Bengaluru: All I wanted was to see my father alive, says 54-year-old son

Bengaluru: “All I wanted was to see my father alive; I was willing to bear the cost no matter what. He has sacrificed so much for me that I can't let him go,” says 54-year-old Ramesh from Mysuru who, when he learned that his father required immediate heart surgery, been running from pillar-to-post to get him the best treatment.

87-year-old Subba Rao was out for a walk in the park when he found he couldn’t breathe. He fainted and was rushed to a nearby hospital, where doctors found an impediment in his aortic valve.

Ramesh took his father to Fortis Hospital on Cunningham Road, where a team of cardiac surgeons and anesthetists under the leadership of Dr Vivek Jawali, Chairman, Department Of Cardio-Vascular Science, performed a rare procedure called TAVR (Trans-catheter Aortic Valve Replacement). The surgery gave Subba Rao a new lease on life.

This rare procedure was performed in under an hour, successfully treating a severe and otherwise inoperable condition in the patient’s heart. In contrast to a regular procedure which takes several hours and requires a prolonged hospital stay, their novel technique had the operation completed in a fraction of that time, with the patient being discharged in five days.

“It is a technologically advanced procedure with a multi-disciplinary team of cardiac specialists.  Our hospital is one of the few in the State with the medical expertise to perform such a complex procedure,” said Dr Vivek Jawali, Chairman, Dept. Of Cardio-Vascular Science, Fortis Hospitals, Bangalore. “My son’s assurances gave me the courage to undergo the operation. The rest, I left to the doctors and to God,” says Rao.

Speaking about the surgery, Dr Gopi, Consultant Interventional Cardiologist at Fortis Hospitals, Cunningham Road, said, “Subba Rao was wheeled into the cath-lab on the day of the operation. After anesthesia was given, a small incision was made on the groin and a valve, mounted on a wire. was inserted into the artery of his leg. This valve was then deployed on the diseased aortic valve in the heart. The patient was able to move around without too much effort, one day after the surgery. Such procedures are very effective as the recovery is fast and the success rate very high.”

Subba Rao, who was discharged five days after surgery, is recouping well. His family has found new hope too and are eagerly tracking his rapid recovery. “We are so happy to see him back on his feet as we had lost all hope at one time,” said Subba Rao’s son Ramesh.