Mum, dad, four-year-old who battled for life, now face crushing debt

Mayank, who has undergone a liver transplant

Just 14 months ago, the Patils were the picture of health and happiness, until Jyoti was diagnosed with breast cancer in November 2017. Two months later, her husband Harish barely survived a heart attack. Then they learnt that their only child, four-year-old Mayank, had a rare and life-threatening liver condition, requiring an urgent transplant.

Despite the terrible odds, the family is not short of fighting spirit. What they have run out of, though, is money, to pay for the mounting medical bills. Harish, 35, and Jyoti, 29, had already wiped out their savings on her treatment and his heart surgery, not knowing they would need even more money to save their four-year-old son Mayank.

The couple from Nashik lamented that they could not give anything for their son's treatment, not even a portion of their liver. "We wanted to donate our liver to him, but doctors told me that I would not survive the procedure as I had just undergone heart surgery, and my wife was also declared unift as her chemotherapy had only just ended. We were told instead to register for a donor liver, and the organ transplant manager at Jupiter hospital helped us," said Harish.

Mayank Patil

Complications
Fortunately, Mayank received a donor liver within eight months, and underwent the transplant on February 10. But the Patil's luck faltered again, when Mayank's body started rejecting the new organ, accompanied by convulsions. With timely intervention, the complications were resolved. But this meant that instead of a week-long stay in the ward, Mayank remained in the hospital for 23 days, racking up the bill to Rs 30 lakh.

"We don't know where the money will come from. We think twice even before spending on food. Hospital meals cost around Rs 70 each, so we are surviving on Rs 10 vada pav to kill our hunger. I have been visiting various charitable trusts to raise funds, while my wife stays with Mayank," said Harish.

Harish and Jyoti lament lament that they could not give anything for their son Mayank's treatment, not even a portion of their liver

Crisis after crisis
By this time, the family had already battled against great odds when Jyoti was diagnosed with breast cancer in November 2017. She underwent surgery in Nashik and chemotherapy at Tata Memorial Hospital in Mumbai. Part of the expenses were covered under the Mahatma Jyotiba Phule scheme, while Harish used his savings for the rest. On his clerk's salary of R15,000, he could not even afford to pay for another surgery to reconstruct her breasts and repair the scar.

In January 2018, he suffered a heart attack, and two months later, was diagnosed with ventricular tachycardia. Unable to attend work in this chaos, his income also came to a halt. Doctors at KEM hospital said he had to undergo immediate surgery, requiring Rs 6 lakh to implant a Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy Defibrillator (CRT-D) that would sustain his heartbeat. This time, it was Jyoti who raised the money by selling her jewellery.

It was around this time that Mayank began vomiting blood and was diagnosed with the Budd Chiari Syndrome, which results in blockage of the hepatic veins that drain the liver. He was admitted to Jupiter hospital while his father was at KEM, and his mother made rounds of both hospitals. All these months, they have had no place to call home in Mumbai, and so spend the night in hospital during treatment.

They have no one to turn to either. "All our relatives distanced themselves after I asked them for money during my wife's treatment. Since they heard about my condition and then Mayank's, they have even stopped talking to us. They might have distanced themselves so that I do not ask for more money," said Harish.

In recovery
The only good news they have for now is that Mayank is finally recovering well. "In the past week, Mayank has not shown any neurological problems or any other health complications. He will be discharged in the coming week. He will have to be on regular medication all his life, but will be able to grow up like a normal child," said Gaurav Chaubal, chief liver transplant surgeon at Jupiter hospital.

Hospitalspeak
Anirudha Kulkarni, organ transplant manager at Jupiter hospital, said, "We had registered Mayank with the Zonal Transplant Coordination Centre, Mumbai, on July 7, 2018. On February 9, we were intimated about a brain-dead two-year-old at Bombay hospital, whose liver was transplanted to Mayank the next day."

"The family is going through unfortunate financial constraints, as the mother is a cancer survivor and father just had major heart surgery. We are not stressing them too much about payment, and the hospital has given the best treatment possible."

Catch up on all the latest Mumbai news, crime news, current affairs, and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates