Son Gets 87-year-old Treated Against Doctor Advice – The New Indian Express

BENGALURU: Retired Wipro employee Ramesh Subba Rao did not despair when doctors told him treatment for his 87-year-old father, suffering from aortic valve weakness, might not help much.

Instead, he continued looking for options, initially in Mysuru, till he found a team of medical professionals in the city willing to perform a non-invasive procedure, Trans-catheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR), on Subba Rao. Rao was discharged recently from a private hospital on Cunningham Road, two weeks after the procedure was performed.

Doctors had earlier advised Ramesh against seeking treatment for his father, citing high cost and low chances of survival. The TAVR, he said, cost Rs 17 lakh.

“The cost didn’t matter. I can regain the money, but I couldn’t think of losing my father,”  said Ramesh, a freelance consultant.

His two brothers, his sister and his wife were against Ramesh’s decision. “They wanted him to live for as long as he would without suffering too much pain,” he said. “But I desperately wanted to see my father start walking normally again.”

In August, Rao collapsed after returning from a park, where he would take regular walks. He managed to call his friends and told them of his discomfort. Rao was admitted to a nearby hospital, where doctors informed the family that his blood circulation was affected by the weakness of the valve.

By then, Rao’s 8-km walk had come down by half. Later, he became immobile.

A team of cardiac surgeons and cardiac anesthetists, under the leadership of Dr Vivek Jawali, Chairman, Department of Cardio-vascular Science, performed the TAVR.

This is a rare procedure, used to treat a severe and an otherwise inoperable heart condition in just over an hour.  In contrast, the regular procedure takes several hours and requires a prolonged hospital stay. Rao was discharged in two weeks. “It is a technologically advanced procedure performed by a multi-disciplinary team of cardiac specialists,” said Dr Jawali.

“Even a slight movement while placing the new valve could result in a bend and leakage, leading to complications.”

The procedure involves making a small incision near the groin, and inserting a valve mounted on a wire into an artery, said Dr Gopi, consultant interventional cardiologist.

“This valve was then moved to the diseased aortic valve in the heart. Within a day, the patient was able to move around without much stress. Such procedures are very effective as recovery is fast and the success rate very high,” he said.

It was his son’s confidence that gave him hope, Rao said. “I asked him not to go ahead with my treatment as I was aged, but he assured me and got me to agree to the operation. I left the rest to the doctors and God,” said Rao, who is recovering fast.