A disillusioned Bengali youngster got a new lease of life after he received free Cancer treatment in Hyderabad, thanks to Helping Hand Foundation and Osmania General Hospital.
Press Release, December 27: Hyderabad is known for its hospitality, its food and monuments – history is replete with history of travellers coming to Hyderabad and being bowled over by its beauty. But here is a case of a young man who comes to the city for treatment and once cured doesn’t have the heart to go back. Yes Bhaskar has fallen in love with Hyderabad – the place which gave him back his health & Happiness. He has no words to thank the hospitality he received here , the affection shown by people and off course the treatment he got for his dreaded cancer
Bhaskar Mahalanbish is a 22 years young man from Cooch Behar, North Bengal, who completed his BCA earlier this year. Bhaskar was diagnosed with Mediastinal germ cell tumor a type of Cancer effecting the chest cavity, eight months back and due to lack of facilities available in Cooch Behar & the poor economic conditions of the family, they started looking for Cancer treatment & philanthropic channels for support.
At this point, Bhaskar googled & came across the website of Helping Hand Foundation & learnt about the Cancer Support program of HHF and came down to Hyderabad to meet us. He was evaluated by our panel Medical Oncologists and recommended to undergo six cycles of chemotherapy as the first line of treatment said Mr Mujtaba Hasan Askari, President of HHF.
The chemotherapy regime was completed last month and radiological imaging showed no evidence of the tumor mass reducing in size and on the contrary the tumor increased in size, this was very shocking for the family and the doctors treating him at a reputed Cancer hospital in Hyderabad.
The doctors opined that he must be considered for a surgery to remove the Mediastinal tumor immediately but in the same breadth they said, they would not be in a position to do the surgery as the tumor mass has cardiac involvement and was highly risk surgery and advised that this is best done in a corporate hospital under a good cardio thoracic surgeon.
Bhaskar was then referred to a new corporate hospital in Banjara Hills and after a very quick evaluation the CT surgeon in the corporate hospital explained the high risk in doing this surgery and also informed that the surgery would cost Rs 5.5 lacs.
The family was shattered with this news, first the high risk and chances of death and second the huge cost.
Bhaskar ‘s father who is a retired Bhutan Tourism clerk and mother who is teacher of music, with their live time savings had managed to build a small house in Cooch Behar and the only recourse they had to sell this house and arrange the money for this surgery. But given the urgency this was a tall ask.
At this point, Mr. Mujtaba Askari of HHF contacted Dr. C. G. Raghuram former Superintendent of OGH & explained the case and he immediately asked him to get the case across to OGH – Cardio Vascular and Thoracic Department.
Bhaskar was moved to OGH and was instantly evaluated by a panel of radiologist & CT Surgeons – it was decided the Bhaskar will be posted for the surgery the very next day after the pre anaesthesia check up.
Last week Bhaskar was operated by Dr. G. Srinivas, HOD Cardio Thoracic Dept at OGH under the guidance of Dr. C.G. Raghuram HOD Anaesthesia. In a marathon six hour surgery the doctors successfully removed 98% of the Mediastinal Mass.
This surgery was highly complex according to Dr. G. Srinivas, the head of CT Surgery at OGH – the Mediastinal tumor has penetrated and compressed the left lung leading to left lung collapse and then it extended into the pericardium a thin layer encompassing the heart and a portion of it was also attached to the membrane of the heart.
Cutting through this was extremely challenging and risky as the chances of the blood vessels rupturing was very high but with about 2000 plus cardiac & open heart surgeries behind in a career spanning 20 years at OGH – Dr. G. Srinivas was the right man for this job.
He flawlessly & patiently carried out the surgery to remove the entire tumor mass.
Another major complication and challenge from Anaesthesia stand point was that his Superior Vena Cava & the wind pipe was occluded by the tumor mass and Dr Raghuram, who was at the centre of action administered the anaesthesia from the inferior vena cava that is from the blood vessels in the lower limb distribution.
At the end of the day Bhaskar life was saved & 98% of tumor mass which would have led to his lung & heart failure was successfully removed by the OGH team of doctors. The Biopsy has now confirmed the tumor mass is benign and Bhaskar is disease free.
Bhaskar is now recuperating in OGH Cardiac ICU completely relaxed & now has fallen in love with Hyderabad – he now wants to do a course in Tourism and settle down in Hyderabad – he will be discharged in the next few days – Thus OGH not only saved a young life but also helped a family from the brink of financial disaster