Post News Network
Cuttack, Dec 13: Adding another feather to its cap, SCB Medical College and Hospital here gave a new lease of life to a bedridden cancer patient by enabling her to walk.
Family members of the patient were all the more delighted as the patient was previously admitted to Tata Memorial Hospital and KEM Hospital in Mumbai for treatment, however with little success.
SCB doctors successfully replaced 41-year-old Basantilata Barik’s upper hip joint which was infected by cancer.
Hailing from Keonjhar, the woman was suffering from breast cancer since 2012 and was receiving treatment at Tata Memorial Hospital. She initially recovered and came back home, but later suffered from back pain so severe that she was unable to walk.
Her family took her to Tata hospital again, which referred them to KEM as it had better facilities. After a battery of tests at KEM, doctors informed them that Basantilata’s cancer had spread to her femoral artery, damaging 25 per cent of her upper hip joints.
Doctors at KEM said even an operation was unlikely to put the patient back on her feet and asked them to come back after a month. Then, Basantilata’s family decided to give SCB a last try.
Doctors at SCB operated upon her October 15. A seven-member team led by orthopaedic specialist Atanu Mohanty replaced the malignant part of the upper hip joint with a metallic upper femoral prosthesis made of titanium. Basantilata is now able to walk on her own with the help of a walker. Doctors assured her she would soon be walking unaided after 45 days.
“The surgery could have cost over `3 lakh in Mumbai. As the patient had BPL quota, she had to spend very less. Cancer patients with such problems should always visit SCB,” a doctor who was part of the operating team said.
