Airway Stenting Treatment in India

Saanvi Iyer, a 58-year-old former school...

Saanvi Iyer, a 58-year-old former school principal from Chennai, had been battling a persistent cough and worsening shortness of breath for six months. A lifelong non-smoker, her symptoms were initially misdiagnosed as severe asthma. A CT scan finally revealed a malignant tumor in her left main bronchus, causing significant narrowing. Her pulmonologist, Dr. Sharma, explained that the tumor was compressing her airway, making every breath a struggle. He recommended an airway stent, a small mesh tube, to be placed via bronchoscopy to prop the airway open, relieve her suffocating symptoms, and buy crucial time for her to undergo targeted radiation therapy. The procedure itself, done under sedation, was quick. Saanvi remembers a profound sense of relief upon waking, able to take her first deep, unimpeded breath in months. In the days that followed, her cough diminished dramatically and her energy began to return. Emotionally, the journey was harrowing. The constant air hunger had filled her with a deep, primal fear and a sense of her body betraying her. Post-stenting, the physical relief translated into immense emotional and mental liberation. The stent gave her back the breath to fight her cancer with dignity and hope, transforming her from a gasping patient back into the composed, determined woman she knew herself to be.