OPEN HEART SURGERY

 Giji Mathew

Accounts Clerk

KUTSeminary Kannammoola Trivandrum 

Giji stood there erect in his cubicle on the 14th of July 2025 as the Treasurer left for lunch. Lean and without an inch of flab, he looked perfectly healthy. In the afternoon, the Principal asked him to furnish certain urgent data. He had collated that.

The next morning, on the 15th, Giji rings up the Treasurer and tells him he would be on leave that day. Giji normally doesnot avail leave. The Treasurer carried on with the operations. In the afternoon, Giji rings up the Treasurer again. He tells him that he is at the Cosmopolitan Hospital where they are going to move him to the ICU. It was a shock. Giji couldn't carry on with the conversation. His wife takes over. She tells Giji had a pain on the left arm  and he had vomitted after his breakfast that morning. They had taken an Uber to reach the hospital.

According to the doctors there, Giji had a heart attack nearly 80 hours ago and the  current discomfiture was due to that. Giji couldn't believe it. Two days later they took him in for an Angiogram. But they didnot proceed. They said he had three blocks and he required open heart bypass surgery. The surgeon told them the heart attack was not 80 hours old, but around 10 years old. Giji could not recall any such event in his life till then.

Giji was shifted to KIMS.

He was operated upon on the 23rd. He was discharged on 30th July 2025.

It's a painful grind now.

Giji is around 45. His wife had recently joined Loyola as a Hindi teacher.

He belongs to Pampady. Son of an upright CSI Church Worker known as Mathai Upadeshi, Giji excels his father. Incidentally, both his parents are no more.

At the KUTS the accounts revolved around him. He worked hard. He never sought any favour from anyone. He never talked much. His work did the talking for him. He was always receptive.

Now that he is convalescing KUTS is eagerly looking for his return hale and hearty.

These days it turns out that to live is costly. 

Treatment at KIMS too is. Not rich, Giji has borrowed heavily to pay off the hospital expenses. 

But he is sanguine he could repay all that when he is up and about.

Giji's people did make a few consultations elsewhere before deciding to go in for surgery at KIMS.

The advice is an eye opener. In many hospitals, the surgery could be put through only after two weeks. The waiting list was pretty long.  But they were in unison that in consideration of the young age of the patient, surgery should not be delayed at all. They were further told that if it had been  an older person two weeks' delay would not have been that crucial. 

I leave it to the reader to decipher that.