A British mountaineer with a shoulder problem joins the legion of foreigners arriving in Chennai for healthcare. Delays in U.K., cost factor lead Mark Carr to India
CHENNAI: The prospect of a long wait for undergoing surgery on his painful shoulder, some quick calculations on the cost factor and a Google search led a sports enthusiast in the U.K. to seek treatment at a private hospital in Chennai. Mark Carr (58) was diagnosed with acromioclavicular joint or arthritis, an osteoarthritis narrowing of the joint bone, which resulted in bony spurs pressing open the tendons of the rotator cuff in the shoulder. Such an injury is not uncommon in someone like Mark who has 40 years experience of rock climbing and mountaineering, including the Alps and the Greater Ranges of the Himalayas and Andes, and is an experienced paraglider pilot. Mark””s shoulder problem was surgically corrected at Malar Hospitals earlier this month and he is now back in the U.K., readying to resume his passion for adventure sports. “After surveying the damage through shoulder arthroscopy, the patient was subjected to minimally invasive clavicular excision and sub-acromial decompression, where a portion of the collar bone was removed,” said A.K. Venkatachalam, consultant orthopaedician. The very next day the patient was pain free. Mark arrived in Chennai on April 12 and was admitted to the Malar Hospital where his shoulder was examined the same day. The patient underwent surgery the following day. Mark is progressing a little each day in regard to regaining full use of his arm and has set himself a goal of going rock climbing on his birthday falling on July 30. Backlog for surgeries Responding to queries by e-mail, Mr. Carr says he began looking for an alternative outside the National Health Services, when he learnt that he would have to wait for several months due to the backlog in the NHS. The shoulder problem began in late 2003 and his General Practitioner put him on anti-inflammatory tablets. But by May 2004, he was unable to sleep for longer than two hours without discomfort and during the day he had a near useless left arm, said Mark. When his orthopaedician directed an MRI scan, Mark began to “add things up” in terms of the number of months it would take for an end to his pain. He reckoned that he would endure around 15 months of agony before he was operated upon in the NHS. Undergoing private surgery in the U.K. would cost 4,500 pounds (around Rs. 3.64 lakhs). A Google search, e-mails and transfer of his shoulder scan images, firmed up an appointment with Dr. Venkatachalam in the Chennai hospital. The entire treatment cost him around Rs. 70,000. That saved Mark and wife Christine enough money to holiday in Mamallapuram for a week before flying home. “We will return in the future in order that we can further explore the wonderful South,” said Mark. © Copyright 2000 – 2005 The Hindu