Even at the age of 74 Sitamma would be a bundle of energy. Her day would begin early and after a quick bath and prayer, she would involve herself completely in the household chores. She stayed with her younger son’s family which was spread across three generations. Her grandchildren, son, daughter-in-law and herself. Her granddaughter, whom she was close to, had recently got married off. The family mainly depended on agriculture, which in Anantapur district, one of most rainfall deficient districts in Andhra Pradesh, was never a secure source of income. Sitamma, therefore, also depended on the Government pension for old people.

One day in the month of March, while Sitamma was busy performing her household chores, she felt a little pain in her lower abdomen. Like everyone else she thought that it would go away, but it did not.  Moreover, she started noticing that frequency of her urination increased. Added to that was a feeling of persistent fatigue. Since, she was diabetic the family did not take it very seriously. When the symptoms became too obvious and started interfering with her daily routine, she mentioned it to her family.

The concerned family took her to a local hospital, which was in the town of Hindupur. After some preliminary examinations on Sitamma, the doctors asked her to undergo various advanced tests.  She was taken to a corporate hospital in Bangalore where the doctors diagnosed that Sitamma was suffering from multiple tumours in her urinary bladder and that it had reached such a stage that the whole bladder may have to be removed surgically and then reconstructed. The doctors also told her that delay in treating the problem may cause complication in the already delicate situation. When asked how much the surgery could cost, they were told that it would be upwards of around Rs. 400,000- Rs. 600,000. This news came as a bolt from the blue for Sitamma and her family. 

Growing desperate to find some answers, Sitamma and family started contacting friends and relatives, when suddenly they remembered that their granddaughter was married to a boy from Puttaparthi.

They knew there was big hospital at Puttaparthi established by Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba. But they did not know much beyond that or whether the surgery they required could be performed at that hospital.  When the family asked their son-in-law about the treatment of Sitamma, the son-in-law approached the SSSIHMS, Prasanthigram with the patient's medical reports. One look at the reports and the surgeons at the Urology department informed the family that the surgery could be performed at the hospital. This answer filled Sitamma and her family them with a great relief and joy. What added to their joy was the fact that the treatment in Bhagawan Baba’s hospital was completely free to all irrespective of caste, class, creed, race, religion or nationality. 

Soon they made their way from their village to the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences, Prasanthigram. One look at the hospital and Sitamma and her family were mesmerized. “ It was too good to be true to believe that we were looking at a hospital. It looked like some palace or a grand temple,” she said.

After going through Sitamma’s medical reports once again, the surgeons at the department of Urology made her undergo various advanced tests and concluded, as suggested by the hospital in Bangalore, that she required a surgery to remove the tumour ridden urinary bladder and then its reconstruction.

It was going to be a complex surgery, but Sitamma was unfazed. “ None in our family had ever undergone any surgery till now, but I had no fear. We had total faith in Swami and in the Hospital and the doctors who were treating me. I immediately agreed to whatever the doctors suggested,” Sitamma said after the surgery.

According to Dr. Ashwin Sekhar, Consultant at the Department of Urology it was complex as well as a delicate surgery, given that the age of the patient was around 75 years. "In medical terminology this kind of surgery is called cystectomy with ileal conduit urinary diversion. In this we remove the diseased bladder and in its place create a tube called the ileal conduit from a piece of intestine that allows the kidneys to drain and urine to exit the body through a small opening. "As you can see it is a complex procedure, but with Swami's Grace she responded well to the surgery and had an uneventful recovery. 

As mentioned Sitamma was soon back at home performing her chores as usual. On hindsight she says that had it not been Swami’s hospital I would have never agreed to undergo any such surgery and where would one have so much of money to spend.

All the doctors and the nurses in the hospital were so cordial and nice, especially in the intensive care area where I was kept after the surgery, I felt as if the nurses were my own kith and kin.

“Only wish to say that had it not been Swami I would not have been alive today,” Sitamma concluded.

Jai Sai Ram