I am a psychiatrist working in Singapore. Normally as doctors, we are entrusted with the responsibility of healing our patients. People do not hear or are usually unaware when doctors themselves fall sick or become unwell. Some people also think that doctors are infallible and never fall sick themselves, however we are as vulnerable to illnesses just like our patients.
I would like to narrate a personal experience which happened to me recently. I was diagnosed with hyperparathyroidism (enlargement of 4 glands in the neck which is located behind the thyroid gland). Its function is to regulate the level of calcium in the blood and if it remains untreated, it can lead to kidney stones, fractures and psychiatric complications such as depression and dementia.
I underwent surgery in one of the hospitals in Singapore with the surgeon being a personal friend of mine. The surgery was uneventful, even though it took about 4 hours. Even if I got my calcium levels back to normal, it took my voice away. I also saw an ENT doctor who said that one of my vocal cords was paralysed which led to my lack of voice. Loss of voice is one of the dreaded complications of neck surgery as there is an important nerve which supplies the larynx (our voice box).
As a psychiatrist, our speech and voice is the only tool we have for our careers. Without an effective voice, it can potentially be an end to my career, if the voice was permanently affected. So emotionally, it was a great setback with widespread ramifications. However, my family members and I continued to pray and believed in Gods healing powers. Sometimes as doctors, we also tend to believe more in science than in religion as we have been trained all these years in the powers of science and healing. I was also of the same belief.
I returned back to work after 2 weeks following my surgery and struggled quite a bit during my work and was even using a portable microphone to communicate with my patients. My voice was breathy and raspy, and I had speech fatigue. The ENT surgeon suggested some surgical interventions for my voice to recover and I was quite anxious about undergoing these invasive procedures. Suddenly a few days ago, overnight, my voice returned to normal with 100 percent recovery. I was amazed and taken aback with this startling and unexpected turn of events which showed that there is definitely a Higher Power beyond our science which was behind this turnaround of events. It also proved the power of prayer through this healing of mine. – Dr Jacob Rajesh
