3 surgeries in 2019, Puma India MD says year was a wake-up call for fitness

Hospitalised four times in the year, 2019 was a wake-up call for Abhishek Ganguly, MD, Puma India.

“Life can spring its surprises. These are things we know, but in 2019 I discovered the real meaning of it in a very practical way. I discovered how suddenly one’s health can be impacted and how easily fitness can be thrown out of gear.

“Early on in the year, I was going through a phase of great fitness and health. I was working out quite a bit and playing sports often. Suddenly, I was detected with kidney stones. In extreme pain, I was hospitalised — and eventually had to undergo three surgeries and four hospitalisations. These stones were that large and rigid, they made me writhe in pain for hours.


“We often take things like health for granted and only when we fall ill do we value what we have. When in extreme pain, we can trade anything to get better. I went from a state of feeling the best in years, to quite the opposite in one-and-a-half month — and that too because of something which isn’t a very threatening disease.”

Road to recovery
“Once derailed from a good level of fitness, it takes lot of time and effort to get back…I was out of the surgical interventions and hospitalisation by early July but it took me four months to properly recover as it had taken a toll on my body.

“I’ve just about reached the workout stage I was doing before but I have a lot of catching up to do. Getting fit takes time but one can lose it quick. Right now, I am doing two days of cardio, two days of weight training and two days of Crossfit in a week, but am yet to get started on sports. I look forward to picking that back up in 2020.”