Goodbye, Dhaka
Well, last Monday, 5 March, we were very excited to be getting out
of Apollo Hospital, Dhaka, Bangladesh, and arrive one step closer to home.
As you all may know, Indian neurosurgeon and physician Dr Chandy
took the passive approach in treating my father in Dhaka. Not electing to
perform urgent decompression surgery due to my father’s respiratory system, he
used medicine to relieve inflammation around the spinal cord’s affected area.
With further time in the hospital and not much improvement in my
dad’s condition, Dr Chandy added insult to injury with terrible bedside
manners, lack of communication and minimal cooperation with overseas doctors.
He finally informed us that he could no longer do anything for my father by way
of physio and treatment, and that in his opinion dad should be moved to CRP, a
rehabilitation centre. Critical time had been wasted.
Fundraising
In the meantime, we were collating quotes for an air ambulance and for
commercial airline flights with a medical team. We not only needed well wishes
and prayers for our father, but financial support.
With the help of our friends back home, a donation site and Facebook
page, fundraising was started through our networks and workplaces — Blackmores
and Sunrice — calling on the goodness of our family, friends, colleagues and
people we’ve never met! We were overwhelmed with the response.
Reaching Bangkok
We finally had decided on a plan (which must be ‘Plan G’ by now
because every other plan was met with either a hurdle or a wall): to travel by
air ambulance to Bangkok, reassess our father, and then hope to be on the first
commercial airline home, accompanied by a medical team.
This was scheduled for Monday afternoon. The discharge seemed like the
easiest thing we had done the whole time we were in Dhaka, probably because I
started the process several hours earlier.
The Medical Wings team was very professional. It used full spinal cord
precautions, something we did not see at Apollo at all. The concern was dad's
respiratory system mid-flight — but he was strong and stable and the only
hiccup was when required oxygen halfway through the 2.5-hour journey. The
medical team was fantastic, and ground transport to Bumrungrad Hospital in Bangkok
was also successful. We had arrived late last Monday night.
And another twist…
Dad had x-rays straight away and the next morning we met with ward
surgeon Dr Sukitti and neurosurgeon Dr Yot. We had initially thought that dad
would be okay to fly from Bangkok to Sydney shortly afterwards, but that was
not to be. The news from the neuorosurgeon was devastating.
He said that our father’s spine was too unstable to allow him to
fly; flying would risk of further damage that could ruin any chance of dad
walking again, and, in a worst case scenario, damage that could halt his
breathing altogether.
This ruined Plan G. We could no longer get dad home as soon a
possible. Taking into account the many risks associated, finally dad decided to
have the surgery here in Bangkok.
The operation
The surgery was scheduled for last Friday. It was a stressful time
for me as I had to organise full payment in advance, otherwise the hospital
warned that the operation would be postponed (I do wonder sometimes about
hospitals and their good faith!).
Friday the 9th of March was also my brother’s birthday. What a
terrible way to spend a birthday. Due to the risks, he was initially devastated
that the operation was going to take place then, but eventually we could only
see this as a good omen.
26 years ago to the day, I was in a waiting room with my father anticipating
Tauseef’s arrival. Now I was waiting for our father to exit the OT
with my brother by my side. A successful operation would be the greatest
present!
With many prayers and well wishes from family and friends on our
side, the four-hour operation was successful.
Dad had an Anterior Corpectomy of the C5 Vertebra (with fusion).
They removed the C5 and calcification build-up to relieve the pressure around
the spinal cord. They then stabilised the spine with titanium mesh, plates,
bolts and calcium. Dr Yot was happy but Dad was in ICU to for two days and
released last night.
The doctors will assess my father today and we hope to have him home
within a week. He has a lot of secretion build-up in his lungs that needs to be
cleared before travel. It is usually a week post-operation before any travel is
possible, but Dad is working hard with the physio to get himself better and make
it on that plane.
Thank you again everyone for all your support — family, friends (Blackmores
and Sunrice) and new friends.
Tan.
P.S Hugs are welcomed when we get home!!!
