While all of the cases on a mission trip are inspiring and important, there are a few that stand out and deserve a special mention. This is certainly one of them. Imrat Bai is a 45 year old woman who came to Sewa Sadan hospital this week with a multi nodular enlarged thyroid gland causing compressive symptoms. This type of condition causes difficulty swallowing and swelling around the neck. It also affects the vocal cords and is extremely painful. In addition to the physical symptoms, it also gave her severe anxiety as it affected her appearance and ability to function normally.

Imrat has three kids and works as a farmer in Bhopal. She was suffering with her enlarged thyroid for 15 years and had extreme difficulty speaking for over a decade. Her brother saw an advertisement in the paper for the One Global Village Mission to Sewa Sadan in the paper and made sure to get her to the hospital in order to be seen by Dr. Brandon Johnson, a talented ENT surgeon from Kansas City, MO. Three years ago, Imrat saw a local doctor and they determined it would go away and that she’d be fine. Unfortunately, that was not the case. Her condition worsened and her anxiety and pain persisted.

Dr. Johnson jumped on the case immediately and performed a thyroid removal surgery on Tuesday. It is a major operation, and it lasted close to four hours. The surgery went flawlessly and Dr. Johnson was able to successfully remove her thyroid. 

When Imrat arrived at the hospital, she was visibilly withdrawn and appeared defeated. However, after her surgery and two days in recovery, the light returned to her eyes. Her voice is already improving and she mentioned her anxiety is gone. The quality of care Dr. Johnson provided enabled her to recover quickly and she is on the mend. Her smile says it all.