BHUBANESWAR: In 2014, Rudan Sanagi of Sarkarai village in a remote part of Keonjhar district began to suffer a tumour growth in his mouth. In only seven years, the tumour took a gigantic shape, weighing 3.5 kg and rendering him incapable of even eating anything.
With intense pain and intermittent severe bleeding from mouth, he was completely debilitated. Unable to take food properly, his body weight and haemoglobin level dropped drastically. The 31-year-old youth got a new lease of life after surgeons at Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery department of SCB Dental College and Hospital at Cuttack removed a huge tumour from his lower jaw.
Head of the ENT department Prof IB Kar said the patient was so thin that his body weight was only around 30 kg and haemoglobin level was five gm per decilitre. "To his misery he was hepatitis B positive. After proper investigations and counselling the patient’s relatives, we decided to go for surgery. A tumour of around 3.5 kg was removed and the area reconstructed with an implant," he said.
Rudan is now recuperating after the surgery that lasted for five and half hours. Superintendent of SCB Medical College and Hospital Prof Lucy Das and Emergency Officer Dr Bhuban Moharana extended all logistic support and the patient was covered under the BSKY scheme.
"The youth is recovering well after he was discharged on January 14. He might need a few more surgeries in future to improve his facial aesthetics and functions," said Prof Kar, who led the team comprising Dr Niranjan Mishra, Dr Dipti, Dr Pratikshya, Dr Monika, and anesthesists Dr Chitaranjan Panigrahi and Dr Manisha.
However, the fact that the youth could not access healthcare despite suffering from such a visible condition which can be treated easily, raises serious questions about the talls claims of the government of ensuring healthcare services to all.
Despite having ASHAs and anganwadi workers on ground to assist people in need of medical aid, such a glaring case went undetected for years together. Fortunately for him, members of a voluntary organisation PARIJATAM noticed his condition and brought him to Acharya Harihar PG Institute of Cancer from where he was referred to the SCB.