njus's condition." The nurse also told us that we would not be allowed to enter the ICU as he was on a Respirator (external breathing device).....it means he is not able t control his air-ducts.....we knew it at once that he wasnt in a good shape. Then she told us that he wasnt responding to verbal stimulus so they could not allow us to go and see him. I spoke to Dr.Nina Njus later that night and she updated me abt the details of his condition and how he fell.....she said "I wanted him to rest for a while and take a shower as he had been painting the deck all day.....but he would not listen and said that he would take a break in 10 mins....the next thing I know is.....I hear a thud and see Glen (Dr.Njus ) on the floor " she was really brave to keep her compsure and comfort their children. I flet very very sad and I found myself in a helpless position......I mean all of us want to do something for him but we cant do anything......that feeling of helplessness is very frustrating.....

Dr.Njus has been the most encouraging person I have met and he is one of the nicest and the most intelligent guys I have met in my whole life. I mean, he is smart, intelligent and rich.......welll lot of people have these characteristics but what separates him from the others is that......he is nice, kind, understanding, down to earth, sensible, helpful, jovial etc etc.......how many of these characteristics can u see in a single person....thats how wonderful a person he is......the fact that I have already started to miss him tells how much of an influence he has been in my life.....the lab looks completely deserted and empty without him........I feel that the lab is without its life...I still keeep imagining him sitting at his desk (which I hope he soon will). Throughout my time in the lab here (the past 2 years) he has been very helpful and very patient to listen to my ideas abt the project......he was always there when I needed him and guided me through my project, thesis and defence of my thesis like a true advisor should......though he wasnt my advisor officially but I considered him to be my advisor.....he was such a jovial and down to earth person that I could talk abt anything with him....studies, project, cricket (I taught him the rules), racquetball (he always encouraged me to play in tournaments even couple of days before my thesis defence), movies, books, cuisines, restaurants, wildlife, politics, religion etc etc etc......

I hope he gets better soon......its an injury to the brain so its pretty serious and may take a long time to recover....I hope he is out of the ICU soon and is back in the lab ......I miss him a lot...even while writing this blog I see his smiling face (rather smoking and smiling).

I hope all my friends reading this blog will keep him in his prayers...........