Canada doctors gave up, but Bangalore did it

It all started with a severe headache for 34-year-old Sudha Parthasarthy some years ago.

Within two weeks, the PhD student from Canada started complaining of vomiting too.

Sudha could not find a solution to her problem in Canada. But back in her hometown, Bangalore, she was diagnosed with butterfly glioblastoma multiformae in the brain and received the right treatment.

“I suffered from headache and vomiting for more than one month in Canada, before I went to meet the local doctor there,” says Sudha. “They suspected it to be a severe form of migraine and I was given a heavy dose of painkillers. In Canada, you need to have a family physician. First, you need to consult a family physician, who advises about a specialist. Being a student, it was difficult for me to have a family physician.”

Relief in India
In February 2008, Sudha came to Bangalore and started taking treatment at HCG Hospital. “After an MRI, I was diagnosed with a tumour in the brain,” she says. “My skull was opened and surgery was performed in March 2008. After that, I underwent chemotherapy and radiotherapy.”

In October 2010, a follow-up scan revealed that there was recurrence in the form of a small growth. The doctors advised her to go for cyberknife treatment.

“Cyberknife is helpful for patients when surgery cannot be done,” says Sudha. “With cyberknife, I could come to hospital, take treatment and go home every day and do my routine work. It was a five-day treatment, and painless too.”

Dr HV Madhusudan, consultant, neurosurgeon, HCG, who treated Sudha, says, “The tumour was spreading to both sides of the brain, involving important centres in the brain like memory, speech, movements of both legs, and bladder control. The surgery was quite challenging and you had to do it in two sittings. We almost took out the tumour completely and then she was subjected to cyberknife treatment and chemotherapy.”

Worldwide, more than 80% glioblastoma multiformae patients do not live beyond two years. But in Sudha’s case, the disease was diagnosed four years ago. She has been able to complete her PhD thesis after the treatment, in spite of her challenging condition, says Dr Madhusudan. Sudha’s treatment is over. She is now on general medication for seizures. And once every three months, she meets her doctor for a follow-up.