HYDERABAD: Covid-19 has hit each one of us badly, but the worst affected has been the medical fraternity. Doctors, nurses, paramedics and support staff at hospitals have been waking up every day for nearly three years straight to attend to patients, risking their own lives and that of their families.
While the first wave saw panic, the second saw death from close quarters and the third has been relatively less dangerous and somewhat under control. As this wave seems to be waning, doctors in the city share some heart-warming and wrenching stories from the last two years
Dr N Apoorva Reddy,
Consultant ENT head and neck surgeon, Kamineni Hospitals
Dr Apoorva can never forget her 86-year-old patient, whose problems kept mounting with each passing day. “The unprecedented pandemic posed an unforeseen challenge before us all. I particularly recall an 86-year-old man, who had severe breathing difficulty (stridor). He had to undergo an immediate tracheostomy.
There wasn’t any time to get the required tests done and no Covid test was done prior to this. Following the surgery, we ran all tests and he was diagnosed with stage-IV throat cancer and also tested positive for Covid-19.” Her patient had to undergo a major surgery for the removal of the vocal cord cancer. He was unfit for chemotherapy and the tumour spread was such that it would be a poor responder to radiation therapy.
Also, the patient was a smoker since 40 years and was suffering from COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease). “Many hopes were lost, but before everybody could give up, despite all the risks involved, the surgery was a success. The patient now lives a cancer-free life and can eat well. He is currently undergoing voice rehabilitation,” she says.
Dr Apoorva Munigela,
Consultant physician at AIG Hospitals
Dr Munigela recounts how horrifying the second wave was, with panic admission happening. “People didn’t know where to get authentic information from. Not to forget, those in the know were calling us up and reserving beds for themselves. Karyakartas would call us up, recommending whom to give beds to. Suddenly, we were answerable to everybody.
Thankfully, awareness has made things a lot easier today,” she says. She recalls this one request from a mother-daughter duo, which was ridiculous. “They had rejected a bed we had given them after great difficulty because the bed and room number weren’t matching their numerology!” While she laughs at it today, she says she can never forget receiving such weird requests.
Dr Viswesvaran Balasubramanian,
Senior interventional pulmonologist and sleep medicine specialist, Yashoda Hospitals, Malakpet
Dr Viswesvaran can’t get over this one patient he had treated during the second wave -- a professional bodybuilder. “He had contracted the deadly Delta strain. Within a couple of days, he was admitted to a hospital elsewhere with respiratory failure. Despite having no comorbidities, his condition worsened rapidly and he was put on mechanical ventilator. That is when we received a call from actor Sonu Sood for transferring him to our hospital for advanced healthcare. We put him up in the ICU and on ventilator support. He was harbouring multiple secondary infections,” he recalls.
However, the doc and others at the hospital were optimistic and decided to take the challenge head on. Almost after a month of round-the-clock intense and dedicated efforts, the patient started showing signs of recovery. “We were happy to see him walk on his own, without oxygen assistance. What had started as a patient-doctor relationship turned into a relationship of gratitude and happiness with him and his family. He is back to his bodybuilding routine, defying all odds!”
Dr Jagadeesh Kumar V,
Senior consultant physician, KIMS Hospitals
Dr Jagadeesh recalls a rewarding experience. “One busy day, after the usual hectic morning rounds and detailed counselling of all the in-patients, I came down to the out-patient room to decongest the OP cluster. I noticed a tall, young gentleman waiting with a bouquet of flowers and a box of sweets. He was in no hurry, sitting patiently for his turn.” This got the doc curious and he asked him whom he was waiting for. “His eyes lit up as he said that he was looking for me.
The man had contracted Covid sometime ago and was wheeled into our Emergency. He had an oxygen requirement of 15 litres and was in hospital for 23 days, of which 17 he spent on ventilator. Today, he is healthy and happy,” he says. He had landed up at the hospital recently on his birthday to meet his doc. “He took a birthday selfie with me. That was one of my proudest moments as a doctor.”
Dr Mahboob Khan,
Superintendent of Government General and Chest Hospital
Dr Mahboob shares several instances from a time when multiple deaths within hours scared every doctor. “One day, we saw 18 people lose their lives and we went home dreading the next day. It took us a while to understand how it was not us and we boosted each other’s morale. This was when nobody knew what was happening.
There was this 30-year-old jovial gentleman, who developed motions and vomiting suddenly in the middle of his cricket game. His friend had brought him to hospital and we were all so sure that he’s take some medication and leave.” But little did they know that we would breathe his last an hour later. “We were fortunate to have patients who respected our profession and trusted us with their lives. We had patients who recovered, came back and donated funds too. We received some letters of appreciation and were felicitated. It feels nice to know people remember the face behind this mask,” he says.