Mumbai: Declared dead on social media, doctor recovers from COVID-19

Declared dead by the social media a doctor residing in the western suburbs has come back to life having successfully recovered from COVID19 after a nearly threeweek battle with the virus While doctors fought to save him his family had to deal with the flood of condolence messagesThe ordeal for the Shenoy family from Santacruz started on the evening of May 28 when 62yearold Dr Vasant Shenoy tested himself for oxygen levels and found them to be alarmingly low Dr Shenoy is considered as one of the highest qualified general practitioners in the cityI was totally fine but to get a second opinion I called up a few of my doctor friends They all told me to not worry My friend Dr Abhishek Bhargav diagnosed a suspected Happy Hypoxia mdash a rare and deadly form of COVID19 where a patient displays zero symptoms Dr Bhargav advised me to rush to the nearest speciality hospital said Dr ShenoyThe next threeandahalf hours were a frenzy of calling hospitals and trying to find a bed for Dr Shenoy his wife and daughter Panicked Dr Shenoy then messaged local MLA Ameet Satam for help Satam arranged for a BMC ambulance and a hospital bed within halfanhour at Brahma Kumaris Global Hospital amp Research Centre Andheri WestI can only imagine the plight of the common man My wife and daughters both being doctors were left to making frantic calls to find a hospital bed and I a doctor with over 40 years of experience and a former president and secretary of the Indian Medical Association could not do anything either Soon rumours of my demise started spreading and people started pouring in condolences on social media adding to my familys mental trauma Dr Shenoy saidDr Shenoys daughter Dr Priyanka later had to send a message to everyone informing about his health As you all know my father Dr Vasant Shenoy has been admitted in the hospital As of now he is stable and responding well to treatment At no point was he on a ventilator since everybody has been assuming this the message read When Dr Shenoy switched on his mobile phone after his hospital stay he too received several condolence messagesRushed to the ICU after the primary tests the doctors prescribed an urgent course of five injections of the drug Tocilizumab Five doses of the drug are given intravenously through saline over a period of one hour This is to avoid a critical situation called Acute Respiratory Distress SyndromeHowever there was no stock of the drug available and the family had to once again call Satam for help He managed to get hold of a chemist in Ghatkopar who delivered the medicine worth nearly R35000 for a full doseDuring my stay I witnessed Dr Girish Vadgaonkar the ICU incharge and Dr Jevdan Motlekar both managing a team of medical professionals who were diligently working in double shifts since four of their own were down with COVID19 said Dr Shenoy Back from the hospital on June 17 he has been advised bed rest at home He wants to resume his practice at the earliestCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and a complete guide from food to things to do and events across Mumbai Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest news