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On the 13th
of March I had a BHR done in Chennai by Dr. Bose. I would like to give feedback regarding my observations and experiences
while there.
I left Cincinnati, OH on 3-7, arrived Chennai, India 3-9. I flew
business class and cannot imagine anyone doing otherwise. I would
highly encourage anyone with the means to do so to fly business class.
I entered Apollo Specialty Hospital on 3-12, a day before surgery.
They ran a series of tests, EKG, blood, urine analysis, etc. I spoke
briefly with Dr. Bose and some of the other doctors who are part of
the team.
The following morning, bright and early, I was greeted by the nurses
and wheeled off to the surgery room. You are set aside to rest
quietly until they are ready to bring you in. When things are ready
they bring you in and lift you on to the surgery table. What will
strike you is the temperature, which is quite cool, perhaps 62
degrees or so.
They will ask you a couple of questions, "William, how are you
feeling?" "Are you comfortable?" and then they will begin a brief
conversation with you. This will only last a few seconds. The next
thing you know you will be in the recovery room. You will hear
sounds and probably attempt to say something but not much else. For
me, I had a slight sensation of choking. I do not know whether I
still had a tube in my throat or whether it was simply a matter of
being unable to swallow. Either way, I was mentally prepared for it
since my father, who had been operated on by Bose about a year
earlier, had prepared me for this sensation. You should be equally
prepared. It made a big difference for me. I did not panic and the
discomfort passed fairly quickly.
You are then taken back to your room to rest. An IV is placed in
your arm which gives you a constant stream of pain killer.
Surprisingly, there is not much discomfort, given the seriousness of
the operation. Don't misunderstand me. You will feel pain and there
will be discomfort but it will not be unbearable or excruciating.
The IV becomes more painful as the week goes on, with a slight
burning sensation when they add new pain killer that intensifies over
time. If it becomes too painful they can insert another IV in
another location.
You will receive constant monitoring by the nursing and support
staff. I had heard rave reviews about the nurses, how superior they
were to American hospitals, etc. My take is a bit different. Labor
is one of the cheapest commodities in India. Therefore, unlike the
US and the West, there are plenty of nurses to take care of your
needs. However, like anywhere else in the world, there were some
good ones and there were some bad ones. VG was exceptional. Another
young nurse seemed to drop every pill and syringe she gave me. On
one visit she dropped whatever it was she was giving me 3 times.
The food is good, adequate. You have a choice between Indian or
Western. The meats are prepared differently, even if you make the
Western selection. For example, if you order fish you will receive a
slice of fish with bones left in it. You must be very careful to
pick through the fish so as not to choke on the small bones. I would
recommend the Indian dishes as there seems to be greater attention
given to their preparation. You can get as much fruit and juices as
you want. Their sweet lime juice is a fresh squeezed juice made from
a local lime that is sweeter and mellower than ours. This is quite
good.
As the week rolls on you will become anxious to get out of the
hospital and into your hotel. There are a couple of reasons for
this. The new Platinum Wing has nice big windows in each room that
look out on to Chennai from the hospital's 4th floor. The only
problem is the windows are not sealed, so it sounds like the Indy 500
is going on outside your window about 20 hours out of the day. This
was a big deal to me since the noise kept me awake. I spoke with
another person who had entered a week prior to me and he felt the
same way. You are also awakened by the staff each morning around 6AM
and sometimes throughout the night. It is a nice change when you are
able to sleep through the night undisturbed once you are in the
hotel. I was told by Dr. Bose that they had received feedback
regarding the windows and the noise and they would be taking care of
that. The sooner, the better. Also, because it is a newer wing,
there is the sound of constant working, pounding, banging, etc. as
workers prepare additional rooms for use. It all seems a bit
incongruous for a hospital but it is the way things are in India.
I stayed at the Residency Towers prior to admittance into the
hospital and then again once I was released. Most of the people I
spoke to stayed at a beach resort when they left the hospital. My
folks had stayed at Fisherman's Cove. Another person I met with
stayed at the Ideal Beach Resort. I visited both prior to going into
the hospital. I had reservations to stay at the Ideal Beach Resort
but decided to return to the Residency Towers once I had a chance to
visit both beach resorts. Both are located in the same area and are
a long way from Chennai and the airport. I decided to return to
Residency Towers since I wanted to be close to the hospital and see
some of Chennai. If you decide to stay at the Residency Towers you
will want to request a room in a particular part of the hotel. First
of all, you will want to be on floors 14 through 17 since there is a
restaurant and a disco above and below the floors. This insulates
you from the noise from these areas. Second, you want to be in a
specific part of the floor. When you exit the elevators you will
turn to your left until it dead ends at the front of a room, then you
will turn right. The area where you will want to request a room will
be down on the left hand side. These rooms on each of these floors
are almost completely insulated by noise. Put another way, if are
viewing the hotel from the main entrance, you will want a room in the
upper right quadrant of the hotel.
You will go through an emotional roller coaster ride. You may
experience anxiety leading up to the operation, euphoria for the day
or two following surgery and then possibly minor depression when the
euphoria of having the surgery behind you starts to ebb. I think
this is all pretty normal since I had a chance to talk with a couple
other patients who shared very similar sensations. Having someone
along with you would probably make a significant difference. I did
not have that luxury as my wife and I have two young boys and we
determined as tough as it may be on me it would be even tougher on
them if neither of us were there for them. Bring a friend if you can.
It is now two weeks to the day from surgery. I am home in
Cincinnati. I was exhausted when I returned because I was unable to
sleep on the flight home despite the fact I was in business class. I
really cannot imagine making the trip in economy. I flew Air France
both ways and was quite pleased.
The pain is nearly gone. I was able to walk the day after surgery
and they will encourage you to do so. I had stayed in relatively
good shape prior to surgery, swimming and lifting weights 5 or 6
times a week. I would encourage you to get yourself in the best
shape you can prior to surgery. It will help immensely. I was using
one arm crutch 6 days after surgery. Guidelines are that you should
be using a single arm crutch by the 5th and 6th week. I also hiked
about a half mile each way up and down St. Thomas Mount one week
following surgery, so I have pushed things a bit. I am very careful
not to twist or turn the joint, to minimize pain. If you do this you
can almost eliminate pain.
In summary, I would give Dr. Bose and his surgical team an A. They
are first rate. I would give the nursing staff and various other
hospital related activities and accommodations, as related above, a C-
. It is a long, tough trip but the end result is worth the short
term pain and discomfort, in my opinion. I happen to have insurance
and may have been able to have had this covered by my insurer in the
US. However, after weighing all of the options, I decided it was
wiser to go with a physician who had performed 800+ procedures and
who had trained under McMinn and Treacy in the UK. Had my insurer
paid for the operation in the US the net costs would have been
roughly the same. I still plan on contacting my insurer, BC/BS to
see if I can receive partial coverage. I will let everyone know how
this goes.
I hope this information helps. I will be happy to answer any
questions anyone might have. Good luck in your quest.
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