3-month-old Ali needs all the strength he can gather. Watch this emotional roller coaster as the tiny warrior battles for life with his ...

ep-02-s1-insider-the-little-fighter

EP 02 - S1 - InsidER - The Little Fighter

A child who has been on a ventilator for the past 20 days. Will his mother's unwavering faith  and capable doctors be able to save him?  My name is Arshiya Khojani and I am Ali’s mother. When Arshiya received the news that she was pregnant, she was overjoyed.  At the time of 4th month scan, we came to know that Ali had a hole in his heart. That was a really tough time for us. But the doctor informed her that there was a hole in the child's heart. I got nervous but I had faith that he would be alright after birth. Despite all the challenges, his family was overjoyed when Ali was born.  After delivering Ali, I got to know that he still has a lot of health issues. One late night, he suffered a severe attack
because of which he turned blue all of a sudden. He was crying continuously and it looked like he would not survive. That’s when we took him to a hospital. Without delay, Arshiya admitted Ali to a private hospital. Ali, grappling with life and death, his health was deteriorating day by day. After a few days, he was shifted to a ventilator.  For 20 days, Ali continued to breathe with the support of the ventilator.  Then one day, they called Dr. Vishal Chaangela for a consultation. When I first examined Ali, he was very sick. He had infections in his lungs and blood. His kidney functions and blood reports were abnormal. Dr. Vishal Changela came to that hospital and briefed us that this operation was possible. We can try to treat him. For that, we have to do open heart surgery and perform VSD closure. If we close the hole in the heart, I am positive that he will be okay. It’s risky but we do not have any other option. Seeing her child on a ventilator for 20 days, the mother felt a glimmer of hope in the suggested operation. When Changela spoke to me I was a bit taken aback like am I the right person that I should venture into and
think about doing surgery? It was Changela’s confidence, “Sir
you’ve done enough surgeries that we should give this chance to the baby,
because this appears to be the only hope.” Dr. Atul Maslekar told us that there is a little hope. That is when we felt that indeed
our Ali could be saved. I would have anticipated a mother in a lot of distress but here was a young girl who was extremely positive. I was determined to get Ali operated
because that was our last chance. She said we are coming here.
We have met you and we have got full confidence in you
that my baby is gonna do well. So that itself brought my confidence back to me which
initially, I was 50-50 about the case. Now that we are here, I think we are all geared up for the surgery. A small concern was the spike in fever but yesterday’s reports were good and waiting is not going to achieve anything so we have to go ahead. The operation will take about 3-4 hours
and I will talk to you as soon as it’s finished. God is there with you and with me.
Let’s pray for the best and I am sure we should be okay. Sir Ali is in your hands now. Please save my Ali, sir. I believe in God and I believe in you. We will do our best. Look at us as friends, not as God and I am sure with so much confidence you have in us and my team, I am sure we will get there. We will look after him well. I will come out in 3-4 hours as soon as the operation is over. We are going to look after him okay? Just take care of her. I need you to be relaxed. Just look after her. In the open-heart VSD surgery, doctors made an incision in the chest,  temporarily stopping the heart with the heart-lung machine. To repair the Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD),  doctors used a patch to close it so that Ali's heart could function properly.  The operation was successful, and along with the family, Dr. Atul Maslekar and his entire team also took a sigh of relief. However, the danger was not entirely averted.  After the operation,
Ali was on a ventilator for 2-3 days and then doctors thought of removing the ventilator. They removed the ventilator a couple of times
but he was unable to breathe without support. So he continued to be on a ventilator for 20 days after the operation. We will try to remove him from the ventilator
but I think it will still take 3-4 days to take him off completely. Ali’s journey with a team of doctors and
nursing staff has been full of ups and downs. Many a time there was one thing that improved
but some other thing used to go wrong. If we took him off the ventilator, he would get
infections or some other stomach issues. So, this journey was very difficult for all of us. We were also emotionally involved in this case. Arshiya and her family had no other option besides waiting.  There were many teams of doctors
who visited Ali daily but he was not recovering. We were going to go ahead and do everything possible with this baby. 16 days is a very long time for any child or a person to
remain on a ventilator in the ICU but we got him to that and finally, a day came when we extubated him. ECHO images are good, and VSD closure is also good.
There is no residual VSD. Bi-ventricular functions are alright. No pulmonary hypertension. No pleural, pericardial effusion and RVOT also looks clean. So from per cardiac point of view, the condition is very satisfactory. So can plan to wean because the heart is stable and
there are no major requirements. Blood pressure is also normal and we can plan to weaning. He was very small and I had built an attachment with him. His mother and I used to take care of him together. If I was working nearby,
he used to turn and look at me and open his eyes to find me if he heard my voice. I am sure the family must have been happy
but that was the happiest moment in my life and that is where I started calling him “Lucky Ali” and
I have named him from my side “Lucky Ali”. The doctor’s hard work is truly commendable. They were like angels to us. Many people prayed for Ali and I firmly believe
that one of those prayers was answered. A mother's belief and the experienced team of doctors gave Ali 
a new life. 1 out of 140 children, born anywhere in the world, has a heart problem. When you’re about the celebrate the arrival of a new baby, I want every prospective mother to be aware 
that before the 18 weeks of pregnancy,  get a Foetal Echocardiogram Test done. It is very very important for you to know that your baby is healthy and the baby has no cardiac problems.  And, unfortunately, if the baby is found to have a problem,  please ensure that the baby is born in a hospital where there is a facility for doing cardiac surgeries or you give birth to your baby very close to a hospital  where the facilities are available. Appropriate treatment soon after the birth of a baby with a heart problem can make a huge difference between life and death. He is a sweet boy who is loved by everyone. I got a call from the EMS team that they are bringing a patient. He was not able to speak. Code Stroke! Code Stroke!
patient name is Mr. Deepak.

Dr.

Related Videos

Consultation & Treatment

Consult With Loading Doctor Data