The first time Avijit felt something was wrong with him was when after sitting in a chair in 2005 he found it difficult to get back on his feet again. He felt mild pain in the hip joint of his right leg. This was kind of a surprise to him as he would take his health pretty seriously.

“Every day I would walk for around one hour and then do around 20 minutes of rigorous exercise, which included dips and push ups. So I was actually surprised that I was having this pain in the first place,” he said. “It was not something I was prepared for.”

The pain started 2005 on wards and even after visiting several local hospitals the pain would only increase. To add to Avijit’s misery, his left leg’s hip joint also started aching.

Gradually little chores, which he could do without thinking, walking a few paces, sitting in a chair and getting up from a chair, started becoming a herculean tasks. By 2011 he could not even walk without support.

“Gradually by 2011 my situation became so bad that I could not even walk on my own feet. I had to start using crutches,” he said.

Avijit worked as a primary school teacher in the town of Gopalpur in the Nadia district of West Bengal. His was a family of six. Apart from his wife and their daughter, his old mother and his elder sister lived with him. His job as a teacher provided enough salary to take care of his family, but with this persistent pain in the hip joints, his life was gradually becoming a nightmare.

“Even with all the pain, I had to fulfil my commitments, so not one day did I miss my school because of the pain. Bearing the pain I would go and teach the students. My young students in the school would keep asking me, why I was using crutches to walk, I would make some excuse that I had met with an accident. It was difficult for me to make them understand the situation I was in then,” he said.

Avijit was not used to being not fit, but the situation had forced him into a corner. While he was suffering from the pain the hip joints, one day his younger brother who was staying in another city, called him and told him that he had also started having the same problem as his. “It was then I realized that this was a problem which may been running in my family,” Avijit said.

Avijit could not keep quite, he was determined to find a solution to his ailment as lives of so many people depended on his well being.

Initially he visited some hospitals in his district. After the diagnosis, they told him that the only solution for his ailment was replacing both of his hip joints. They also mentioned that, that treatment was beyond them. He then decided to visit Chennai , where it did not work out for him.

He then went to one more hospital and this time the doctors told him that he had delayed seeking treatment and told him to use some medicines as surgery did not look like an option.

“For me depending on crutches for my whole life was unimaginable,” he said.

It was at this time that Avijit met one of his friends who told him about the treatment his daughter had undergone at the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences, Prasanthigram, Puttaparthi. His friend’s daughter had some problem in the leg bone and had got advanced and totally free treatment at the hospital.

Avijit had not heard about the place, but felt that he should give it a try.

“When I entered the hospital I felt this strange sense of confidence that I will be back being on to my feet earlier.  All this while going to various hospitals, I would feel dejected. But here even before my treatment began I was already feeling reassured that I am going to be all right. I do not know why I felt that, but I did,” he said

Avijit was made to undergo various advanced tests and finally the surgeons at SSSIHMS, Puttaparthi came to the same conclusion, that it was a case of bilateral hip replacement surgery.

A date was given to Avijit and he was told to report on that specific date. Avijit reported on the specific date and a bilateral hip replacement was performed for him

 According to Dr. Prakash Khanchandani, the Head of Department of Orthopaedics, SSSIHMS, Prasanthigram, Mr Avijit kundu was suffering from an inflammatory arthritis called ankylosing spondylitis. The disease had affected both his hip joints and spine significantly. The right hip joint had become almost fused and fixed in one position and the left hip joint was also severely affected, thereby making his normal hip movements impossible. His spine was also fused because of the disease and activities of daily living were significantly affected.  The incapacitation and immobility caused by bilateral hip disease would have eventually made him bed ridden.

The only option to make him walk normally was to do bilateral hip joint replacement surgeries, wherein artificial hip joints in place of the diseased worn out hip joints would make him walk again. Since the hip joints were almost fused and the surgery complex, a meticulous preoperative planning was done before the surgery to ensure a smooth procedure for the patient.

The complex surgery was planned after necessary clearances and was done in one sitting, where in both the hip joints were replaced with Johnson and Johnson artificial hip joint implants on 25.02.2020.

By Swami’s immense grace his recovery was excellent and he responded very well to the surgeries. His rehabilitation post-surgery continued even after he was discharged and he was very compliant with his home based rehabilitation program taught to him.

It was indeed Swami’s immense grace that in spite of such an advanced disease and complex surgeries, his recovery was excellent. The patient was able to do most of his activities of daily living without any additional effort and was soon back to his normal life.

  “I profusely thank Swami and the doctors, nurses and other staff of the hospital for the treatment I received here. For me it was not a hospital, but my home. The surgeons and the nurses felt to me like my parents and my own sisters. Nowhere else could one find such care and affection?” “ Today if I am able to stand on my two feet it is only because of Swami’s hospital,” Avijit said.