When The Door Opens…
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issues of Healing Touch .
This is the story of a bubbly four-year old, Harsh, who was fun and frolic
personified, but at the same time, to his parents' horror, harbouring within
himself a heart which had many ‘holes’. How and when did the trials of his
parents end? Read this touching account to find out.
The paper plane glided silently over the beds and made a belly-flop landing on
the nurse's head. Apparently, the parting between her tresses was the perfect
air strip for that voyage of imagination. Engrossed in recording some notes in
the patient's file, she was caught unawares and with a mix of surprise,
irritation and curiosity, turned to glare at the bunch of children occupying
the Pediatrics cubicle.
The wordless giggle, joyful clapping of the hands and the excitement in his
eyes at having obtained a perfect landing were a total giveaway… unmistakably
it was Harsh again! One look at him and the nurse's irritation drained away
from her face and was replaced with a warm affectionate smile. Harsh was not
being naughty. He was being… well! He was just being himself. In his
four-and-a-half years, Harsh seemed to have learnt the knack of getting away
with mischief, thanks to his endearing smile and those sparkling eyes. It would
take a stretch of imagination to guess that those eyes were windows opaque to
the ravages within; the fact that his little body suffered from multiple
congenital malformations.
Rather philosophically, the Syrian poet Khalil Gibran said:
“Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you they belong not to you.”
Beautiful words, poetry to the ears but hard to imbibe in a real life crisis! A
seer, detached from the world and its apparent vagaries, is at peace with
himself, in a stage of evolution far beyond that of a father knowing the plight
of his first born. Yet, destiny is not harsh on all. With the power of prayers,
when one door closes, a hundred new ones can open – one only has to search for
the right door. The Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences was the
anvil that sealed the fate of little Harsh and his father Mr. Chhagan Lal.
The Father Shares His Story
Little Harsh and his father, Mr. Chhagan Lal
When the heart is full, words are few, but then when happiness is shared it
multiplies, while sorrow when shared is halved. Chhagan Lal was only too happy
to share his pursuit of happiness with Heart2Heart readers. He said:
"Though the surgery was complex, the doctors and the attending team have
vast experience in dealing with such complex problems. The surgery was
completed in a relatively short time and Harsh was shifted to the ICU. The ICU
is equipped with state-of-the-art technology where he was monitored round the
clock for 24 hours by an expert team of doctors and nurses. He had an
uneventful recovery and was discharged soon.”
"We hail from the Udaipur District of Rajasthan, but have been living in the
Pandapura town of Mandya district, about 120 kilometers south-west of
Bangalore, along with 25 other families from Rajasthan, all of whom are engaged
in business. We have a daily-provision store in Udaipur, which I was helping my
father manage. About four or five years ago, I decided to come down to
Bangalore and help my brother, who was running a jewelery business in
Pandapura.
"Harsh was our very first child, born in July, 2003 in Rajasthan. At the time
of his birth itself, we noticed that he had a deformity in the roof of his
mouth. The doctors suggested us to wait for a few months before taking him to a
plastic surgeon to fix this deformity, which in medical parlance is referred to
as a cleft palate. We brought Harsh back to Pandapura when he was 6 months old,
and took him to a plastic surgeon when he was one year and three months of age.
After taking a look at him, he referred us to a Pediatric surgeon for some more
tests and evaluation. Suddenly, it seemed that this was not a simple problem as
we had imagined. My wife Manju and I had a trying time during those days.
"From our side it only seemed that Harsh's speech wasn't that clear, and that
he was not picking up language very fast, but we had not expected anything more
serious than that. It turned out to be a really stressful time for us when the
Pediatric surgeon listed out the multiple problems Harsh was diagnosed with and
then mentioned that Harsh first needed cardiac surgery, and only after that
would they correct the cleft palate. He referred us to a Cardiologist. As
parents, we were not prepared for such a bleak prognosis. It was all too much
to take in at once.
"The cardiologist put Harsh through a battery of tests and diagnosed Harsh's
problem as PDA, Patent Ductus Arteriosus along with a VSD, Ventricular Septal
Defect (An anomaly between two vessels of the heart and also a defect between
two heart chambers).”
A Normal Heart Patent Ductus Arteriosus Ventricular Septal Defect
Their Hope Finds An Answer
The immediate reaction of the parents predictably was of shock and despair.
Like the dark cloud that comes with its own silver lining, the parents soon
found a ray of hope. "We were very distraught at first, but somewhere in our
hearts we knew our little son would be saved. Soon after visiting the
Cardiologist, a relative living in Pandapura, told us about Baba's Hospital in
Bangalore, which offers free surgery. Given the gravity of our situation, we
rushed to the Hospital right away and within a month, Harsh was admitted in the
pre-operative ward.
“In our desperation, there was no scope to consider various options. We just
had to take the leap of faith to approach the Sri Sathya Sai Hospital for help.
We had absolutely no idea how the Hospital would be, and what kind of treatment
we could expect from a free Hospital. Never could we have imagined that this
totally free of cost medical facility would turn out to be such a wonderful
set-up. The doctors and the staff put us at total ease and all this gave us the
trust that this is the place where Harsh could be safely treated and cured of
his heart ailment. As parents, this is the ultimate relief we could ever have
wished for.”
The Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences, Bangalore
Harsh underwent two consecutive surgeries, one to tie off the PDA, an abnormal
connection between the aorta and the pulmonary artery, and the next to close
the hole between the ventricles of his heart, a VSD Ventricular Septal Defect
closure.
The Dedicated Doctor Explains
Dr. Hari Kumar, who was part of the surgical team, says, “Harsh had two defects
— one in the heart between the right and left chambers and the other between
the two great vessels, which supply blood to the lungs and the body. As a
result, there was increased pressure in the lungs (pulmonary hypertension).
Patients with these complex defects usually die of heart failure or infections.
When not treated early, the disease becomes incurable due to permanent changes
in the lungs.
“The sternum was opened and Harsh’s heart was connected to a Cardio Pulmonary
Bypass machine (CPB). The CPB machine allows an advanced machine pump and an
artificial lung to take over the function of the heart and lungs during the
surgery. The heart was then opened and the defect was closed with a patch.
Next, the defect between the two great vessels was also closed.
"Though the surgery was complex, the doctors and the attending team have vast
experience in dealing with such complex problems. The surgery was completed in
a relatively short time and Harsh was shifted to the ICU. The ICU is equipped
with state-of-the-art technology where he was monitored round the clock for 24
hours by an expert team of doctors and nurses. He had an uneventful recovery
and was discharged soon.”
After cardiac surgery, Harsh underwent successful plastic surgery, thanks to a
helpful doctor who was also a Sai devotee. He returned to Bhagavan’s Hospital
early November for a minor procedure. This was to avoid any future surgery
related complications.
A Family Transformed
Prior to this life altering experience at the Sri Sathya Sai Hospital in
Whitefield, Harsh’s father Mr. Lal had only heard about Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai
Baba and His Mission of spreading Love through His unique healthcare and
educational institutions. After the first surgery, Baba's picture given to Lal
and Harsh by the Counseling staff, started to adorn Lal's shrine at Pandapura.
"Very soon, we are all planning to visit Puttaparthi, to have Baba's Darshan,
and express our gratitude to Him, who has given our son a new lease of life,"
he says gratefully.
The ever happy and upbeat Harsh
The ward is well lit and warm and even as Chhagan Lal is narrating his story,
little Harsh is busily revising the English alphabet and proudly shows it to
his father. He has even mastered the Kannada alphabet and quickly scribbles it
on a piece of paper. His father’s face glows with a smile tempered with pride,
satisfaction and relief. The moment is just perfect, for it lacks nothing,
thanks purely to the Advent on earth of the Purest form of Love, Sri Sathya Sai
Baba. Had it not been for Him, Chhagan Lal and Manju would never have had their
little son’s precarious health restored through such complicated and advanced
surgeries done with love, patience and caring ….. without even a mention of the
word ‘money’. Only in the realm of the Divine can such concerns be ever
assuaged.
