A hospital where a doctor is more a friend

-Prof. M Zahidul Haque
A medical doctor’s cordial and friendly behaviour creates a positive impact on the treatment and subsequent healing process of a patient. Recently I had been to the Artemis Hospital, a 400 plus bed super speciality hospital in Gurugram, Haryana, India for the cardio treatment of my younger sister Jesmin Ara. She was suffering from chest pain for the last one year. We had consulted with a number of cardiologists in Bangladesh following performing a CT Angiogram which carried an indefinite finding indicating calcium deposit in her artery. It may be mentioned here that earlier she had two unsuccessful spine surgeries in a reputed hospital in Dhaka which made her a failed back surgery patient. However, in 2016, a successful fusion spine surgery was done at the Artemis Hospital fixing her prolapsed discs with a titanium implant. This yielded some positive result but the pain persisted. She had to be on certain drugs including pain-killers since then. It was improving. But a new problem emerged–chest pain which according to some of our physicians among other factors is the outcome of taking excessive drugs. It was difficult for her to go for a fresh cardio procedure without getting confirmed of her heart-issues. As she had a successful spine surgery and as the doctors at Artemis were much competent and friendly plus nurses are very dedicated and efficient, I decided to go to Artemis for her cardio treatment.
The day after we reached Gurugram, we had an appointment with Dr. (Col.) Manjinder Sandhu, Medical Director and Director Cardiology of the Artemis Hospital. We were very pleased to meet him; he is so cordial and friendly. Dr Sandhu is not only a well qualified and experienced Cardiologist but a person with great human qualities. He said- Let’s do an Angio! He was supposed to do the Angiogram instantly to reduce her treatment time and our cost of staying there for long. But I said, doc, let’s do it tomorrow morning for a mental preparation. Then he patiently listened to us when I gave him every detail about my sister. Other than the medical talk, he enquired about our welfare and Bangladesh’s condition.
The next day we reached to the Artemis Heart Center at 11 am as was fixed by Dr Sandhu. Quickly, all the relevant investigations were done and Jesmin was taken to the Cath lab. I was waiting outside the lab and was much worried. Dr Sandhu assured me that everything will go well by the Heaven’s will. Well, as ill luck would have it, the issue with her heart didn’t go as expected. She was detected with a solidified plaque in her main artery. Dr Sandhu took me to the control room and showed me the live images of my sister’s heart. He explained to me various aspects of her problem and interventions his team is going to do.
Dr Amit Kumar Chaurasia, Director, TAVR and Structural Heart diseases on the instruction of Dr Sandhu started the procedure by inserting the catheter with guided wire to dissolve the calcified block. It took more than an hour to complete the whole procedure successfully. She was shifted to the ICU. Dr Sandhu called me to his chamber and cordially discussed the issues. “So, you will keep her in ICU for the next 24 hours?” yes, he replied. But I need a cabin to stay near her in the hospital, I requested. Well, Dr Sandhu assured-I will make a special arrangement for you so that you can stay by your sister’s bed in ICU.
Dr Sandhu was so sympathetic and appreciating our mental situation, he asked his staff to place an inclining sofa for me by my sister’s bed in ICU. I stayed there all night, it was too cool, of course, they supplied me blankets. The nurse on duty took proper care and responded to my call whenever necessary without showing any reluctance or negligence. There were some other patients including foreigners whom the nurses on duty attended without failure. The following morning Dr Sandhu came to the ICU and himself checked the condition of the patients when my sister had accomplished much recovery.
Doctors have been blessed with some special honour and responsibilities by God to treating suffering humanity against diseases. Hence it implies upon the doctors to attend their patients sincerely and sympathetically. Dr. (Col.) Manjinder Sandu and all the members of his team in the Artemis Cardiology department are indeed committed to their profession and values patient’s psychology and human aspects.
It is the sacred task of a doctor to honestly perform his duty while the final success of any treatment or procedure depends on the Almighty’s will!
Artemis is no doubt, an ideal home for medical treatment where doctors are friends and where so friendly doctor, Dr. (Col.) Manjinder Sandu could be found!
Finally, a small book titled-“Life After Angioplasty/Stenting” with a heart-full slogan “Eat Smart, Get Active, Be Happy” published by the Artemis Heart Center under the supervision of Dr Manjinder Sandhu was presented to us which contains useful instructions to be followed by a patient after leaving the hospital.
Our stay at the Artemis Hospital was very fruitful and we returned Dhaka safely and assured!
(The writer is a Professor at Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka.)