Bidisha never imagined that her brother, who was once hearty and hale, would ever be reduced to the state that he is in now - pale, weak and lying in a hospital bed hooked to several machines. 30-year-old Bidesh had only ever wanted to put his recently earned MBA degree to use and make his parents proud.

But in an unfortunate turn of events, Bidesh was diagnosed with a neurological disorder that has left him bed-ridden for over 7 months, now. His parents Manas and Krishna Roy, yearn to see him stand on his own two feet and be able to talk to them again without any difficulty. Only urgent brain surgery and prolonged treatment can save his life, but his family cannot afford it.

He underwent surgery soon after his diagnosis

Originally from the Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Bidesh moved to Delhi to pursue his MBA. He had been living with his sister in Hyderabad during the lockdown and had just finished writing his final exams in November when he started displaying symptoms that caused his sister to be concerned.

“He had been his usual energetic self, excited to finally finish studying. But one day he told me he’d been having headaches and feeling some weakness in his body. I thought it was just the fatigue from studying hard for his exams that was getting to him. But they persisted for about a week, and then he started getting seizures. He’d have difficulty moving his hands and legs, and that’s when I got worried that something was very wrong. I took him to the hospital where he had to do several expensive tests. From the results, we found out that he had necrosis in the brain.” - Bidisha, sister

Necrosis is a condition that causes cell injury, resulting in the premature death of cells in the body tissue, which in Bidesh’s case had occurred in his brain. Soon after his diagnosis, he underwent brain surgery and follow-up treatment, including physiotherapy to help strengthen his motor function.

But less than two weeks later, things took a turn for the worse

Bidesh had been recovering well from his surgery, and showing signs of improvement with his physiotherapy. He was able to walk around and do little things with the help of support. But only 10 days after his surgery, things began to change.

“He was doing really well, getting back on his feet again and talking quite a bit. So when he started to lose his balance despite moving with support, and feeling drowsy often, I became concerned yet again. I thought that with this surgery and physiotherapy he would be good as new in no time, but I was wrong. His gait function [movement regulated by the cerebellum] was impaired and the left side of his body started becoming weaker, day by day. Yet again, I rushed him to the hospital and from tests we found out that he had CSF imbalance and needed to go undergo another surgery to fix it.”

Cerebrospinal fluid or CSF is a colourless fluid continuously secreted by the brain and absorbed into the bloodstream. The CSF in Bidesh’s brain wasn’t being absorbed and instead had accumulated, causing an imbalance. He underwent surgery for shunt implantation, a hole to drain the fluid.

He needs to undergo another brain surgery and prolonged treatment, to recover

Following the surgery, Bidesh was back in physiotherapy and showing great improvement, but it didn’t last long. In February, his condition began to deteriorate yet again. He suffered a lung infection that led to pneumonia and had to be on ventilator support for a little over a week. What’s more is that he still has a CSF imbalance and needs urgent corrective surgery, which will cost about INR 22 lakhs.
 

“He has to be fed through his nose, but they found that a little bit of the food was going to his lungs and has led to an infection. He’s been recovering from that for the time-being but we have been told that he needs to undergo another surgery soon. We don’t have any money left to pay for his treatment. We’ve done all we can - used up all our savings, borrowed money from friends and family, sold our valuables and even taken loans. But now we are at a loss. We refuse to give up; we see how hard he is fighting and all we want is for him to get better. We can only turn to you now. Please help us...”

Bidisha is the sole income earner and the family has spent over INR 40 lakhs on Bidesh’s treatment so far, but it is not nearly enough. Bidesh needs you. Any contribution you make, no matter the amount, will help him immensely. Click here to donate!