By: Rameez Bhat
On 28th May my mother felt intense pain in stomach which was accompanied by vomiting and fever, we rushed to district hospital Baramulla (Upgraded to GMC now) and there she was given medication which somehow subsided her pain for an hour and the symptoms reoccurred. In the mean time I was searching about these symptoms on Internet and found its possible cause to be the calculus accumulated in gallbladder. Next day we consulted another doctor, as we preferred to see him at his private clinic. She was asked to get a bunch of tests done, and the reports were shown to doctor after he prescribed nothing but a pantop like medicine only. To be enough sure about the problem we told the doctor that she has fever and vomits also to which he replied that “this is a common flu”. And this was the point I was more concerned about my mom as I knew this was the symptom of infection.
Without any further delay we took her to the Radiologist to get a USG done. Not to my surprise, the report showed the presence of microliths in GB and two calculi blocking the Common hepatic and bile duct medically termed as cholidocholithiasis. We showed this report to the doctor in GMC Baramulla OPD and he referred the patient for an ERCP procedure to SMHS Srinagar as this facility is not available in GMC Baramulla yet.
I contacted my friend and he too recommended SMHS hospital. Without further delay I shifted my mother to SMHS and she was admitted in emergency ward. My mom was suggested to get another USG done from the hospital. So we headed towards the USG room and the Radiologist present there was Dr Naseer Imtiyaz. He was very humble, caring and concerned.
Upon seeing the USG report , Dr Younus who was in charge of that ward prescribed few more tests including MRCP that provides more detailed images of hepatobiliary and pancreatic systems. Meanwhile the team including Dr Younus, Dr Hashmat, Dr Satbir Singh,Dr Riyan and others treated their patients like their own. They made attendants understand the conditions of their patients. I would like to give a shout out for nurses also. They are doing incredible job. Hats off to them for their work. Meanwhile the regular medication and the good care of nurses made my mother somehow stable. I would like to mention here that the role of nurses can’t be neglected. Some of attendants don’t appreciate their work and misbehave with them. This disheartened me every time I came across this behaviour of attendants. We must give respect to everyone who is working there for us including the gatekeepers.
Getting MRCP done took us three days in the hospital. On the next day doctors were on round and I attached MRCP report with the file. Going through the MRCP report, Dr Younus {Surgeon} along with other senior doctor suggested to undergo surgery: hepaticojejunostomy. Honestly speaking I didn’t want this to happen. And prayer was the only hope for me and my family too because my mom had already undergone 3 surgeries before. Perhaps my prayers worked and we were advised to consult Prof. Dr Iqbal Saleem [Head of Unit] for the final decision. On Tuesday we went to OPD along with Dr Naseer Imtiyaz (One in a million type of friend) and he discussed with Dr Iqbal Saleem about the procedures to be done. Prof Dr Iqbal Saleem directed us to go for ERCP first and said, if that doesn’t work then we will go for surgery. This statement of his gave me a new hope a sigh of relief.
Now we were shifted to ShireenBagh as ERCP is done there only. There Dr Suhail (Gastroenterologist) admitted my mother in the ward and gave the date of ERCP. On Wednesday, we were told to get ERCP kit which costs around 20,000 and thanks to centrally sponsored scheme [PMJAY] that made this kit free of cost.
Waiting for her turn, my mother was all set to go into the lab but she was a bit anxious. Finally a call was given and they took her inside the ERCP lab. This ERCP was done by Dr Majid and his team. It took half an hour only and the door was opened to take her out to the ward bed.
Upon seeing my mom I couldn’t resist and I cried as she had the effect of Anaesthesia which made her a bit unconscious. But I was happy too as the doctor mentioned in the report that multiple stones and sludges were removed, occlusive cholangiogram was normal & CBD was cleared. As we were discharged from the hospital the next day we were also told to do a USG again in order to be sure whether the gallbladder consists of any calculus or is free from it. And to my surprise when USG was done it showed that no calculus is seen in GB/CBD. And I forwarded this report to Dr Suhail who told me that there is no need for any follow up or undergoing any cholecystectomy. And this gave me a new life and I was literally filled up with joy.
I would like to thank all the Doctors who are serving humanity, especially the ones I came across at SMHS Srinagar. Thank you all for being the sympathetic, dedicated, compassionate, concerned and kind doctors! You people always go beyond your comfort zone and work tirelessly for a healthy outcome. Thanking you for your support and care.
ramizspeaks77@gmail.com
