Surya Hospitals, Santacruz West

I'm writing this with immense gratitude and appreciation for dear Aparna Hegde ma'am, she has changed my life completely upside down.I can not even describe the severity of immeasurable pain I had suffered for more than a decade of my life (I'm currently 26).Since childhood I had many urinary issues such as incontinence, sudden urge, bed wetting. As I grew older I stared experiencing frequent recurrent infections and also pain. I was 14 years old when my treatment was first started and since then I had met tens of doctors in my city and was even later referred to Sgpgi.Due to recurring infections, my doctors used to prescribe me many antibiotics and other treatments as well but nothing used to work and my Uti test would also always come positive despite completing the antibiotic course.At around 2019, after having met several doctors and getting all sorts of antibiotics I was referred to a urologist in lucknow. However, even after various uroflowmetry tests, scans and diagnosis the doctors were not able to diagnose the root cause of my pain. As around 2019 I had started experiencing severe pain alongside infections. Despite getting more advance medications from new doctors, nothing helped.After this I was referred to many more doctors and finally was referred to Sgpgi. In sgpgi several senior surgeons from gynaecology and urology department tried to find out the root cause of my pain, around this time I also started experiencing a bulge coming from below, it would cause further pain and incomplete emptying of bladder, so much so that i used to sit for hours in the bathroom just to pass urine and empty bladder for once. All this became so painful that I started loosing hope and because of delays in getting treatment it made the issue even more painful.Doctors in sgpgi did every scan, tests and diagnosis possible and even tried doing a cystoscopy which was uneventful. At this time I was devastated because having some time from your doctors is so difficult and just to have that cystoscopy test done I had to wait for 1.5 years. When the test could not diagnose the root cause of pain, I was lost and felt completely empty.At around this time I had developed serious symptoms which included tremendous pain day and night, incomplete bladder emptying needing me to sit for hours, anxiety disorder, painful bladder syndrome, and even my urine flow went negative at one point that cystometry test had a negative graph. I was shooked to the core and had no hope left but still my father took me to a place where someone refered me to a specialist in Mumbai.I gathered courage and came to mumbai in May 2025, the very first day that I met Dr Aparna Hegde I had felt hope again. She was very warm, understanding and kind that it truly felt like I was talking to my mother.She was the very first doctor who had truly listened to me beyond the scans and reports. She devoted hours just to go through my whole history, took details with time and was very specific in her approach. She was so passionate to help me getting cured that she left no page of my big fat medical file and got everything documented and took everything into proper consideration. She gave me the hope that I had lost over the yearsand once again I could believe that I can be cured. There was this moment where she tapped my shoulder and said this will be your last year of suffering and pain. I was in so much pain that all that I have ever heard previously was that my condition could not be cured. She is the first doctor who said that this will be cured from the root.I did not felt this type of hope in past 12 years which she brought in just the first meet. She not just gave me hours of her time to get to know all details, but also gave me counselling like a true healer. Me and my father who had come there with me, we felt a lot of gratitude and started getting our treatments from her.Aparna maam had set up a one of a kind MRI machine at cama hospital where she runs honorary service. This machine could further detect the root cause what the prolapse like thing ws which i believed was urethrocele or diverticulum and the root cause of my pain. After the very first scan done by maam she was able to diagnose that the prolapse was rather a skin issue which she believed could be congenital and the root cause of my pain was bladder cystitis and ulcers. She began my treatments immediately and I started noticing improvement from the very first time as well with the medicine she prescribed. I don't have actual words how mystic this feels but she truly is a goddess for me. I had to get my two procedures, a hydrodistension and a tag removal surgery done and maam was very kind to understand my financial situation and helped me financially all throughout the journey. When I asked if I could get treatments at Cama she agreed and later did my surgery and hydrodistention there. While doing the surgery she ensured I was calm and assured me all the time. She did my surgery with immense kindness to see me healed. I felt the improvement the very first day and soom she began bladder instillations that would help with healing bladder ulcers.Within a week of my surgery I noticed huge improvement as if my life ws flipped, I was no longer experiencing pain the way I used to. I also took the medicine she prescribed and during a follow up could not put in words the gratitude I felt. She truly is an answer to my and my family’s prayer.She was very kind again to offer me help with bladder instillations and prescribed Biofeedback physiotherapy. I soon began the physiotherapy and slowly started to completely repair.The kind of pain that I felt was such huge that even moving from one direction of the bed was difficult and sipping water while I was in pain was painful, but after the surgery the paim started to subside, only a few minutes I used to feel pain occasionally and that too with lesser severity. This is nothing short of magic and that is when I truly understood how determined doctor she is and how much passion she has towards treating her patient not just physically but mentally by giving them their lost confidence.Today it has been over a few months since my biofeedback physiotherapy has finished and I am very grateful to share that I have fully recovered from a condition I believed could not be healed, all because of my kindest and truly compassionate doctor, Aparna ma'am. On every follow up, her warmth has been the same, always cheering for me, checking up on me and making sure I have healed. I have shared this with countless people but I believe it is less because the kind of pain I have felt there would be manu more who could be healed by a touch of a true healer, Dr Aparna Hegde ma'am..Me and my family will eternally be thankful all that you do not just for me but for mankind. I suggest eveey patient who has similar condition to meet ma'am once and I have full faith she can bring about change where it was even considered impossible.Thank you.

I had the most fantastic experience with Dr. Hegde. I have been suffering from recurrent urinary tract infections from over 10 years. The recurrent infections happened more than 3 to 4 times a year. The situation has worsened to such an extent that last year, I had symptoms of burning while passing urine, pain and repeated need to pee (every half hour, even at night) almost every month. I must have consumed kilos of antibiotics. but it did not help. I also had difficulty emptying my bladder and there was retention of urine. It went on for many years. I was in constant pain and life had become unbearable. I was in depression and thought that there was no cure. No doctor could help me though I went to several through the country. And then I was referred to Dr. Aparna Hegde. the first visit was over one and half hour long in which Dr. Hegde took a very detailed history and understood the problem. When she examined me, she said that I had bladder prolapse which was leading to retention of urine and that was leading to repeated infections in addition to the lack of female hormone in the vagina due to menopause (which allowed bad bacteria to grow). She also said that I also most likely had bladder pain syndrome which is inflammation of the bladder wall caused by repeated urinary infections. The bladder wall inflammation was leading to me not relaxing my pelvic muscles while peeing which worsened the urinary retention. Until then, no one had diagnosed my problems so completely. I got comprehensive treatment. She first gave me long term medication to prevent future infections Then she did vaginal surgery for my prolapse and also cystoscopy in which the bladder wall inflammation was confirmed. She distended my bladder for few minutes as it helps the inflammation. Then I underwent bladder instillations with medicines twice a week for 15 times. I was given a strict diet chart as lot of foods we eat are bladder irritants. I was also given medication that helped to rebuild the lining of my bladder. Then biofeedback therapy with electrical stimulation is being done weekly for 15 weeks. All my problems have completely vanished. There is no prolapse. My bladder is emptying well. It has been six months and I haven't had a single urinary tract infection and there is no pain. At all. I am blessed that I met Dr. Hegde. She is kind, empathetic, gives a lot of time, is always joyous and bright and smiling. Meeting her is half the problem solved as one is filled with confidence that all problems will be solved. She diagnosed my problem so well even though it was very complex. And her entire team was very supportive during the long treatment. They always answered every query immediately and were available always. My joy has come back and I am looking forward to the rest of my life with happiness. This is all due to Dr. Hegde. Thanks so much. I can't thank you enough.

Extremely proactive, very strong commitment and sense of responsibility, deeply empathetic, near 24/7 availability for patient, always flexible to accommodate the patient’s needs, very professional yet so humane, permanently cheerful, humorous and warm.

These are how I would try to summarise Dr Poonam Nautiyal in a few key words.

My wife and I had an earlier unsuccessful pregnancy primarily due to the negligence and lack of responsibility of our previous obstetrician. The event was extremely traumatic for both of us. So the second time, we were quite concerned about getting a good obstetrician, especially who can manage the deep set fear and trauma of my wife, and help us conclude the pregnancy successfully.

We searched in Practo, and found Dr Poonam, amongst a few others. But we liked her profile since there were many good reviews about her.

It’s been about 9 months since we have been interacting with Dr Poonam. During the course of time, she managed to create an environment of safety and trust for my wife, through consultations to the extent that my wife got deeply attached to her emotionally. In this time interval of 9 months there have been times where Dr Poonam was unavailable for physical consultation for a couple of weeks. But she provided us with a backup doctor to handle any emergencies. Even while she was travelling, Dr Poonam was still always available for telephonic consultations. Hats off to her dedication. Her concern for my wife seemed similar to her own daughter.

We are now the happy parents of a newborn baby. The baby was born in Surya Hospitals via Cesarean (because of the previous mishap we didn’t want to take chances). Prior to the surgery, Dr Poonam had let us talk to one of her patients who had just delivered via Cesarean to check how easy or difficult it is to recover after a Cesarean, and associated first hand experiences.

Dr Poonam helped us with the hospitalisation. She also explained to us that we might need an attendant for the mother and baby post operation and gave us references for attendants. She was extremely supportive for all our requests. She got her own team to perform the operation. It was done at the exact time of our choice, the surgery went perfectly well. She even invited me to be there physically in the operating theatre so that I could provide emotional support to my wife during the surgery. I have found Dr Poonam extremely thoughtful and sensitive in these matters - she comprehends these innate needs of a to-be-parent couple so easily. Her emotional intelligence must be extremely high.

The operation has gone very well. My wife recovered extremely fast from the operation and was mobile within a couple of days (we thought it would be weeks).

In a world where there are so many reckless doctors (like the one we had the misfortune to consult for our first baby), it is doctors like Dr Poonam who bring back our faith for the medical profession.

I am humbly thankful, grateful, and fortunate, as a husband and a parent, to have been blessed with an angel like Dr Poonam.

For any expectant mother / father, I will highly recommend Dr Poonam - you will be in very safe hands, and I am talking from the perspective of a first hand wonderful experience.

Hi all, I’ve had symptoms of burning micturition and frequency for past 10 years, went to few urologists, one of which referred me to Dr Aparna Hegde, after trying N number of antibiotics for 8-10 months.

In my first visit to Dr Aparna Hegde, ma’am took detailed history for approx 45 mins, and gave me a clinical diagnosis, she explained me what IC is, and how this condition is chronic but it can be managed.

I have followed Aparna ma’am’s advise and treatment to the T. Right from the food restrictions, which is a must and first step towards healing. I ate veggies with haldi, salt and saunf for 5-6 months, salads without dressing, no onion tomato, no soda, cola, coffee, tea is an absolute no. I carried my own dabba to the social outings. Symptoms come down by at least 30-50%.

Ma’am adds you on a whatsapp group which is a group of her IC patients, it has good recipes too.

Next step is stress management and pelvic floor exercises, ma’am gave 4 videos, out of which i could do few, but i did it regularly. From her questionnaire which contained a question, “do i believe in God?”, made me question myself about it deeply, which got my spiritual journey started with Inner engineering. That helped a lot.

Rest are medicines, it is bit tough to keep 1.5 hours gap before and after meal thrice a day for meds. But I did it, i knew there is no other way and intention was to heal.

Instillations has helped immensely.

After 6 months, my severe flares had stopped and for little flare ups I could manage my flares. My fear towards my symptoms had gone, I knew i could manage it and I could manage my life.

Dr Aparna ma’am’s empowering words, “you carry on with your life, I’m here for your treatment, you will be fine”, it makes a huge impact on your mind and motivates you to do better.

Interstitial cystitis is chronic condition, it’s healing process is not a linear graph, some days will be bad in the healing journey too, be prepared for those days mentally, but be assured the graph is slowly moving up and don’t give up.

Now I’m maintaining on instillations twice a month, it will be different for every patient. I’m slowly starting to add one-one try it ingredients on the list back in food. And regarding stress, I’m a completely different person now from what I was before I met ma’am and started treatment. Stress is your enemy in IC, you have to manage in your own way, there is no other way.

I was strength training throughout this journey, that has helped me reduce stress plus keep up with the diet.

All the best to all who have been diagnosed, there is light at the end of the tunnel. And those who haven’t got help so far, you need to meet Dr Aparna ma’am, *** ** **** ******** ***** *** *****

Thank you Dr Aparna Hedge.