Surgery in such a sensitive region brought profound fear. Fear of losing speech. Fear of losing memory. Fear of losing identity itself.
Neurologist Dr Deep Das played an important role in the diagnosis and neurological examination. Based on his assessment, the medical team made a bold decision: the surgery would be performed while the patient was awake. This meant that she would not be put under full unconscious anaesthesia.
Dr Rathijit Mitra, neurosurgeon at CMRI Hospital in Kolkata, took responsibility for carrying out this complex procedure. Dr Shailesh Kumar led the anaesthesia team.
However, one of the most silent yet deeply humane roles in this extraordinary surgery was played by speech language pathologist Sameer Kushali. Long before the operation, he stood beside the patient, carefully assessing her speech, memory, voice, communication skills and swallowing ability in simple and reassuring ways. Beyond clinical evaluation, he offered emotional strength to a frightened young woman.
He explained gently, “Your speech, your response during the operation, these are what will keep you the same as before.”
The scene inside the operation theatre was both rare and deeply moving. The patient lay on the operating table — fully awake. She was asked to speak, say specific words, form short sentences and even sing songs. Every word and response was closely monitored by the speech language pathologist.
If there was even the slightest indication of risk, it was immediately communicated to the neurosurgeon. The surgical path was adjusted accordingly. These moment-to-moment decisions were crucial in protecting her speech, memory and voice.
At one point during the procedure, she sang — a powerful and living proof that her voice and memory remained intact.
The outcome was remarkably positive. Within just a few days after surgery, the patient returned to normal life. She could speak fluently. Her memory was unaffected. She had no difficulty swallowing food. She walked normally. She could even sing as she had before.
The medical team noted that while such multidisciplinary, team-based approaches are gradually becoming routine in developed countries, they are still rare in India. This case clearly demonstrated that including a speech language pathologist as an integral member of the surgical team during brain operations can help preserve not only life, but the very language of life.
This is not merely the story of a successful surgery. It is a reminder that the goal of modern medicine is not only to keep people alive, but to keep them alive as themselves.
The quiet yet essential responsibility of safeguarding fundamental human abilities — the right to speak, to sing and to express feelings — is often carried, silently and skilfully, by speech language pathologists in the operating theatre.