’I got new life in Delhi’

Says a 65-year old patient from Kerala, who, in a path-breaking procedure, had a tumor removed from her food pipe at the Apollo Hospital in the Capital

'I got new life in Delhi'

Says a 65-year old patient from Kerala, who, in a path-breaking procedure, had a tumor removed from her food pipe at the Apollo Hospital in the Capital

Leela Venugopal has nothing but prayers of gratitude for the doctors who gave her a new lease of life.

Suffering from a rare case of tumour in her food pipe (oesophagus), 65-year-old Venugopal from Kerala, had almost lost hope of recovery.

But after a year of suffering, doctors at the Apollo Hospital operated upon her in a path-breaking medical procedure and removed the tumour.

The procedure

Leela's case was a complex one. "Her tumour was very close to a major blood vessel that made it difficult to operate upon," said Dr Arun Prasad, senior consultant, Apollo Surgical Centre, who was a part of the team that treated her.

Interestingly, the doctors opted for the tougher keyhole procedure instead of the traditional open surgery. "We carried out a minimal invasive surgery mostly known as a keyhole procedure.

I have done surgeries near blood vessels so was confident of this one too. It was not an experiment," said Dr Prasad.

The operation was successful and the tumour was removed. Venugopal was discharged after two days and is now on a semi-liquid diet to hasten recovery.

Search for cure

Venugopal was diagnosed with the tumour in her food pipe in November last year after she faced problems in swallowing food.
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"I approached the Co-operative Hospital at Taliparamba, where the doctors referred me to the Medical College in Periyaram for CT scan and gastroenterology.

The doctors said that it was a rare case and could prove fatal for me," Venugopal said.

Finally, after months of looking for a cure, the wife of a former Air Force officer arrived in Delhi with her husband on March 18, 2009.

However, many hospitals in Delhi too, including Sir Ganga Ram, refused to operate upon her tumour. Her case was finally taken up by the doctors at Apollo when she approached the hospital in the first week of May.

"I didn't want to take a chance, so headed to Delhi after speaking to our daughter who resides in the Capital." she added.

Rs 1.5 lakh
Cost incurred for the keyhole surgery

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