It was a ordinary day for us, on 12th August 2019, Ketan Soni finished his work at night 10pm. He started vomiting at 11pm and had a little bit of headache too. We visited a general physician at midnight 12, who treated him for vomiting thinking it must be food poisoning but he was quite restless and his vomiting didn’t stop. Thus we took him to the nearest hospital at 7am. A senior doctor arrived 2 hours later by then his condition had deteriorated and he was immediately shifted to ICU. To each one of our surprise Ketan was having a stroke. Let me put this in inverts “Stroke can happen to anybody.”
Ketan who is just 39 years old, works out 5 days a week, doesn’t smoke, doesn’t drink and can be considered a fit and healthy individual is a prime example of this. A scan at local hospital revealed that a clot had blocked the blood flow in the brain. Doctors performed a procedure called “thrombectomy” to open the artery. After the surprise element we were expecting things to get back to normal in a week’s time. But here comes the shocking part and this was something I had heard for the first time in my life that is brain swelling , (that too in sensitive area called brainstem) like any other part in our body even brain swells. This was the most dangerous episode of my life. To make space for the swelling we have to cut a part of the skull so the brain gets enough space to spread. On advice of our family physician we shifted him to Kokilaben Hospital.
I whole heartedly thank doctor Hrishikesh Sarkar and his team at Kokilaben Hospital to successfully perform this surgery. Chances of his survival were bare minimal but we had hope and faith in God, in our doctors and in the power of prayer. Hope is important because it can make the present moment less difficult to bare. It’s important to remember that setbacks, failures and tragedy are part of life. Whether we manage to find joy and success in the daily struggle of life is largely dependant on our ability to persevere through even the toughest adversity without ever giving up. After the surgery Ketan was in ICU for 16 days and later shifted to step down ICU. He started his rehabilitation. He worked with therapist to sit, stand, walk, speak, swallow and other regular activities.
Ketan had an “entourage” of supporters including friends and family by his side. On 29th September 2019 he was discharged from Kokilaben Ambani Hospital. Along with Doctor Hrishikesh we would like to thank doctor Tushar Raut and Doctor Abhishek Srivastav for treating him. Today Ketan continues to work hard to recover and lead a normal life. He takes medicines to prevent blood clot and he is determined to not let anything stop him from doing what he loves. So to each and every one who reads this live life to the fullest, you never know when you might stop being the same person you are today. Life is so precious, it can be lost in an instant. ’Health’ and ‘Life’ are not valued till sickness or life threatening accidents occur. The greatest glory in living, lies not in never failing, but in rising every time we fail. May Ketan’s story be a source of encouragement and hope to all who read it.
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