The digital age has arrived, but as we restrict our thinking to recent innovations such as whats app, viber or the trendy e commerce sites, there is another angle that helps the ailing connect with the best medical experts in India. For Sovia Sumrin Choudhary, 21 yrs old medical student for Bangladesh, Google is responsible for giving her a second lease of life.
Sovia suffered from a seizure in her sleep a few weeks back. She refuted the first one as episodic, however when the seizures happened 4 times in a week she knew that something was not right. The family consulted a local doctor in Bangladesh and the CT Scan highlighted a ‘Deep Seated Brain Tumor – Glioma- at the mortor cortex’. Medically called as Low Grade Gliomas or deep seated brain tumors , they are characterized with small size but are at the same time deeply embedded in the brain. Operating them is difficult and requires exceptional precision. The doctors in Bangladesh suggested radiotherapy and shared that radiation can harm her in many ways. Taking the recommendations of the local doctors, Sovia and her family members started to google neurosurgeons for a second opinion.
“I saw the success stories of Dr VS Mehta and his credentials. Just as I shared his name with the local doctors, all supported my decision of contacting him,” shares Sovia. According to Sovia’s mother, “ We had just lost Sovia’s father a few months back. The news that your daughter is suffering from brain tumor was a major blow. We didn’t want to leave any stone unturned to ensure that that she receives the best care.”
According to Dr (Prof) VS Mehta, Padamshree, Director Neurosciences, Paras Hospitals, Gurgaon, “Sovia was suffering from typical low grade glioma. The most common symptom caused by low grade gliomas are seizures. These can be small seizures that you barely notice, resulting in unusual smells, funny feelings in your stomach or brief spells that you can’t explain. Low grade gliomas can also result in larger seizures that affect your ability to talk or lead to shaking movements of your arms and legs. Low grade gliomas are usually treated with a combination of surgery, observation, and radiation. If the tumor is located in an area where it is safe to remove, then the neurosurgeon will attempt to remove as much as possible. Sovia could be treated with surgery, but the case was complex as the tumor was located near the motor cortex. Any error could result in paralysis or a lifelong complication for the patient affecting her mobility. We used the specialised image guided brain tumor navigation surgery – a specialised technology that provides the surgeon live images of the brain during surgery. Through this technology we can attain zero human error. The technology complemented the exceptional precision and care required in the surgery. Her surgery lasted a few hours and we were successful in excising the entire tumor from the brain.”
Paras Gurgaon is the first private in Delhi NCR to have the the specialised image guided brain tumor navigation surgery technology.
Scheduled to be discharged, Sovia was also honoured with the presence of the High Commissioner of Bangladesh, Mr Syed Muazzem Ali. Set to return back to her roots, Sovia is all excited to go back to her studies. She says shyly, “ My condition was responsible for inspiring me. I had the pleasure to meet one of the best neurosurgeons in India. The conversations with Dr Mehta made me realise that more than words, your actions make you great. My travel has motivated me to be like him. They say medicine is like practicing compassion, with Dr Mehta, I practically experienced it.”
