Rebooting the brain: part 1: The journey of Hope is one of the best books from the point of view of an accomplished Neurosurgeon Saran Srinivasan and his wife Dr Pratibha.
It has these amazing stories of so many recoveries and many tragedies but the attempt and the work done by Dr Saran and his team is simply remarkable! To even see the amount of effort taken by the whole team in the care of patients with Neurological issues like Dystonia, Parkisonism and chronic pain is simply mind boggling!
The best parts are of course the ones with great outcomes and a smiling face at the end of the day!
The complete review and summary would arrive soon since it is not yet complete but one story really caught me banging my head on the proverbial wall along with Dr Saran!
He tells about how one fine day he got a call from his doctor friend stating that the doctor’s brother was riding a two wheeler and since he did not have any helmet, he met with a major accident!
They rushed him to Dr Saran’s center and he had the usual ‘brain surgery’ for evacuation of blood and then a prolonged stay in the ICU. He then regained consciousness and then of course he could not remember much initially!
He was a CA with a great practice but like Dr Saran says, the brain is like the core unit of the body! Without that you are clueless and not yourself. The road to recovery was then slow but steady. This was a common story in many cases as discussed in the novel. The amount of efforts which are put up by the physiotherapists, the speech language pathologists and the whole team is simply amazing! Many times the progress is so slow and this is very stressful not only for the patient but more importantly to the care givers!
In fact the caregivers of patients needing long term care and commitment are the most important factors! In many cases they have been found to have multiple issues since many times it is a thankless work with very little improvement and too much time. The progress is slow and only visible to someone else. You need the work of the whole team and only then the recovery is possible. Many times even if you put your heart and soul, he or she may not recover or may not have a full recovery. Of course all we can do as doctors and more importantly humans is to try and hope!
Luckily though in this case, the gentleman recovered slowly and steadily! He began to walk and talk and with therapy made an almost complete recovery till he reached a point where he started practicing again!
All is well you would think, till Dr Saran saw the same man riding his scooter one fine day and saw him not wearing a HELMET!
He actually messaged the doctor friend that his brother can apply for a lifetime membership in his neurorehabilitation institute!
We as humans take the routines of our lives so lightly! We must be thankful of our comfort and have responsibility! Even the so called bird brains know that!
Now be safe and use your head!
Shubh ratri!
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