Page 20 - Seniorstoday June 2022 Issue
P. 20
about a courtesan singing that song for her and an angiogram was done by a reputed
customers, I would twist it around to say cardiologist attached to that hospital
that I need to know my heart if I am to live. (names withheld to protect privacy). Post
And in the context of the World Heart Day the angiogram, the wife and the family
messaging, that is precisely the objective. met the doctor with a view to find out the
The recent death of the popular singer, next course of action and to know if stents
KK, post his concert in Kolkata, due to a or bypass need to be done. The family
heart attack does rend the minds and hearts was advised that though there are some
of fans. One of the doctors in the hospital blockages in the arteries, neither stents
that KK was taken to, seems to have nor a bypass surgery is required, but with
observed that perhaps a timely CPR (cardio medication the blockages can be reduced/
pulmonary resuscitation ) could have saved dissolved. The doctor handed the family
him. Probably and maybe, but the point his visiting card and asked the patient and
is that it could have been no other way. the family to visit him next day in his clinic.
KK was just called away for singing on a The patient and family were all happy at
different stage, regardless of the fact that the doctor’s diagnosis and advice and went
he was much adulated, a teetotaller and home happily… but not ever after.
smoking abstinent. He took the precautions The next morning, the patient collapsed
that are so very necessary for all of us to in the bathroom due to a massive heart
emulate. attack. He had no chance. The family
was shattered, but stoic at the helpless
turn of events. Was it the doctor’s error
of judgment or recklessness and bravado
in not putting the stents, but discharging
the patient? They will never know and
neither did they want to sue the doctor or
the hospital. To what purpose? Why add
to the trauma of loss of a loved one? What
can one do when the ultimate wi-fi connects
to you? The deceased was a man full of
beans and lived life, but made a sudden exit
when just 63. Dispassionately speaking and
spiritually observing, while a teary trauma
for the family, sudden death is a boon for
the select few. I, for one, would wish that for
KK Photograph source: Wikimedia myself.
Let me share the example of a close Speaking of sudden deaths, a close friend
relative. He had experienced some of mine, in good health and state, gave up
discomfiture and chest pain. The family marathons due to the fear of sudden death
decided that it would be advisable to on the run. As everyone will know, there
do a check-up and find out the cause. have been enough cases of fatal heart attack
He decided to go to a well-known heart collapses in marathons, sports, treks, etc,
hospital in Bandra, a suburb of Mumbai across age groups, among the young and
20
