One day, while pondering the links between medicine and yoga, I recalled an interesting case from my medical practice. It was in the 90-s, I just finished my internship and worked as a reanimation doctor.
Once we had a 30-year old woman as a patient. Some time ago she had her appendix removed and in time an adhesion has accumulated and crushed part of the intestine (adhesions in the abdomen appear after all operations, but not all of them squeeze the internal organs). She spent a day at home with severe abdominal pain, taking painkillers.
Thus, when she was in the operating room, a large portion of her small intestine became necrotic and developed peritonitis (purulent inflammation of the abdominal cavity). The surgeons removed a significant portion of the intestine and she was placed in our intensive care unit. In about 5 days the stitches wouldn’t stop bleeding and she was moved to the operating room again: the stitches were removed as well as another portion of the intestine and new stitches were applied. In the next 5 days, these stitches would not stop bleeding either. Consequently, one end of the small intestine was brought out, and the other end was sealed by stitches. This is a standard procedure to stop inflammation in the abdomen and intestines. The abdominal cavity of this patient was left open, so it could be washed out with solutions of antibiotics and antiseptics, which were also administered intravenously.
The patient was fed through infusions, she was on a ventilator for several days, sometimes she had to be put into a state of drug-induced sleep. The situation is, as they say, is stalemate…We could not overcome the disease, but we managed to keep the patient alive. Blood tests revealed deep immune disorders. The inflammatory process did not subside. The specialists of the regional hospital refused to take her, claiming that she could not bear the transportation.
The patient’s relatives agreed with the regional immunological center to make a detailed analysis of the immune system (immunogram). Then, they decided on the following treatment based on the results – immunomodulators, sorbents (some with seaweed extracts). The cost of the service in those days was nearly half of my monthly salary (when the salary was not paid sometimes for six months).
Her relatives asked for permission to let the priest perform the rite of unction. I talked to the priest, and asked him about the essence of the rite. My point was that we, the doctors, would not approve the last rites, because we still had hope to save the woman’s life. The priest explained to me that the essence of the rite was to activate the internal forces of the body for a faster resolution of the situation. Of course, I didn’t understand everything, but I provided them with a place for candles, a table, etc. The patient was on a ventilator at the time.
The ceremony began. I was in the ward. In about seven minutes, the patient showed signs of pronounced arousal, her pulse increased to 140 beats per minute, and her blood pressure got higher. It was decided to put the patient into a drug-induced sleep. The ceremony was almost finished under deep anesthesia.
About two days later, relatives arrived from the regional immunological center with the results of a blood test, the recommendations for treatment and a bag of medicines. Immunomodulators were added to the treatment. A week later, I went on vacation.
After a month, when I returned from my vacation, I asked what happened to the patient, not hoping that she had survived. They said to me: “Go to the first ward.” She was there, thin, exhausted by her illness, but alive. She had enough strength to breathe on her own, she could talk and she began to eat. Her condition has stabilized, but a lot of fluid was being lost from the exposed end of the intestine, and the bowel integrity needed to be restored.
We invited the surgeon and reanimation doctor of the regional hospital, and this time they were not so categorical. They agreed to take her away and operate on her, but on the condition that her relatives would take care of providing her with expensive medicines, food, etc. So the decision was made to take the patient to the regional hospital, and after some time I forgot about her.
But one day I met her and was pleasantly surprised that she was alive and well. She has already returned to work, though not full time. We had a talk and she told me another interesting detail of the whole story…
It turns out that during the rite of unction, being in an “altered state of consciousness”, she had a vision in which she stood at some border, and behind this border were her deceased relatives, who seemed to be waiting for something?! But then, when the priest began to perform his rite and started to pray, she began to panic, because she thought that she had already died and was being buried. Immediately her consciousness “returned” to her body (this, most likely, was just the moment when her blood pressure jumped and her pulse quickened). I was skeptical of her story, you never know what a patient experiences in the intensive care unit.
Later I have been thinking about this story and wondering which one of all the factors that were used in the treatment of this patient was the decisive one. Some claimed that it was a rite, others that it was immunomodulators, and others that it was the efforts of relatives (her sister was always nearby and, if I’m not mistaken, the relatives even sold a car to buy the medicines). In these disputes, they even somehow forgot about our modest and difficult work, about doctors, nurses, and caretakers. We forgot about the “old” Dragere (artificial lung ventilation device), which has been working 24/7. At that time, this German device was the only modern device in our intensive care unit.
And only now, while studying yoga, I realized that in fact, in this and other similar situations, joint efforts become decisive: the work of doctors and immune modulators (the gross, physical body), the rite of the priest (the subtle and most subtle body), the care of relatives and friends (support of the family). In such situations, it makes no sense to argue and prove what actually helped a person to survive and recover, because the decisive factor is a collaborative and holistic approach to human health and life!
Author of the article: Dmitry Kirsanov
Editorial board: Mirra
Curator: Kerigona
Translated by Elena Samma, Tatiana Sugrue, Larisa Skibina
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