For close to 12 hours, Selvi's nose sheltered a cockroach. Four hospital visits later, after a dozen hands prodded, coerced and pincered, it was brought out, alive.
The 42-year-old Injambakkam resident had woken up on Tuesday night with an itchy sensation in the nasal cavity. "At first, I thought I was coming down with a cold," said the homemaker. But, the obstacle began to wriggle and she was taken to a private hospital.
Doctors suspected a nasal growth. At a second hospital, a contraption was used to pump it out with water, but failed. At the third hospital, doctors attributed the discomfort to a "foreign body that seemed to be mobile", and recommended a scan.
On Wednesday morning, Selvi, who was struggling to breathe, was referred to Stanley Medical College
and Hospital. Doctors in the ENT department used a endoscope and found
the blob had a pair of antennae. "It was a full grown cockroach," said
Dr M N Shankar, head of the department. It was in the nasal cavity
between the eyes, close to the brain.
"It was alive. And it didn't seem to want to come out," said Dr Shankar.
When a suction apparatus was used, the insect clung to the tissues. "We
had to use a combination of suction and forceps to finally pull it out,"
said Dr S Muthuchitra, part of the rescue team. The process lasted 45 minutes.
The department has in the past removed beads, a button cell, leech and
chalk piece from nasal cavities. "But not a cockroach, especially not
one this large," said Muthuchitra, showing the 'invader' on its back in a
container, its wings spread and legs moving excitedly.
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