In walked a lady with a 6-7 months old infant and an aged man accompanying her. While my mind asked the questions who is the Doctor here and who do I know among the two aduls, the purpose of the visit of the three was indeed adding to the confusion running inside me. The lady with the infant gave a big smile as she sat down and asked if I remember her. I smiled back with uneasiness and answered a No. She smiled back and helped me recollect a medical incident that happened when I was working for a previous corporate hospital.
It was a normal day and my receptionist rang in to say that a Doctor has come to visit me. I was a bit flustered. She continued to tell me that the Doctor has not come as a patient but just to pay a goodwill visit after many many years. I was flustered furthermore. Began thinking who this Doctor was! I could wait no further and asked my receptionist to send the Doctor inside.
The lady with the infant was studying her 11th standard when she was brought in to the hospital almost unconscious. I immediately recollected her struggle in the hospital. She was a young teenager and she had an abnormally swelled abdomen when she was brought in as an emergency patient. She was placed on ventilator support and all diagnosis was done. Her diagnosis confirmed the presence of tumor in her ovaries and the accumulation of water has swelled the abdomen abnormally. She was given no hope of survival but our team gave our best shot in the surgery.
We immediately rushed her to the surgical procedure and drained out the liters of water that was accumulated in the abdomen. Then we proceeded to remove the ovaries on both sides of the uterus as they were ridden with tumor. We sent the tissues for biopsy. I was certain that the tumor was a type of malignancy and hence our medical oncologists recommended chemotherapy should the biopsy result turn out to be positive for cancer. She underwent 3-4 chemo sessions in gaps of few weeks. After that she was discharged by her parents and her condition was unknown to us. She was indeed a cancer survivor and she was indeed a fighter. She had recovered many years back and now has come to visit me after having a baby of her own.
I was surprised by the fact that she had a baby because her both ovaries were removed and she had no chance of conceiving naturally and also since chemotherapy was given. Then she elaborated in detail about the turn of events in her life. After her cancer surgery and Oophorectomy (ovary removal surgery), she underwent chemotherapy and she fought back to get her remission from cancer. She then developed interest in the medical field and became a dentist. She got married and convinced her husband that she was willing to conceive by getting egg from a donor. She underwent IVF with donor eggs, conceived a baby and successfully gave birth to a child. The infant in her hand was her baby. I was completely awe-struck and did not have words.
The dentist went on to say that she visited me with her baby to get my blessings. It was indeed a moment when I felt super elated to be a surgeon. A sense of pride and a feeling of being blessed to be a surgeon were churning inside me. As I whole-heartedly gave my blessings to both, I felt blessed too, to be part of people’s lives, saving their lives and touching their souls.
