Date:05/08/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/08/05/stories/2008080553660400.htm

Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

Endless battle against disease and despair

N.J.Nair

M.Vijayan, a native of Thrissur, has undergone 49 surgeries and is awaiting the next one on August 18.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Life is an endless battle with disease and despair for M.Vijayan, a native of Minaloor in Thrissur. Mr. Vijayan, 54, has undergone 49 surgeries and is awaiting the next one on August 18.

In medical parlance, Mr. Vijayan is suffering from ‘nasopharyngeal rhinosporidiosis,’ a viral infection for which no effective regimen has been evolved so far.

Symptoms of the disease were detected about 38 years ago with profuse bleeding from the nose. It culminated in a situation when growth was detected in his nose, mouth and the sole of the right foot.

Ever since, it has been a seemingly unending series of laser surgeries but the relief has been short-lived. Almost every known surgeon has operated on him and Mr. Vijayan is thorough with the 10 medical procedures he has had to undergo before each surgery.

He is quite familiar to all prominent surgeons in the State and they all have ruled out total recovery. “All the doctors whom I have consulted say that it is viral infection contracted from cattle and no medicine has been discovered to deal with it,” he said.

He had to spend all that he earned through hard work at various places, including a brief stint in Muscat, where he worked as an air-conditioner mechanic.

A small house he constructed at Minaloor has been left incomplete and now the situation has come to a stage where education of his son Vishnu, a sixth standard student, could well come to a stop for want of funds.

“Initially, I was scared of undergoing surgery but the sad realisation that there was no other options gave me the strength to face such ordeals. I think I have set a record of sorts having undergone so many number of surgeries within a very short period,” he says.

On realising the plight of Mr.Vijayan, certain ‘good samaritans’ in his locale came to his support some years ago. They took the initiative to garner funds to foot his medical as well as domestic expenses.

A fund collection drive was launched and a substantial sum was collected, but it never reached him. Now, he is sceptical about such offers. “I never plead for financial assistance. Even if someone is keen on helping me, I request them to pay it at Amritha Hospital in Kochi where there is a facility for laser surgery,” he says.

He is determined to face his woes with courage and hope that medical science will succeed soon in coming up with a remedy.