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Is it time to do our bit for the wheelchair bound ?

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As it is life is hard sometimes. It is harder when you are responsible completely for a person bound to the wheelchair. It is hardest when you are doing it all alone.

Its blessing to be normal and this cannot be proven more when we see someone who is strapped to the wheels for life. Has anyone ever imagined what the life of the person behind the wheels is? It is usually a spouse, parent or a sibling whose selfless effort goes unnoticed. A typical day begins and ends with the person to be cared for. Every day is a typical day. And there are no breaks for the nights. The nights are on – call. So, if you really look at it, it is 24×7. Affording a full time help is out of dreaming options for many people.

In India, unfortunately and sadly there is nothing that will make the lives of these care takers any better. More so if you are not one of the rich. If it’s a husband-wife duo, there is not one place that they can go to other than  the hospital. Don’t they deserve to enjoy the rich natural heritage our country has blessed upon us? Not a single ramp for wheel chairs in any public places. Why can’t they enjoy a cup of coffee at a coffee bar? Because there are no vehicles that can take them there. Getting in and out of a sedan is a daunting task. No buses are equipped to house a wheelchair. So, can we imagine a day without stepping out of our homes?  These people are never going out. Not for coffee, not to the religious places of worship for inner peace, not to attend any family events, not for anything. I always thought that being amidst nature helped us grow spiritually and it gave me immense joy. I never thought that someone who is taking care of a special needs person needs it more than me. Not just the caretaker but the patient needs it too. All the more. When things are not going right for them they need to derive strength from some place and what better than nature to give them that strength they much need?

I wished for the sake of these people that our country became more friendly to such people so that the care givers can continue giving selfless love and support to their loved ones. Small changes in our society can make life changing changes to these lives. They are living too,remember? But rather a cursed life. A book club where a small book is read, a park where the children can play and watch other children or a ramp to a coffee place can make wonders. Let’s make someone’s life worthwhile. Let’s make a better India.

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A life-saving device in singapore help end-stage heart failure patients stay fit for a transplant until healthy organ is available

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Left Ventricular Assiste Device (LVAD) in singapore help end-stage heart failure patients stay fit for a transplant until healthy organ is available.
It is an implanted mechanical-pump that can mean the difference between life and death for a person whose heart is too weak to effectively pump on its own.
“When there’s a failure in the heart’s left ventricular chamber, the device aims to assist its main function to pump the blood through out the body without any obstruction” said Dr. Lim Chong Hee, a cardiothoracic surgeon at mount elizabeth hospitals in singapore.
restricted supply of oxygenated-blood flow to the body from the heart due to left ventricular failure increase the risks of damaging other organs as well, explained Dr. Lim.
Eventually, this condition may lead to total heart failure or death.

Multple uses of LVAD
An LVAD can be used either as temporary or a permanent solution to sustain the cardiac muscles. Some patients may need it until they fully recover or a heart is available for transplant, while others have to keep it for life.
“The LVAD briefly restores the heart function,which gives time for the body to reverse any organ damages, allowing the patient to go for a transplant in a better shape” explained Dr. Lim.
He also recommended implanting LVAD transitorily to recover from various treatable cardiac conditions, such as viral infections.
“While the patient is undergoing therapy, the LVAD will assist the heart function for a period of time until it significantly improves & is able to effectively do its job, then the LVAD pump can be removed,” he said.
In some cases, terminally ill patients who are ineligible for a heart transplant can permanently use an LVAD, which improves their survival odds.
Some studies have revealed that using a permanent LVAD device doubled the one- year survival rate of the patients with end-stage heart failure if compared with drug treatments alone.
On top of that, LVADs can be implanted in young patients as well.
For example, one of Dr. Lim’s youngest patients was an 11-year-old boy who flew in from malaysia on the verge of losing his life from heart failure. His chances of recovery were very slim until Dr. Lim was able to implant an LVAD. After weeks, he recovered & was able to return home.
However, some patients are too young to receive an LVAD because of their limited chest size, so the device has to be implanted externally, forcing patients to be hospitalised until the pump can be removed.

How the procedure works
The device is attached to left ventricular chamber in order to pump blood to the heart’s main artery known as aorta – through an open heart surgery.
This device will have a small wire that passes through the abdominal wall & is attached to an external computer controller, a batter & another reserve pack.
Dr. Lim explained that the controller provides energy to the device through the wire & is used to maintain the pumping speed in the heart. It also records data to help monitor the device’s behaviour.
Patients are required to wear these external units at all times, sometimes on a belt or harness, outside the body. the bayyery has to be recharged everyday.
“Unfortunately, technology has not advanced yet to the points where all the units of an LVAD can be implanted inside the body,” acknowledged Dr. Lim.

Post-op recovery
A patient’s recovery prospect depends on the individual’s overall health conditions before entring the operating theatre, according to Dr. Lim.
“LVAD mainly protects the heart function, so patients with other health issues like kidney or liver failure face an increased risk of complications & a longer recovery time,” he said.
Most patients are required to stay in the hospital for a minimum of two weeks to recover from the surgery, while being closely monitered for potential health risks associated with the organ failures.
Before leaving the hospital, patients & their caregivers are trained to recognise any circumstances that may pose a concern at home like low blood flow or any signs of infections. Also, both caregivers & patients must learn how to clean the device.
“As you get it, you can do normal activities like driving or light sports,” explained Dr. Lim.

Source: Global Health magazine – Parkway hospitals singapore special edition

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A journey from death to life

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Life was a dream for Amit Vaidya, who soared high financially and professionally till he was diagnosed with cancer when he was 27
Amit Vaidya lived the American dream. A Gujarati, born and brought up in the US, with a Ph.D. in economics, he worked in the entertainment industry’s business department. “It was an active but not a healthy lifestyle as I was an overachiever,” says Amit. His dreams “were shattered” when a few months after his father’s death he was diagnosed with first stage gastric cancer. “The fall was great as I had risen to great heights when I was 27.”

Opting not to do surgery, he went in for “aggressive chemo radiation” in New York. Two years later he went into remission. Within two months of his recovery, his mother was diagnosed with grade three brain tumour. “Nothing worked and I lost her too. Away in a foreign land, being the only child, I felt lonely and a scan showed my cancer had returned after 18 months. This time it showed up in my liver. Nine months later, in 2011, reports showed I was not responding to treatment and the cancer had spread to my lungs too,” he says emotionally.

Doctors told Amit that his life too was just a matter of time. “Not wanting to burden my friends, I started planning my funeral. Facing death was not frightening as I had seen death in its face. Seeing the grace with which my mother let go of her life, gave me the courage to accept death. In a cinematic way, I was excited that I would be reunited with my parents. I got on a self destructive path as I had nothing to live for,” says Amit.

He started “micromanaging his last moments and his funeral. “I also wanted to come to India once. Being a Bollywood junkie I wanted that cinematic touch of meeting my extended family here before my death.”

Soon he planned a trip to India. “Part of me thought I would die even before my feet touched the ground. There was some irony in the fact that my parents born here made US their home and died there. And, I, who lived there, would come to India and die here. It was like a full circle.”

The meeting with his relatives was “emotional”, but as “they had their own challenges, they were aghast when they discovered that I was critically ill. Doors were shut. I was again all by myself,” recalls a shattered Amit.

“When I lived in Delhi with a friend I was told about alternative therapies. Their love and care for me made me greedy again for life. An aunt also told me about an Ayurvedic hospital in Gujarat that claims to cure cancer in 11 days for just a rupee! Having nothing to lose I wanted to give it a shot.”

So off he went and explains that the treatment was disciplined with yoga, meditation and he was made to drink a mix of “desi cow milk, curd, ghee and gobar, go-mutra. I was to drink it on an empty stomach. For years everything tasted like saw dust because of the chemo. It was easy to drink something that smelled and tasted as it should. Others there were traumatised by this. I kept faith and did it diligently. I saw no change but felt no worse either.”

Scans showed that the cancer “had not spread”. Amit then went back to the hospital and lived there for another 40 days. Reports showed the cancer had decreased. “Wanting to continue the therapy,” Amit stayed with a farmer, who opened his house to Amit. “He offered me a tiny shack on his farm, a cot, a goshala with desi cows, a well and a toilet. I continued the therapy and after months was able to walk. Over time, walks became jogs, jogs became runs and I started finding joy in my mind. The villagers had time for me, which was the best gift I got, especially when I needed time to heal.”

After 18 months Amit claims he is cancer free and decided “on planning to live his life instead of planning a funeral. I now talk to people about my journey and that healing is possible. I make time to spend with cancer patients. It is all free. I have started an NGO called Healing Vaidya.”

He does not plan on going back to the US as “this country has given me much. I have learnt that people here don’t value what it can offer.”

Amit has written Holy Cancer – How A Cow Saved My Life , (Aditya Prakashan, Rs. 495) which was launched in the city recently. The book is available in book stores. For more log on to healingvaidya.org

Facing death was not frightening as I had seen its face. Seeing the grace with which my mother let go of her life, gave me courage.

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-metroplus/a-journey-from-death-to-life/article7558731.ece

(Picture for representation)

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