My Valentine day 14th February, 2021 with my patients and postgraduates at Karimnagar- Dr. Jagdishwar Goud Gajagowni.

It is 14.02.2021, the valentine day for many, business opportunity for some but for me a day to visit my heart warming place Karimnagar and see the most affectionate people , my patients at Chelmeda cancer Institute.

A day before I had to go to Gulbarga to give a keynote lecture at Basweshwar Hospital which is 4 hours away from Hyderabad and  my driver who took me there and brought me back said he can’t drive next day as he is tired and going on a holiday with his family. But my patients from Karimnagar had called me and said they want to come for check up ,also 4 surgery patients were fasting and waiting. Though expensive  I decided to take a Ola out station cab which is always self paid as we operate  free arogyashree patients in Karimnagar and no hospital sponsors our travel.

Most of the time my  reimbursement is patients smile when they see me and their satisfaction when I say  they are disease free. This has started 20 years ago in 2000 when I used to take a red bus initially and self drive till a small accident occurred . I sort of got addicted to operating at Karimnagar and Jagityal. Met my anaesthetist Dr. Sanjiv Rao there with whom I used to operate at Shushruta Cancer hospital which was a trust hospital, operate without cautery  and with minimal facilities. After Surgery I used to  take specimens in my car to get tested by pathologist in Hyderabad for a good report which is important to plan further treatment so that patients are cancer free. I remember formalin used to leak from bottles and spoil my car boot and smell for a week. He used to say  పుణ్యం వస్తది  sir, I don’t know about that but I used to get nausea sitting in the back seat. Well, operating 10 cases a day used to make me forget those travel woes. It does leave a note of discontentment that hospital management never bothers how I travel or why I self pay , may be they silently look the other way. But my patients and Karimngar doctors have always supported me and am grateful to that.

I fail to understand how he can forget his idea of running a trust hospital and  I asked him why you are leasing to a commercial group, he replied”గొర్రె కసాయి నీ నమ్మి పోతే మనము ఏమి చేయగలము” , patients want to go to a commercial hospital . I was aghast and didn’t expect that from him.

I started my journey to Karimnagar and had chai my favourite drink at a stall in Praganapur. Had a case at Shivanand Hospital a post hysterectomy ovarian cyst and a delicious breakfast , Mysore bonda . That’s the speciality of Karimnagar and Jagityal doctors, they never leave you empty stomach.

From there  I went to Chelmeda Cancer Hospital in Bommakkal and as soon as I got done I saw my decade old patients waiting there and I forgot the tiredness of previous day  travel of Gulbarga and today’s Valentine days travel .

Around 30 patients were there. My favourite patient from vemulawada a Cancer Rectum patient operated 15 years ago came, he usually comes alone and brings the laddu from the temple. And he always requests me to come visit Vemulawada. I was happy to see his scan and Tumor marker which were negative and I returned hid fees as his children no longer pay for him. It’s a common situation I have seen many times some children once they grow up and get married or migrate to other countries no longer take care of their parents either because they are busy in their work or with their children or don’t have time. Almost every parent spend their life for the children but the same is not reciprocated by the majority of kin. It’s better one has insurance or don’t handover the property as long as one is alive.

Another patient Devamma always comes with her sister both my patients one endometrial trial cancer and another thyroid cancer. I operated them a decade ago and both cancers are highly curable. She calls me with different phone numbers as sometimes I don’t pickup calls during day time. God gave a heaping hand. In keeping them disease free.

Next patient was a post cricoid cancer , a dreaded disease who had radiation in 2019. But was not followed up correctly. He underwent endoscopy which doesn’t detect recurrence and disease grew silently and came in advanced relapse. PET CT and direct laryngoscopes detects such cancer better but somehow it was not done in his parent center. I said sorry I can’t do anything and sent him to chemotherapy but I know in my heart it wont respond.

Another thyroid patient of mine which I operated 5 years ago in KIMS came. She originally had Thyroid cancer with lung metastasis. Thyroid cancer has one of the best results in spite of Stage 4 status. We operated, gave I 131 treatment,operated again and gave radiation also. She is fighting hard and her Son is a great support for her one of the few children I have seen who take care of their parents.  There are some children who do take care of their parents.

The OPD went on and in between I received a call from the operation Theater that a breast cancer patient is a high risk. .Dr. Sanjiv Rao sir is an excellent anaesthetist but patient was higher risk. He was a doctor and he understood that his mother needs higher hospital and said he would come tomorrow to American Oncology Institute , my working place. But there also we could not operate as we found out that TSH was very high and it would be risky at this time.

I went to operation theatre and some young postgraduates came to assist me. The first case was a Radical Hysterectomy, I showed him how to start the steps on left side and made him operate few basic steps on right side but I later  operated all important points. Training youngsters and creating more surgeons is vital for the progress of surgical science.

Wen completed our surgeries and the OPD. Few patients I had to return the OP fees as they  looked poor and for some I gave 50% discount in PET CT on par with NIMS rates.

It was 5 pm by the time we had good lunch and started back to Hyderabad at 6.00 pm. With Covid on Control and new projects in Karimnagar and in Gajwel the traffic on highway is pretty high now a days especially on a Sunday and that too on VALENTINE DAY today 14th February ,2021. But I had great VALENTINE DAY spending with my dear patients, taking their blessings and training postgraduates . thank GOD for that.