Healthcare in today’s time has
become a fundamental right in most countries. Most governments are increasing
their allocation of the budget in providing it to the society. Coming from a
family where being a doctor is a tradition, I am the black sheep who is “the
engineer”! My father often tells me about the times when there weren’t so many
diagnostics lab available as there are today, and testing for symptoms and
diagnosing them was a challenge. All this has changed now.
I remember the time I first heard
about Apollo Hospitals. It was almost 15 years back. My late grandfather had
then suffered a coronary stroke. It was a difficult day for all of us. I for one
only knew that Baba was ill and it was something to do with his heart. My
father, who’s a doctor, had a decision to make, as to where Baba was to be
hospitalised. A decision that he didn’t take long to make- Apollo Hospital was
(and still is) the best when it comes to private medical healthcare. They were
one of the first hospitals in India to offer coronary bypass surgery.
And there we went. I was
obviously left at home. But when I asked, my Dad tried his best to explain the
situation as to what Baba had and how the surgery would be done. It was
complicated. I can still only imagine the complexity and the risks associated
with such a procedure.
A cardiac arrest is caused by
cholesterol deposition on the walls of the arteries. Due to this deposition
there’s congestion and reduced blood flow, which causes the heart to go into overdrive
to maintain proper circulation. The bypass surgery consists of grafting of
veins or arteries from other parts of the body, usually the legs and bypassing
the congestion, thus improving circulation.
I still remember seeing Baba’s
stiches when he came home, they were scary.
Today, yet again Apollo is a
pioneer with the introduction of Minimally Invasive Coronary Artery Surgery. A
fast and elegant approach, where only a 4 cm incision is made. There is no
cutting of bones and only some muscle damage is done. Recuperation time is not
only faster, but with better results than the traditional surgery. You can read
more about it here.
I remember watching those old
movies, how every time, whenever something serious happened to the actor or
someone usually the mother/father of the actor, how they would show that they
went to US for surgery because help wasn’t available locally. No more. And I
believe it’s no longer shown because as it’s no longer relevant to the Indian
sub-context. India now boasts of one of the best medical healthcare facilities
and practices. All this is possible with continued efforts of Apollo Hospitals.
They were here first, the rest simply followed.
Coming back to the title, “How
does Modern Healthcare touch lives?” – Because it matters. It certainly made a
difference to mine, after all it brought my Baba back home healthy.
I normally refrain from writing
blog entries for contests and promotions, but this time it was personal. This
entry is a part of IndiBlogger- Apollo Hospital initiative.
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