The surgical toolkit
Updated On: 01 October, 2023 07:24 AM IST | Mumbai | Dr Mazda Turel
Sometimes, you need more than just a tool for surgery—you need a hand, a head, and a heart
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Which instruments will you use to cut open my spine?” Rasiklal asked me after I examined him for a herniated lumbar disc. I had just explained to him why he was a candidate for spine surgery. He was a tailor in his mid-50s, slightly potbellied, and wearing a white shirt that, in his own words, “used to fit him well before he put on some weight”. He had tried everything to avoid an operation—medication, physiotherapy, ayurveda, homeopathy, acupressure, and acupuncture. He had visited a chiropractor, osteopath, and even a “baba” who claimed to cure slip discs by kicking people on the bottom. Needless to say, his pain was much worse after that experiment, and now, he was unable to cut fabric sitting on the floor. He needed to stand to do it, and that too just barely, before his back pain shot down his legs—the classical sciatica that people with disc disease describe.
When I asked him to sit, before doing so, he removed a large 10-inch pair of metal scissors from his pocket and placed it on the table. You could feel the intense sharpness of its blade just by looking at it. The bronze metal handles mixed with shades of silver had been softened by years of usage. “This is my tool; I never leave my house without it. It’s been part of my entire life. If I must have surgery, I need to know what you will be using.” He had made his point; I understood what he was trying to say.
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