Sai Shakhi Speaks And Smiles Once Again <Only By Bhagavan's Grace>

[Guest guest]

through the sides of his mouth, between the teeth and the cheek, until the food

went past the 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. - Heart2Heart Team (Sharing With

Sai Love) Ram.ChuganiRam ChuganiKobe, Japanrgcjp

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