HOUSTON, TEXAS -- Last Christmas was one of the most memorable one for the Yoder family in Burkesville, Kentucky. Their two children Dena Yoder and Ananias Yoder got a gift of their life which was made possible with the help of a local church community, Apollo hospital in India and their facilitator Quest MedTourism, the medical tourism company based in Texas. "This Christmas shall be very special for all of us," said smiling Sarah, mother of the two children.
Both now 10 years old Dena and 6 years old Ananias were born with hearing defects. "Hearing defects can be hereditary at times. It became pronounced in these two children, who could not hear or speak at all," says Dr Ameet Kishore, senior consultant surgeon at Apollo Hospital.
The high cost of the surgery made it impossible for the uninsured family to get the children treated in USA. They approached their neighborhood church for help. John Schmucker, a brother at the church, and two other committee members took this opportunity to help the family and raised funds for the surgery. "We had to look for a good hospital, which not just ensured a sure shot treatment but where the costs were also low," said Schmucker.
"We got in touch with Quest MedTourism which got us connected with the doctors at Apollo hospital. We were all a little nervous and had several queries, which were eventually sorted out by way of several three-way conversations with the family, Quest MedTourism case manager and the doctor at Apollo hospital," he added. After six months of deliberation, the Yoder family and Schmuckers decided to fly down to New Delhi. "After we met the doctor, we were sure our children's were in safe hands," said Sarah Yoder.
Average cost for Cochlear implant is US is approximately $70000 which does not include investigation and post surgery therapy cost. The two-week treatment in India cost the family approximately Rs 12 lakh (US $30000) per child which included accommodation cost as well. "The best price we were quoted in the US was $43500 per child, which did not include the investigation costs," said Enos Yoder. The cost difference, he said, would have been higher if the implant was cheaper. The cost of the implant they used was approximately $20000, which accounted for two-thirds of the total cost of the surgeries.
The surgery was done on December 1st, 2007 by Dr. Ameet Kishore at Apollo hospital in New Delhi, India. Yoder family was very satisfied by the services of the hospital and the doctors at Apollo hospital. Before flying back to the US the family visited Taj Mahal.
The Yoder children are undergoing the speech therapy at a local hospital in US. "The centre will charge me $250 per child for six months," said Enos. "It's a second life for them. They will have to start learning sounds from scratch," he adds. Six month after the surgery the children have started communicating as expected.
The whole process from getting in touch with the Apollo hospital to returning back to USA was managed by Quest MedTourism. Quest MedTourism destination case manager helped the family at every step during their stay in India. "I was very pleased with the Quest MedTourism services for my kids cochlear implant surgery. They were very prompt and efficient to make all arrangement for medical and lodging, also meeting with us every day to make sure all our needs was met," said Enos Yoder.
About Quest MedTourism (www.questmedtourism.com) Quest MedTourism is one of the USA's leading Medical Tourism service company, helping patients in their quest for affordable, high quality health care overseas. Quest MedTourism facilitates its client in finding cost effective medical treatments at various overseas hospitals, help them with completion of their traveling documents, departure from their home country, arrangements at the airport, hotel accommodation and tours.
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