COMPASSION is contagious too...

There were no Skype or conference call facilities available then. Technical experts used to travel all the way to Madras to inspect and train MRF employees. In 1981, Mr. Stetson a senior American engineer arrived in Madras for this purpose.  During his stay, he suddenly experienced severe chest pain and breathing problems in the middle of the night when he was staying at the MRF Guest House at Anderson Road from where he was shifted to Railway Hospital in an old standard 20 van converted ambulance at 11 pm.  The US Consul General who was a good acquaintance of mine and Dr. T.J. Cherian, immediately decided to rush the engineer to the Railway Hospital for this emergency. He was brought in a very critical condition and was diagnosed with having acute pulmonary embolism, where the pulmonary artery is blocked with a clot and almost 90% of such cases are fatal.  The patient’s condition was deteriorating rapidly. The only remedy was to remove the clot from the pulmonary artery using a heart-lung machine.  Removal of the clot was unheard of in India at that time and had never been attempted in this country. An American citizen admitted by MRF added to the complications and confusion. 

However, a decision had to be made and I was convinced that this was the only solution. I convinced everyone and began the surgery. I proceeded to do pulmonary embolectomy, by way of a procedure known as the Trendelenburg Operation, named after the surgeon who described it. (In March 1924, Kirschner Trendelenburg’s pupil reported the first successful outcome).  In this procedure, instead of using a heart-lung machine, blood supply to and from the heart is blocked by a technique known as Inflow Occlusion.  This inflow occlusion should not be prolonged beyond 3 minutes.  After a very meticulous 3-minute procedure, we were lucky that we could remove a huge clot from the main pulmonary artery and both the branches; the patient made an uneventful recovery. 

After a year, I happened to visit my friend Dr. Abraham K, a practicing surgeon in a place called Loudonville, a small town hardly 10 miles from Mansfield.  Dr. Abraham knew about this case. As both he and Mr. Stetson were members of the Lions Club, he informed Mr. Stetson about my visit.  I was invited over to have tea with him in his house but was surprised to see that he had called for a Press Meet as well.  The next day, all the newspapers carried my photo along with Mr. Stetson’s with a caption, ‘Around the World to visit an Old Patient’. I see a commonality everywhere.  

Love and kindness is always contagious.  Once we pass it on to someone, it boomerangs and reaches the origin.  There are many such instances of this- a patient donated a part of his estate in London to my Charity Trust, Mr. Stetson honoured me in his community in his hometown and a young man, an auto rickshaw driver, wanted my presence at his wedding (he refused to tie the knot otherwise.). This satisfaction is addictive to me.  I consider this more ‘soul satisfying’ than practicing advanced robotic surgery.  I touch and feel, and the tactile sensation at my finger tips is more thrilling than a million pounds…..