Open heart surgery - the girl who saw it all

Ramya, my elder sister’s daughter visited our place after 3 long years. Their family recently shifted back to India from Dubai. It was so pleasurable to be in the company of Ramya’s unassuming husband and their 6 year old son who was a bundle of joy. The happiness of having a supportive husband, a bubbly son and a comfortable financial status was writ large on Ramya’s face.

After the dinner, Ramya was sitting with us in the terrace and we were rewinding plenty of her childhood memories.

“Ramya, do you remember seeing your heart-operation?” I asked. After noticing the look of confusion in Ramya’s face, I bit my tongue! Oh God! I totally forgot the word of warning Ramya’s mother gave me a 20 years back on this matter. I proceeded immediately to camouflage my query: “I mean, do you remember the one month period you spent with us after your heart surgery for recuperation and the joyous time we had together playing “Trade”, “Pallanguzhi”etc?”

Ramya’s face brightened up. “Sure! I remember, Mama. Divya and Rohini (my second sister’s children) were also there with us for the holidays. We used to sit at the terrace….” – Ramya started enthusiastically narrating some funny anecdotes.

But my mind got drifted to the time when Ramya underwent an open heart Surgery at Coimbatore some 20 years ago. Ramya was studying at 8th Standard at that time; she had never been a hale and healthy girl in her childhood; she used to suffer from frequent attack of fever, cold and cough. She used to complain frequently about pain in her knee joints.

Their family was residing at Kumbakonam those days. It was one particularly new doctor, relatively young in age, who, after careful study of Ramya’s heart-beat with the stethoscope suspected a condition of a “heart murmur” and suggested a more detailed investigation. After the tests were done, the result was rather shocking for the entire family: Ramya had a problem in her heart known as VSD (Ventricular Septral Defect), which required correction through an open heart surgery.

The middle class family had to undergo a severe financial difficulty in pooling monetary resources and finally admitted Ramya in a famous private hospital at Coimbatore for the surgery.

Due to pressing professional engagements, I could not be present at Coimbatore on the day of the operation, but I managed to reach there 2 days later. The mental tension that my sister and brother-in-law went through was writ large on their faces though the operation had been successful and Ramya was recuperating in the ICU.

My sister held my hands and cried: “Ramya has virtually taken a rebirth” she said. My brother-in-law explained further: After the operation was over and Ramya was shifted to ICU, she developed severe complications and she was shifted to the operation theatre again. He gave me some more details about the emergency treatment as explained subsequently by the surgeon. I felt very sorry for them; how torturous would that have been for the parents to learn that there was a grave doubt about Ramya’s survival the moment she was taken back to the operation the second time.

I stayed with them for 2 more days till Ramya was shifted to the special ward from ICU.

I normally carry a book to read wherever I go and the book I carried this time was one titled “Life after life” written by one Dr Moody. Dr Moody specialized in the research about people who “almost died” but dramatically came back to life subsequently; He interviewed several people who had had such a “Near Death Experience” and had recorded their experiences in his book. The book contained the narrations of such people (many of whose experiences were strikingly similar to one another) – like their feeling severe pain, “coming out” of the body, “seeing” their body from outside, being drawn as though a tunnel, “seeing” a very bright light-source (God?) which was very soothing, feeling a sense of peace for having left the body, and suddenly by a queer turn of event getting drawn back to the body and waking up again and not feeling so happy about the return etc.

The book was very absorbing to read and it made me wonder whether Ramya too would have had any similar experiences.

After Ramya was shifted to the Special ward, I went to see her. She looked pale and weak and she was still having lots of pain across her chest. My sister and brother-in-law were there and my brother-in-law was talking to her: “It is by sheer God’s grace that you are now here and talking to us; do you know that you were operated for a second time?” My sister obviously did not like such talks – Ramya’s heart was still very weak; any such news could induce fear and shock in her tender heart.

But Ramya said calmly: “Yes, Appa. I know. I saw everything from up above; I was floating up there in the operation theatre…”

It was our turn to get shocked now! “What? What do you mean?” shouted all the three of us in chorus.

“It’s true, Amma. After the operation, I was gradually getting consciousness; but suddenly I felt a very unbearable pain; I heard the nurse shouting: “Something wrong; her pulse is sinking; call the doctor immediately”. Then I lost consciousness. Afterwards, I could feel an unbearable chillness – as if I am getting packed inside an ice box. I just could not tolerate it. I came out. I floated upwards; I saw doctors and nurses surrounding my body; my chest was open and what I saw was flesh and blood. I saw lots of machines in the operation theatre. I didn’t like the scene at all. I wanted to go away. BUT THEY HAD TIED ME THERE! I was simply floating but could not get off the place. I felt I will be happy if they release me! But suddenly I was drawn back to the body…”

As we listened to Ramya’s narration dumb folded, Ramya, exhausted by the strain of the continuous talk, dozed off to sleep. “Unbelievable! Can such thing really happen?” my brother in law was at loss for words. “Did I not tell you what the Surgeon told me? They did place ice cubes all around her body, which is a matter of procedure for preservation of the body while opening up the chest again for the second time! She says she felt severe cold! She has “seen” everything happening to her body!” My sister was simply crying.

I returned to Chennai that evening. After a couple of days, I rang up to the hospital. Ramya was recuperating very well. I wanted to talk to her. Before handing over the phone, my sister said to me in a hushed voice: “Don’t talk to her about her witnessing the operation and all; She has totally forgotten about it in these 2 days. It is perhaps the nature’s way of erasing undesirable memories. Let us not re-kindle it”.

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Perhaps this article by same author may be of interest to you : Having a dialog with the spirits - the Ouija Board