I was detected with gallstones in 2010 and being a doctor I knew that I would require a surgery as I was getting symptoms. The decision to get the surgery done was easy and I went to Dr Deepraj Bhandarkar at Hinduja Hospital. He told me that he would be doing a single incision laparoscopic cholecystectomy. I must confess that I did not know too much about this form of surgery, which was relatively new then. Frankly, I was not too concerned about the scars etc. However, it was only after the surgery that I realized the full potential of the single incision procedure. The only painkiller I required was a Paracetamol tablets for a couple of days. I did not have to take antibiotics after the first day in the hospital and neither did I require any stitch removal. The ease with which the whole procedure got over and my super-fast recovery left me wondering at the progress the medical science has made. My mind went back to the open cholecystectomy surgeries I had assisted as a medical student years ago. At that time the patients required a week long hospitalization, had a much slower recovery and were left with a large scar. With me it was a matter of three days and I was back to work in my clinic on day four. As a patient our biggest concern about any surgery is the postoperative pain and I found that single incision laparoscopic cholecystectomy is a truly minimal access surgery with minimal pain and discomfort.

Dr Gaurang Desai

I can’t forget the pain on the night of November 2, 2009 at around 2.30 in the night. The pain in my abdomen and back was immense and I was unable to move in any direction whatsoever. No medicine provided relief. I usually had stomach pain once every month (that too at the same time during the night) which continued for 3 hours. I kept thinking that it was a gas problem and never paid much attention to it. But the pain on the night of November 2, 2009 was so severe that I told myself that “IF” tomorrow comes, I will visit the doctor first thing and resolve this problem. The pain subsided after 3 hours (as always). I visited my family doctor the next day and he prescribed some medicines for gas problem. However, after examination he felt that my abdomen was a little tender and therefore asked me to get blood test and ultrasonography done before visiting him next. I got the tests done the next morning and visited him in the evening. After perusing my reports, he informed me that I have a gallstone problem and that cholecystectomy (removal of gall bladder) was required. He also informed me that it could be done by laparoscopy and therefore there was nothing to worry about. However, on the insistence of my parents, I sought a second opinion from a renowned doctor from a famous hospital. He also was of the opinion that cholecystectomy was necessary. By now I had accepted the fact that I will have to say bye to my gall bladder but what scared me the most was the surgery part. The doctor assured me 90% the surgery would be performed laparoscopically but 10% chances were that I would require open surgery. This was going to be my very first surgery of any kind and therefore I began reading everything I could get my hands on about the gall bladder and cholecystectomy. By the time I was done I was scared to death to have the surgery.

I was then referred to Dr. Deepraj Bhandarkar who is a renowned laparoscopic surgeon. I visited him, and for the first time I was informed of this magic called SILC (Single Incision Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy) or SILS (Single Incision Laparoscopic Surgery). Dr. Bhandarkar assured me 99% the surgery would be performed thru SILC and 1% chances were that he would require the regular three/four port laparoscopy to be conducted. I WAS RELIEVED. He suggested me to visit this very site i.e. www.singleincisionlapchole.com and get answers to my apprehensions (I guess he read all the questions that were written across my face) with respect to the surgery. I sure visited this site and absorbed knowledge of the procedure involved but I also surfed the Internet for other people’s experiences pre and post cholecystectomy which again put me in the depression mode. I was also a little scared to experiment the surgery through single incision when not many had even heard of it and I too, was hearing it for the first time.

Nevertheless, I trusted my doctor and had faith in his expertise. As scheduled, I got admitted to the hospital on the previous evening of the surgery. My surgery was scheduled on 1st December, 2009. I was advised to fast since the morning. I left my room around 3 pm, had my surgery, was observed in the recovery area for am hour so and was finally back in the room by 6.30 p.m. When I regained consciousness, I was on my bed in my hospital room. I actually walked around my room (without support from anybody) after about 4 hours of regaining consciousness. I was very very pleased to experience this because I had not even in my dreams thought that I would be able to walk around so soon after the surgery. I had no pain, no nausea and no vomiting. That’s when I realized that the doctor had done something as good as magic. Only my abdomen felt a little heavy which eventually felt normal the next morning. The next day I was put me on soft diet and by evening I had normal dinner. The following morning i.e.3rd December, 2009 I was discharged and was relieved to return home. I was asked to avoid lifting heavy weights for a few days. On 10th December, 2009 the day of my follow up visit, the doctor changed my dressing and I noticed just a small incision within my navel.

Today, 62 days after my surgery, when I am penning down my experience, the incision mark has disappeared and so has the fear regarding SILS. I have had no side effects from the surgery and am leading a normal life. In fact, no one even guesses that I have undergone a surgery recently. Therefore, for me SILS means “Surely Invented to Lessen Suffering”.

Kusum Kanaujia
Mumbai

Since last two years I was having high blood pressure and suffered from frequent panic attacks, shortness in breathing, severe headaches and night sweats. In spite of administering high dose of blood pressure medicines, my problems had no end. Recently I was diagnosed with a large paraganglioma in the left side of abdomen. The size of the tumor was 8.5 x 7 x 6 cm. I visited many hospitals for suitable treatment. Since size of tumor was pretty large, only open surgery was suggested everywhere. When I contacted Dr. Ameya Joshi of Nair Hospital, he advised me to contact Dr. Deepraj Bhandarkar at Hinduja Hospital for surgery.

I was worried about my operation and health as I was anxious about an open surgery and consequent complexities. Dr. Deepraj Bhandarkar assured me that he would try at his level best to operate with laparoscopic method. He and his assistant surgeon always encouraged me and made me feel elated. I was admitted in Hinduja Hospital on September 29, 2013 and operated on October 1, 2013 by Dr. Deepraj Bhandarkar. He operated and removed the tumor with laparoscopic method. After surgery I was shifted to I.C.U for 1 day. My post operation recovery was quick and comfortable. I did not feel much pain. I started walking from 3rd day of my operation and this was possible only because of laparoscopic treatment. On 4thOctober I was discharged from the hospital. I did not feel any pain and discomfort after discharge from the hospital. All medication was stopped. My Blood Pressure is normal without taking any medicine. The entire process of operation, treatment and recovery was smooth, quick and comfortable beyond expectation of my parents. I render my gratitude from the deepest core of my heart to Dr. Deepraj Bhandarkar and his entire team for the kind concern and best treatment given to me.

With warm regards,

Iram Naureen

It all happened in April 2008 when I was in grade 10 and our family had just shifted to Dubai. Till then I had a perfect health record and no major complaints. I suddenly started vomiting after every meal and this became a daily affair. I consulted several doctors in Dubai, who could not diagnose the problem even after doing endoscopy. In the process I lost about 15kg in weight and in June 2008 my concerned parents took me to Bangalore for my treatment. The doctors at Manipal Hospital diagnosed that this was a case of achalasia cardia. They did an endoscopic balloon dilatation and that made me comfortable. I started swallowing food as normal and returned to Dubai.

But a few years later in 2012 the problem of swallowing and intake started again and I was able to finish my meals only with great difficulty. We started consulting doctors in Dubai who said that I had to have a laparoscopic cardiomyotomy. My parents were worried about the surgery as there were not many doctors in Dubai who performed this form of surgery and they wanted me to be handled only by an experienced surgeon. After several enquiries and web search finally they found Dr Deepraj Bhandarkar in Mumbai as an expert for this surgery. We first met Dr Bhandarkar in September 2013 and fixed up the surgery for February 2014. In the mean time, I started experiencing more and more difficulty in intake of food and it was found out that my food pipe has become significantly dilated.

Finally I got admitted to Hinduja hospital in February 2014 and the doctor performed the surgery successfully. I was discharged from the Hospital after about 3 days and I was in Mumbai for about a week. After getting clearance from the doctor at follow up a week after the surgery we returned to Dubai. I was advised to take blenderized diet for 6 weeks and in April I started eating regular food. Now I feel much better, am able to eat normal food and am slowly putting in weight.

We all are extremely thankful to Dr Deepraj Bhandarkar and his team at Hinduja Hospital for giving me a new lease of life. I feel that for this disease it is best to consult an expert like Dr Bhandarkar in the initial stages itself and get it treated rather than letting it progress to an advanced stage.

Best regards

BS
Dubai

If I had to name one of the most dreadful thing I have heard or seen in my life then I would not hesitate a bit to name the “Achalasia cardia”.

It is not known as to when exactly I got the symptoms of achalasia going, but maybe somewhere in mid 2005. Initially, I overlooked it and then some colleagues suggested to see a doctor who prescribed me “acid suppressants” without even thinking otherwise. Trouble increased day by day and eventually I started losing weight. I was happy that I was losing weight without any efforts but much to my discomfort I started fearing foods, which I loved to eat. These included all the fibrous foods, nonvegetarian foods, all shakes, junks like pizzas, burgers, etc…and especially the carbonated drinks like coke. With regurgitation starting, I came across one wise doctor who identified the symptoms as dysphagia and asked me to undertake barium swallow and endoscopy. The reports confirmed “Achalasia cardia” with distended esophagus. Then for next few weeks I searched the internet extensively because none of the people I knew had even heard of anything similar to this. The doctor suggested me to take “pneumatic dilatation” by virtue of which my “LES” would be stretched. The dilatation only added to my woes because my regurgitations increased every time I had water, tea and anything to eat. Somehow the six months passed after which I took another dilatation. The second attempt could not give me any respite. In the meantime from December 2007 to August 2008 I had lost approximately 30kgs of weight. I could see the pain in the eyes of family members and my small child used to question as to why I frequently got up while having food and go to bathroom, why we did not you eat at the hotel, etc. ..Then I came across a yahoo group for “achalasians” and the guys there guided me and asked me to refrain from me from any other dilatation. I had the typical mindset, which I suppose all of us have, is to do anything but not to go to a surgeon for operation. I got myself transferred to Alibag near Mumbai so that I could get my treatment done with Dr Deepraj Bhandarkar for whom I had got couple of recommendations. I searched for his name on the net and came across a couple of articles about him. Some ex-achalasians, who stayed abroad, had told that not all surgeons are good when they operate on achalasia. I met him at the Hinduja Hospital and presented him my reports. While going through he was quite calm, composed, focussed and above all quite confident on the way he was going to handle the case. Somehow I also felt relaxed and hoped of getting over this nightmare of achalasia. He asked me to undergo manometry test to check the pressure of my LES. Finally we decided to fix the surgery in first week of January 2009 because I wasn’t ready to take any chances in year 2008.

I got admitted to the Hinduja Hospital a day before my surgery and perhaps these guys are the best professionally the best from the time the patient reaches them. Dr. Bhandarkar operated me and I suppose that took him approximately 2 – 3 hrs or so. The first sip of water I took after the surgery was quite fearful because still the psychosis of regurgitation had not gone out of my mind. But GOD was kind enough to me this time and I could feel the water reaching my stomach without any “stoppage”. The recovery was uneventful and I got discharged 3 days after the surgery. I have given up my bad habit of lying down after meals and now spend minimum of 2 hours by staying upright after eating anything.

I would suggest to all those who have similar symptoms to consult a quality doctor and if they really want to get rid of this thing please go to a surgeon who specializes in specialized treatments pertaining to disorders like achalasia. Lastly, I wont hesitate a moment in recommending Dr. Deepraj Bhandarkar and I take the opportunity to thank him again for helping me to be free from achalasia.

Sanjiv Rodi