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