Zambia Patient Gets Best Price Spinal Fusion Surgery in India

Spinal Fusion Surgery – Dr. S. Karunakaran

I am Fayme Cressac and I live in Zambia with my two children and husband. I wish to speak about my experience as a person who has undergone herniated disc removal and Spinal Fusion Surgery in India to overcome the injury in my back. A herniated disc is one that slips out of its normal position and starts pressing against a nerve. This is an extremely painful condition, and I really have empathy for people who have suffered from this problem. I wish to share my experience so that other people with the same problem find the relief that I did after my surgical procedures done by Dr. S Karunakaran. I live in Zambia but chose India for my surgery due to various reasons. First of all, the talent and skill pool of orthopedic surgeons and neurosurgeons are much larger and much better compared to Zambia. The other reason is that any surgical procedure is much more affordable if done in India rather than opting for expensive countries like the USA or UK.

In fact, I had not heard about medical tourism in India until the question of my own surgery came up in my life. I had ended up with a herniated disc due to an accident. My lower back took the brunt of the shock and this is why the disc moved away from its normal position. I was in excruciating pain due to this, and doctors said that would have to get the disc removed. The trouble was I could not find a doctor whom I could rely upon. My friend Jayme was the one who suggested going for Affordable Spinal Fusion Surgery in India. She said that she knew of a person who had a heart bypass surgery done in India with very good results. She also said that the skill and knowledge of the doctors in India were much better than the ones in Zambia and I should consider this option.

Now the trouble was that my surgery needed to be done soon because of the extreme pain I was in, and the disc was pressing against my nerve and could cause more damage. This is where we came upon the term medical tourism agency. Jayme and my husband started thorough research in this regard and they were amazed to know about the many medical tourism agencies in India.

Jayme said that the person who had the bypass surgery done in India also took the services of a medical tourism agency. The agency was Dheeraj Bojwani Consultant, and the patient had a great experience. Still, we considered conducting online research and we found that Dheeraj Bojwani- medical service provider was among the best agencies in India. Before talking to them however, we spoke to around 3-4 agencies, but due to the fact that for Dheeraj Bojwani Consultant we had the first-hand recommendation of a person who had experienced their services was the deciding factor for us.

We asked the lady how much time it would all take. She said that usually, it took 2 months to get the medical visa through. The rest of the things did not take much time, and the rest depended on the availability of the doctor. She said that she would get back to us in a couple of days to give us the doctor’s profiles and other information such as a list of the hotels. We waited while I was writhing in pain and had to consume heavy doses of pain killers. Now that I am over the ordeal I look back and again and again thank Dheeraj Bojwani Consultant for being the most professional and efficient medical tourism agency. Not only this, their methods of working are completely ethical and they are truly empathetic and understanding of the trouble and pain of the patient that they are providing the services to.

The lady called in two days as promised and said that she had mailed the information to us. We went through the list of doctors that she had sent, and just as she had said, they all had excellent profiles. She had also included reviews of the patients who had their treatment done by the different doctors. We asked her for a day’s time so that we could make a decision at peace. She said that we could take all the time that we required but we should hurry because if the damage caused to the nerve due to the herniated disc increased then it would be detrimental to my health in the future.

We said we would answer soon and immediately the three of us started to study the profiles of the doctors. Out of all of them, the profile of Dr. S. Karunakaran top spine surgeon in India struck us as the aptest. For one thing just like the other doctors, his credentials were excellent, but he had a cheerful and pleasant demeanor that immediately appealed to me. Jayme said that I needed to make the final decision because I should be comfortable with the doctor and Jayme or my husband would not interfere with this. I finalized Dr. Karunakaran Top spine surgeons in India, and the next day we placed a call to the Dheeraj Bojwani Consultant number. The same lady answered our call and we told her regarding our choice. She said that we had chosen rightly because Dr. Karunakaran was quite popular with the patients coming from African countries. He had a special affinity with them and he was known to have performed all surgeries without any complication.

She asked us to send her our travel documents so that she could make arrangements for the procedure of medical visas along with our flight tickets and hotel bookings. She said that she would let us know the status of matters in three days’ time. I started counting days because I was tired of the pain and discomfort. My personal and professional life had been affected very much because of my condition. I had to take leave of absence from my work as a teacher and my kids were being neglected on my part. However, I thank my husband and Jayme who stood by me through the entire ordeal. They not only provided moral support, but my husband also made sure that I was not put to any physical discomfort and did all the household chores that earlier I used to do.

Soon we received the call from Dheeraj Bojwani consultant saying that the medical visa would go through in one month and immediately after that Dr. S Karunakaran would be available to perform the surgery. Soon the day came when Jayme and I boarded the flight to India. The airline had made special provisions for me because of the condition that I was in and needless to say this had been done due to the inference of Dheeraj Bojwani consultants. This very fact made me think that we had made the right choice with our medical tourism agency. When we landed in India, a warm and polite man picked us up from the airport and took us to a really plush hotel which we had chosen after reading the reviews. The hotel staff was very welcoming and they paid special attention to my condition because they knew that we were medical tourists.

The young man asked us to eat and sleep well to get rid of the jet lag because the next day he would take us to the hospital to meet Dr. Karunakaran. He appeared on time the next day and took us to a stately building which was the hospital where I would have my surgery done. Dr. Karunakaran was as warm and cheerful as he appeared in his photograph. He soon explained the procedure to us with the help of charts and diagrams. In the surgery the herniated disc would be removed and then a bone graft from the bone bank would be placed between the two vertebrae. The vertebrae would be joined with the help of a metal rod and screws. Soon the two vertebrae would be joint together and they would act as a single bone unit.

This would completely relieve me of the pain and I would be able to lead a normal life doing the work at home and outside as I was doing earlier. I would have to stay at the hospital for three days and then I could embark on the journey back home. For some time, I would be required to wear a brace and though the bones would take a long time to fuse together and heal completely I would be active as before. The only thing was that I had to take precautions, not to put any kind of pressure on the back. Hence lifting heavy objects, or doing anything that could cause my spine to twist was to be avoided. I would also have to undergo physical therapy sessions, but these could be done in my own country. I would also suffer from pain for some days as the incision healed, but that could be handled with pain killers. I would also be prescribed anti-biotic to ensure that I did not develop an infection at the site of the incisions. There would be some draining fluid from the incision, but that was not a cause of worry unless the fluid turned yellow or was of a bad odor.

I expressed my fear that this seemed to be a serious kind of procedure, and Dr. Karunakaran said that it indeed was. However, he also said that most of the patients who had undergone this procedure were able to lead a normal life and I need not worry about anything. He said that I feel that the procedure is serious, but for him, it was a matter that he dealt with every day. He was quite adept at the procedure and I also remembered reading reviews of his patients and thought that I was in safe hands.

Dr. Karunakaran said that I would stay in the hospital the night before the surgery to make sure that all my vital signs were good. He also asked me to get an MRI done in the hospital so that he could take the decision of how to do the surgery. This is because doctors place incisions at different points to reach the spine. In fact, some times, the incision is placed in the chest or abdomen as per the location of the Herniated Disc. After seeing the report of the MRI scan, he said that he would be placing two incisions on both sides of my spine. Jayme was asked to go back to the hotel, while I stayed overnight at the hospital. The staff that attended to me was really very polite and empathetic but also professional and efficient at the same time. I was asked not to eat anything after midnight because I would be given general anesthesia.

The next day I was taken into the operation room and given the anesthetic. I woke up with Jayme sitting next to my bed and the hospital staff in attendance. I was hungry and it was lunchtime so the staff brought me my lunch. In the evening Dr. Karunakaran came on his rounds and said that the operation had gone quite well. I could expect to return home after two days. I called my husband and told him that it was successful spinal fusion surgery in India to which he sounded relieved because he too, had been tensed about my condition.

Soon we were back in Zambia, and now more than 2 years after my Spinal Fusion Surgery in India I am leading an active and healthy life. I thank Dr. Karunakaran for relieving me of such a serious condition and also thankful to the Dheeraj Bojwani- a Medical Tourism Provider for their valuable services.

See All Our Patient Testimonials