SAI SHAKTHI SPEAKS AND SMILES ONCE AGAIN!

[Guest guest]

small gap behind the last tooth. Although he attended school like any other

child of his age he was handicapped by his inability to speak. He was affected

by ankylosis (fusion of joint due to bone formation) of the Temporo-Mandibular

joint (T-M joint), the hinge where the two jaw bones meet. Initially the family

sought help from a teaching hospital in Orissa. After three months of

hospitalisation and procrastination, the doctors agreed to perform the

operation that was needed to have his mouth opened. They wanted the family

agree to an elective tracheotomy (making a surgical opening in the throat for

placement of a breathing tube into the trachea or windpipe) for a safe

anaesthetic, but the family refused consent and took the boy home. The boy’s

father, who happened to

be working in Delhi, brought Sai Shakti to see some specialists at an

established teaching hospital. They too maintained that the boy should have a

tracheotomy for a safe anaesthetic, which was an accepted practice for a case

like this. Once again the family backed off allowing the boy’s misery to

continue. Sai Shakti along with his family and relatives attend Sai bhajans

locally. Some devotees at the bhajan, who had served as sevadals at the Super

Speciality hospital, suggested that they could try Swami’s hospital in

Puttaparthi, knowing that the hospital provides facilities for Plastic surgery,

in addition to Cardiac, Urology and Ophthalmology. With faith in Swami, Sai

Shakti came to Puttaparthy immediately with his uncle and consulted the plastic

surgeon. They were told that the operation was not a problem, but the

anaesthetist must be willing to administer the anaesthetic without the

tracheotomy. With some reassurance the boy was

referred to the anaesthetist for an assessment. The senior anaesthetist

reassured the patient and family that no tracheotomy would be done. Preliminary

investigations including X-rays and CT scans were done, which gave a good image

of the deflections and diameter of the air passages from the nostrils to the

trachea. While the anaesthetist was happy to proceed with the anaesthetic

without the tracheotomy, the patient was alerted to the fact that, in the

unlikely event of a failed nasal intubation, the operation would have to be

abandoned. The Super Speciality hospital is well equipped, even with

fibro-optic intubating bronchoscope that is quite costly and not generally

available in most government hospitals, and teaching hospitals in India , let

alone charity hospitals. Bhagavan has

spared nothing to make such facilities available for the poor, not to mention

even the expertise of talented doctors. The operative procedure is a kind of

surgical remodelling of the T-M joint with a prosthesis (arthroplasty) to get

his jaws opened. The plastic surgeon in Swami’s hospital is very experienced

and had done this procedure several times in his long career. The anaesthetist

too has wide experience and is familiar with procedures such as this. All staff

involved in this case looked forward to a successful outcome, with Swami’s

grace. Prior to admission the boy had spent a week in Puttaparthy and attended

darshan of Bhagavan in Sai Kulwant Hall. He had seen Bhagavan going in the

midst of devotees in His special silver-metallic car. Sai Shakti was confident

that Swami would help him. He got admitted to the ward and the night before the

operation he had a dream. In his own words Sai

Shakti described to the operating theatre staff his overnight dream:

“Swami entered the Kulwant hall in His car from the ladies side. When the car

reached the middle of Kulwant hall it suddenly turned left and headed towards

the Gopuram. I got up and ran towards Swami and He lowered the window. I

stretched my hand out to Him and Swami gave me a laddu and said, “Teesko”

(take). I hesitated, remembering my inability to open my mouth, but I was

surprised that I could immediately open my mouth and eat the laddu that Swami

had given. This dream experience has given me confidence that my operation

would be successful, so I am not frightened.” The boy was very happy and

cooperative in the operating theatre. The

anaesthetist had no difficulty in passing the breathing tube (endotracheal tube)

with the help of the flexible paediatric fibro-optic bronchoscope guiding him.

Normally a blind nasal intubation without seeing the larynx is very difficult,

although very occasionally it is still possible. On this occasion it was

Bhagavan’s mercy that made everything synchronize to make it a success. The

entire operation that lasted an hour and a half went off smoothly. At the end

of the operation the mouth was kept open with a rubber wedge. The boy recovered

from anaesthesia smoothly. As he woke up the first thing he saw was Swami's

picture on the wall and he said “Sai Ram! Sai Ram!!” Those were his first

words. He felt no pain and needed no pain-killer. He was able to speak to the

doctors and nurses in the recovery area of the operating suite. He could hardly

hold back what he had experienced under anaesthesia. We narrate the same, once

again, in Sai Shakti’s own

words: “I saw a ball of fire burst through the wall and Swami

emerged from it. He reached out to me and lovingly stroked my cheek and jaw on

the side of the operation. Then He blessed me with His abhayahasta and merged

into the ball of fire, which disappeared into the wall. That was sufficient for

me to know that the operation would cure me.” The remaining few days in

hospital went uneventful. He started eating normally and kept narrating his

wonderful experiences of Swami’s grace and the cure of his misery. He left the

hospital full of gratitude to Bhagavan and praise for the kindness of doctors

and nurses who showed such love and encouragement. Sai Shakthi as his name

suggests truly got his 'Shakthi' i.e., power from Sai. He was energised by Sai.

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