There's a smile on Dr Ramakant Panda's lips as he recounts one of his most high profile patients to date, Prime Minsiter Dr Manmohan Singh.
There's a smile on Dr Ramakant Panda's lips as he recounts one of his most high profile patients to date, Prime Minsiter Dr Manmohan Singh.
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"There were many VVIPs I treated at Cleveland clinic in USA but this man here was the prime minister of my country. That said, we are taught to disassociate ourselves from celebrity patients and so for 90 per cent of the time, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was just a patient. The other ten per cent? Well, let's just say I'd was as anxious as anyone else," laughed the surgeon at his cabin in Asian Heart Institute at BKC.
Panda will travel back to Delhi this Sunday to remove the surgery stiches. The cardiac surgeon who has operated on hundreds before says that Singh was a 'model patient.'
"He was always concerned about other patients in the hospital and insisted that they not be inconvenienced. Moreover in spite of being a diabetic and hypertensive patient, he had maintained his diet well and we didn't have too many major complications to deal with during surgery.
When the breathing pipe was finally removed after the surgery, his first words were thank you and his second sentence was if all was well in the country or not? If we allowed him, he would have been on his feet in a week but he will have to rest for six weeks before resuming duties."
Panda's schedule at work has already gone back to normal, read heavy with up to six surgeries in a day. "My patients were very understanding when I told them that I was going to operate the Prime minister and many, except those in a very critical situation, chose to wait for me to return," said Panda who performed a redo bypass on Singh at AIIMS last month before Republic Day.
The surgery was long and arduous, lasting 11 hours, and filled with the challenges that a redo bypass poses. "We did five bypass grafts and some were harder than others. It was an unfamiliar environment for the Mumbai team and there were tremendous pressure on us.
However before being wheeled into surgery, the PM told us that he had full faith in us and the job was done well finally."
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