Asha Govind Chunbhuke (age 30 years), a resident of Washim district, was not aware of the cancer she was suffering from when she came to Government Medical College and Hospital for knee surgery. Doctors too as usual were ready to perform knee transplant till they noticed Giant Cell Tumour (GCT), a rare type of bone cancer. In most such cases, the affected organ is amputed. But here, in this Government set-up, the medicos not only removed the bone, but did its replacement along with knee. Such procedures require a huge amount of money, but GMCH administration under Dr Avinash Gawande, Medical Superintendent helped her so that she could avail the benefit of Mahatma Phule Jan Aarogya Yojna (MPJAY). The woman earns her livelihood by working as a farm labourer.

 

While working in the field, she fell and fractured her leg. Her family admitted her to the nearby Government Hospital in Yavatmal, from where she was referred to the Medical College after a few days. Upon arrival at the Medical College, Dr Sumedh Choudhary, Head of the Department of Orthopedics, and his team immediately admitted the patient and conducted various tests. The tests revealed that the woman was suffering from a rare type of bone cancer known as Giant Cell Tumour (GCT) of the thigh bone. This cancer had weakened the woman’s bones, leading to the fracture. In this type of cancer, removing the tumor and performing a mega prosthesis (tumoral mega prosthesis) surgery is the only treatment. This required a very specialised and expensive artificial joint.

 

Therefore, with the joint efforts of the Department of Orthopedics at the Medical College, the Mahatma Phule Jan Arogya Yojana, and the Medical Administration, all the necessary procedures were completed through this scheme and the surgery was performed. Within a few days of the surgery, the woman was able to stand on her feet again. If the disease had not been diagnosed and treated in time, the patient could have lost her leg. This surgery for such a rare bone cancer was performed for the first time in a Government hospital in Central India.

 

The surgery was successfully performed by the team under the guidance of Professor Dr Sumedh Choudhary, Dr Prithviraj Nistane, Associate Professor; Dr Nilesh Sakharkar, Assistant Professor; Dr Kaustubh Kalme, and Dr Abhinav Jogani. Dr Umesh Ramtani, Dr Vidya Karimore, and Sister Mohankar, Ganvir from the Department of Anesthesiology provided valuable assistance. Under the guidance of Dean Dr Raj Gajbhiye and Medical Superintendent Dr. Avinash Gawande, Dr Vijay Mohbia, In-charge of Mahatma Phule Jan Arogya Yojana, and Dr Sanjeev Medha the team worked on the case. The patient’s relative, Dhanraj Padwal expressed his feelings on this occasion and said, “When we took our patient to various hospitals, they quoted a cost of Rs 10 lakh. We were helpless, all the doctors had given up. Finally, the doctors at the GMCH saved the patient’s life. I express my sincere gratitude to everyone, from the Dean of the Medical College, Medical Superintendent Dr Gawande, to the sisters in the ward for this surgery.”