Indian Exposure

We arrived in Bangalore India around 4 am India time on a 10 hour direct flight out of Heathrow. India is 12 1/2 hours a head of our time in Colorado. Immigration was a breeze but the baggage claim was excruciatingly slow. The three hundred plus weary travelers from our all night flight congregated around the baggage belt that sqealed like a pig and watched, like zombies, as one bag every minute or so presented itself on the belt. Finally our one checked bag appeared. We were waived through customs and proceeded through the gate in search of our driver that Moe promised would be waiting for us. No sooner did we exit the terminal when a young man asked if we were Susan and Ruth. Now that's service! His name is Suhas and is the guest relations officer at Wockhardt Hospital. He came to the airport with a driver at this early hour, 4am, to make certain we were cared for. When our plane arrived he called immigration and got a discription of our clothing. We were quicly in route. He was warm, friendly and graciously fielded our myriad of questions . The dawn was cracking as we made our way through the sprawling and immense city, affording us our first glimpse of India.

Bangalore is a burgeoning city of 12 million. Four years ago it held 8 million so the growth here is far too rapid for infrastructure to keep up with. Bangalore by India standards is a prosperous city, nevertheless many areas of the city are extremely poor. Tons of rubbish and rubble line the streets where many find their homes. We drove through an area with modern high rise office structures. This is the IT capital of India. Many of the jobs outsourced from the US are found here. An hours drive found us in the hospital district, where we drove up to the front doors of Wockhardt. We were escorted to the 7th of the hospitals 8 floors into a large rather inviting hospital room containing two beds, a small fridge, desk with computer, table, two chairs, and private bath. It smelled strongly of moth balls. Suhas gave us his cell number with strict assurance to call him with any questions or concerns. We showered then waited for the tests we had scheduled to transpire.

The paper work was refreshingly minimal. Basically they got my name, marital status, birth date and religion. Being disconnected from any religious organization I left this last question blank. Two different times individual nurses came back and asked me to please verfiy my religion. Not wanting to offend I begrudgingly agreed to state, "Christian." There was an obvious sign of relief emanating from their sweet faces. Dr Sanjay Pai, my venerable surgeon, walked into our room and gave me a quick preview. He stated quite emphatically that I was too young for knee reconstruction as prosthesis only last 10-15 years. I told him about my constant pain and instablility. I've traveled all this way and I want both knees examined with MRI. I was swiftly taken down to x-ray. At this point I was feeling a bit mifted and a little freaked and felt like fleeing the hospital using this time to travel through India and forget this whole medical tourism business. A short itme later I received two MRI's. Blood tests and urine samples were taken and at least three times this first day my blood pressure was measured. In the afternoon Dr. Sanjay Pai returned and stated that the results of the tests revealed both knees arthritic with the left in advanced stage of degeneration. We discussed various prosthesis and it was his opinion that my left knee is certainly bad enough to receive a TKR.

After he left Ruth and I discussed my condition and options. I firmly beleive that surgery is a last option. But my R knee, though not nearly as painful as my L is in pretty bad shape. It tweaks, burns, pops, and gives out on me. This is my opportunity to correct my disability. I've traveled across the globe at great expense, taking the necesary time off work for this trip as will as the lengthy rehabilitaion time. Who knows if and when I'll ever have this opportunity again.