Health Issues Require very Serious Pre-emptive Measures to Plug them
Health insurance is not a privilege, but it is surely a necessity for all
Ultimately, a big psychological relief after a hectic, torturous and painful health situation caused due to severe fluctuations in Blood Pressure, unstable angina, sleep cycle disorder, anxiety, coupled with overload tensions spanning over the last three long months. It all started in January this year, but this author initially refused to recognise it as a major health issue and continued with my usual routine. With the passage of time, I got overwhelmed with it and was compelled to seek medical advice and a cure.
Compulsive hospitalisation every week for short durations became a new normal that disturbed everything that we call 'our life'. In Delhi NCR, unlike in J&K, where the government hospitals are accessible, seeking medical advice and following the treatment means a heavy toll not only on the pocket but also on the savings (if any) unless one has some sort of health insurance or a health scheme benefit guarantee at one's back. The experience of Covid hospitalisation and the struggle connected with it five years back helped this time to make correct and useful decisions.
Besides the intermittent visits to the nearby hospitals for urgent management of the sudden problems due to BP fluctuations, chest burning & pain and high pulse-rate, it was found that the issue required serious thought, and I got admitted to the Le Crest Hospital in Vasundhara, Ghaziabad, near to my temporary stay of residence, once I experienced a sudden and near fall on the ground on 21st March 2026.
We were due to visit Gurdwaras Sheesh Ganj and Bangla Sahib on the fateful day. My colleagues and friends in the touring group rushed me to the nearby hospital, Le Crest. The doctors in the Emergency ward sent me straightaway to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the hospital and advised thorough tests and investigations of all sorts, and kept me under their keen observation with their protocol and staff discipline.
A huge volume of blood tests followed, and the reports were found ok. Then followed the ECGs, Echo test, X-rays, USG of the full abdomen, Doppler test and some frequent checking of BP, PR and Oxygen levels. Most of the things were found in order. The attending cardiologists in the hospital decided to go for the Treadmill Test, Coronary Angiography and the Holter Test for 24 Hours. The TMT was done, and it showed some sort of stress depression, which necessitated the proposed Angiography and the Holter Test as well, besides being under observation for three days.
At this stage, on the advice and insistence of some sympathisers, friends and well-wishers who took keen interest in the whole issue, I was shifted to the famous Metro Hospital, The Heart Institute in Sector-12, Noida, UP. It is a special hospital dedicated to heart-related issues. After getting admitted there, again all sorts of blood tests followed by the Angiography under the expert hands of the profession were done. It was followed by the Holter Test for 24 hours as well.
The reports suggested that there was no major heart issue involved. They termed, as per their analysis of the reports, the main issue as insignificant. However, the BP issue and the sleep disorder needed to be managed with medicines and the advised lifestyle routine. I was expected to return to my normal routine after a gap of one week's rest following the angiography, but things went against my wishes. I tried to start the routine work immediately after the discharge from the hospital, which backfired sharply.
Three days after discharge from the hospital, I again had a high blood pressure issue, which took a heavy toll on my body. I was once again compelled to go to the hospital for a check-up. I express my gratitude to the doctors, staff and nurses in the Metro hospital, The Heart Institute, who made sure that the problem was solved with the necessary management in the Emergency room. After a check-up by the attending cardiologist, I was prescribed the regular medicine followed by consultations with the physician specialist, who added some extra medicine for the sleep cycle disorder.
Over the last week, now that is with effect from 18th April 2026, I have found a positive change in the overall scenario after more than one month of heavy medical overload and hospitalisation activity. The BP level and the pulse rate level are, by and large, under control, and the sleep situation has also improved with the grace of the Almighty. However, the physical weakness is still an issue of concern that needs to be resolved and may take a week or two more.
I have started writing again intermittently whenever I find it feasible. In fact, this article was started on the hospital bed but was completed only now. The purpose of constructing this write-up is to share my experiences about the whole episode, expressing gratitude to those who cared, cured and enquired about me and also to share my experiences about the financial management of this kind of a sudden medical emergency for the knowledge and information of the readers.
The first lesson to note is to take every small signal about the health situation seriously and have consultations with the qualified medical authority in time. This is particularly important in the case of senior citizens. Otherwise, the situation aggravates and gets transformed into a serious medical emergency, as it happened in my case.
The second thing to note and execute is to have a genuine and guaranteed health insurance package for the whole family, which generally includes hospitalisation as the main ingredient of expenditure. The government and semi-government employees have large schemes available to them, but once they move to retirement, they need to join such schemes after their retirement without any dereliction.
In my case, it was the SBI General Insurance scheme for which we pay premiums annually. Insurance is based upon the principle of contributing (by all) to help the needy in times of distress. Private employees and others should always join Health Insurance schemes without any excuse and be a member on their panel. Health insurance is not a privilege, but it is surely a necessity for all.
Then there is a wonderful scheme of the government of India called Ayushman Bharat. It covers the whole family up to the limit of a maximum of Rs five lakhs. At an All-India level, it is available to economically weaker sections of the society and has been subsequently made available to all those citizens who are 70 years old & above. In the case of Jammu & Kashmir, it is specially available to all the domiciled citizens of the Union Territory of J&K. However, one needs to note that the Ayushman Bharat card should be active on the portal of the Ayushman Bharat.
There are two other issues also to be noted in respect of the Ayushman Bharat card. It is specifically beneficial to the nuclear families, and the larger families don't get the full benefit. Therefore, it is advisable to officially bifurcate joint families in order to avail a larger benefit of the scheme. The other issue pertains to the scenario about its applicability in private hospitals. Most of such hospitals don't entertain the Ayushman Bharat card due to their own protocols and financial issues with the government. However, one needs to check all these things before getting admitted to the hospital when needed.
It is important here to suggest to the readers, based on my own experience, that Metro Hospital, The Heart Institute in Sector 12, Noida, is a very affordable and apt hospital for anything related to the heart and BP. It has a wonderful team of doctors, especially the cardiologists, caring nursing staff and the other infrastructure necessary for such a medical institute.
My thanks to Dr. S.Kanwar, Dr. Richa Agrawal, Dr. Akshay Chug and Mrs. Venugopal, the Nursing head and her team. Here I would also like to thank Dr. Praveen Singh, cardiologist, and Dr. R. Kukreti of Le Crest Hospital, Vasundhara, Ghaziabad, as well along with Dr. Vinay Bhat of Harmukh Clinic, Shalamar Garden, Ghaziabad, for whatever they did for me.
In the concluding part, it becomes obligatory as well as courteous & customary to mention the names of those gentlemen who helped me, cared about me and enquired about my health in addition to my larger family members during my very difficult time. Besides others, they included prominently Satyavir Singh Mudgal, Utpal Kaul, Surinder Negi, C.L.Bhat, Sanjay Kher, Mohan Mishra, Dr. Jitender Singh (MoS), Ghulam Ali Khattana MP, Vikas Kumar Singhal, Shobhit Singh, Vishnuvardhan Reddy, Virender Raina, Dr. Surinder Kaul (US), Upinder Kaul, Kamal Bagati, B.L Saraf, Anupam Kaul and Deepak Handoo.
My thanks and gratitude to all of them; without their intervention, it would have been a very ordeal to handle things. They remained a great moral support in an arduous time. And also gratitude to the Almighty for being so generous to give this author one more chance of life after the Covid catastrophe.
In the end, I would like the readers to benefit from my experiences and notes that have been enumerated above for the benefit of all. The fact is that health is truly wealth…!
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