Mumbai: Baby Eliza's condition worsens, but hospital refuses admission

For Baby Elizas parents it was a doctor at Cooper hospital who gave them hope after he promised to treat the fourmonthold free of charge And yet it was the same hospital that dashed this hope yesterday after refusing to admit the child for an urgent procedureThis paper had earlier reported how the infant is suffering from hydrocephalus as a result of a premature birth under the stressful circumstances Her father Anand Waghmare is employed with Air India which is allegedly harassing him for being a whistleblower Consulting neurosurgeon Dr Shashank Joshi offered to treat the child for free after reading of their plight in this paperAn emotional Anand said On Friday we consulted Dr Joshi He advised to carry out the procedure urgently He asked us to hospitalise Eliza on Saturday Accordingly we went to the hospital at 845 am to complete the formalitiesAnand and Jayanti with Eliza at Cooper hospitalBut four hours later they were turned away Anand recalled We had completed all the required formalities and were directed to paediatric ward no 16 But the onduty paediatrician refused to admit Eliza stating that they had not been intimated about the patient in advance and that they had no vacant beds in the PICUAfter some time a neurosurgeon arrived to explain to the onduty paediatricians why Eliza needed to be admitted but the request was still not accepted Dr Joshi advised us to return on Monday said Anand adding We are keeping our fingers crossed as the doctors are doing their best at Cooper Had Eliza been admitted today the surgical procedure would have been done on Monday which would have given some relief to her The circumference of her head is around 46 cm even after removing over 40 ml of CFS by tapping her brain twiceOn Monday the doctor was to insert an Ommaya reservoir an intraventricular catheter system that can be used for the aspiration of cerebrospinal fluid or CSF as a temporary measure to reduce the CSF accumulation in her brain A more permanent solution is to insert a shunt to reroute the CSF flow However a recent test report of CSF showed high protein levels over 400 milligrams per decilitre mgdL Doctors want to bring this down to 100 mgdL before inserting the shuntRisk of permanent damageAnand added We have seen Elizas MRI and it clearly shows that her brain is compressed and the entire head is filled with CSF If her situation remains the same it will cause severe neurological damage to her foreverMeanwhile help continued to pour in for the family as they received a cheque of Rs 52500 from the Aviation Association South Region So far the family has received over R2 lakh in financial assistanceHowever the AIESL Air India Engineering Services Limited has not paid Anand his salary till date A senior management member of AIES from Delhi said Directives have been given to the personnel department in Nagpur to carry out certain measures in this matter Also the committee has completed their preliminary inquiry and they have made certain recommendations that are being looked into I will be in a position to give details early next weekWill admit on MondayDr Joshi said We have been draining the excess fluid every second or third day We have also received reports from KEM hospital and luckily there is no infection in the CSF that was tested which is a good signHe added The size reduces after tapping but increases again as the fluid accumulates Therefore we decided to do the Ommaya reservoir insertion on Monday I will ensure that the child is admitted on Monday After completing all the preprocedural tests we will take the child for Ommaya insertion on WednesdayA few minutes later he said We have contacted the patients family and they are on their way to the hospital We are admitting the child Anand confirmed that the hospital had contacted him but that he would take Eliza to the hospital on MondayDr Ganesh Shinde hospital dean and incharge of Cooper hospital said If the child is brought now Saturday evening I will ensure she is admitted If they come on Monday as well the needful will be doneAlso Read Mumbai After Emergency Procedure Help Pours In For Baby Eliza Who Is Battling Rare ConditionCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates