Patient recites Hanuman Chalisa as doctors remove brain tumour

A patient here kept on reciting Hanuman Chalisa for hours while doctors performed a surgery to remove tumour from his brain. The 30-year-old man was suffering from epilepsy seizures.

Hulasmal Jangir, a computer accountant hailing from Bikaner initially hesitated when doctors apprised his that they would conduct brain surgery keeping him awake in the operation theatre. Later, he agreed as the doctors claimed that was the only way his speech would remain unaffected.

The surgery took place on November 14 at Narayana Multispeciality Hospital here.

This makes it amongst the first few reported cases in Rajasthan, wherein a unique neuro-surgical procedure - "Awake Craniotomy" or "Awake Brain Surgery" has been successfully performed.

Jangir was suffering from epilepsy seizures since the last three months. Although biopsy results had confirmed Grade 2 Brain Tumor diagnosis, he was refused surgery at a few other hospitals citing enormous chances of loss of speech and possible paralysis upon surgery.

He then came to Narayana Multispeciality Hospital where the neurosurgery team led by Dr KK Bansal successfully performed the surgery on the patient.

Recalling the moments before the surgery, Bansal told ANI: "On October 20, the man was suffering from epilepsy seizures. He was tested for blood pressure at a clinic but was found to be normal. Then again on October 24, the problem recurred again, following which he was admitted to a private hospital. CT scan showed he had a brain tumour. The hospital authorities said they will not do the surgery. Then, he went to Ahmedabad, where a biopsy was conducted and Grade 2 tumour was detected. But, doctors said that they will not conduct the surgery as it could lead to loss of speech."

Elucidating on the surgery process, he said: "His relatives came to our hospital and apprised us of the problem. It was a huge risk in conducting the surgery. We did a special type of surgery called awake brain surgery used by some neurosurgeons to remove tumours that are located close to areas that control vision, speech and body movements. In the patient's case, the tumour was in that area of the brain which controls speech. Even a slight error could have led to speech impairment for life."

Bansal underlined that the patient was reading the Hanuman Chalisa during the surgery as he was a devotee of the deity and would give him more strength.

"We gave him some newspapers to read, asked him to identify photos of common political figures. We also asked him certain questions to test his speech and he answered normally. Later, we did an MRI scan where the tumour was successfully removed and the report came normal. The procedure took time as it was a three-hour long surgery. There were seven to eight doctors in the team. He was discharged on the third day," he further said.