When do we need bypass surgery?
As we grow old, it happens that due to lifestyle habits and other external factors, the arteries which supply blood and oxygen to the heart stop functioning properly. There is a building up of plaque, which makes the arteries grow hard and narrow, leading to insufficient supply to the heart.
While ordinary heart blockages can be dealt with and removed with medication, exercises, and changes in the lifestyle, it becomes difficult in the case of severe artery blockage. That is when the patient needs coronary heart bypass surgery. While the4 surgery cannot mend or remove the already formed blockages in the heart, it can create alternative paths around those blocked arteries.
Why should one go for bypass surgery?
There are many benefits associated with the procedure. A CABG provides protection against heart attack, improves ventricular function, provides relief from respiratory discomfort and angina, helps in retaining strength, prevents memory loss, does away with the requirement for repeated transfusions, helps in maintaining a stable heart rhythm, decreases risks of contracting heart issues in the future, helps in retaining strength, keeps the body active in both personal and professional life, and improves ventricular function.
What are the risks associated with bypass surgery?
In spite of all the advantages of bypass surgery, there are indeed a few risks associated with this procedure which is after all rather complicated. Those are infections post the surgery, bleeding in the arteries, the formation of blood clots, renal failure, complications arising in the lungs, heart rhythm problems, post-pericardiotomy syndrome, memory loss, and even death.
All these risks are further increased in the patients who are elderly, have unhealthy muscle functioning due to prior issues, lung trouble due to chronic problems, diabetes in patients, already existing problems in the kidneys or in the arteries.
What is the scene in the bypass surgery sector in India?
India is one of the cheapest places to get a bypass coronary surgery done, and at a very good quality at that. New techniques are introduced every day, and the recent introduction of the GST has given an enormous boost to the thing. It is around 60-65% cheaper than the developed countries offering standard healthcare like the US, Germany, and Canada. The cities that are best with cardiac acre are Delhi, Chennai, Mumbai, Bangalore, and Hyderabad.
And yet in spite of all this, the picture is not so rosy. The scenario is actually rather frightening, and this is where crowdfunding comes in.
How can crowdfunding help with bypass surgery in India?
Actually, the need is dire really. The places offering the best CABG services in India are Fortis, Delhi, Apollo in Mumbai and Chennai, Wockhardt, Bangalore, among others. And all these places are the elite private medical institutions in the country. Which is not surprising considering the increasingly failing nature of the public infrastructure in this country, which is naturally losing out to the emerging private structures, and which are routinely being neglected by the government. And yet, most of the people in this country do not have an income to access these elite private institutions.
The average cost of a bypass surgery ranges anything from Rs 1.5 lakhs to Rs. 4.5 lakhs across the NABH/ JCI accredited hospitals in India. Which is often difficult to be afforded by the average lower-middle-class family, meaning that the poor do not even feature in the picture.
Very recently, a scheme has been started by the Union government which lets BPL families access free bypass surgeries in hospitals both public and private hospitals who have registered themselves in this scheme. Nevertheless, this leaves many such BPL families out of the loop due to the complications involved in paperwork, as it does families which do not come under the BPL but who find sustenance hard nevertheless.
So what are such patients going to do? Crowdfunding initiatives in the fast emerging crowdfunding platforms in India can go a long way in securing a proper treatment for the patients who are in the urgent need to get the surgery done.
The things that need to be kept in mind while crowdfunding treatment of bypass surgery in India is as follows:
– If you are someone who is directly vested in a case which requires crowdfunding, make sure that you get the procedure right. Crowdfunding is a simple procedure really, and there are support teams in the major crowdfunding platforms in India who would be there to help you with everything at the charge of a small fee.
– In case you are somebody who is willing to help out a patient and you are not a big name in the crowdfunding sector, make sure that you start small. As the charges for operation are significant, it is always a good idea to start with one patient and then proceed accordingly.
– Surgeries are among the most popular cases across the crowdfunding platforms. Meaning that there would be a huge competition for the attention of the potential donors. So make sure to put in all the relevant documents like the reports and the bills. Not only that, make sure to humanize the patient as much as possible so that the potential donor knows exactly what is at stake. Empathy is the key to crowdfunding.
