MY MOTHERS BATTLE WITH CANCER Cancer is indeed a very dreaded disease and that the one who will

be afflicted usually remains completely in the blue for most parts makes it further dangerous. Cancer as far as i have read can be caused due to genetic reasons and also due to improper life style. Now the first one is hard to spot because it is not that your father or mother needs to have cancer for you to have cancer , it can be anyone in the history of your family who might have had some genetic issue causing cancer which may reflect in you in later stage. Although numerous trials are being made to get to a solution to this dreaded disease still it is yet to be found and hence stage of detection is very important for cure if at all. I still remember my mother saying ," No No I know it is not cancer! i would have felt it . It is just some extra tissue growth . Dont worry ". But now 1 year down under after going through all the tests and chemotheraphy I feel well it was not that simple at all . So in this note I will try to throw some light which perhaps will come handy for a few of my friends who might not have much experience with it and yet find in a spot of bother over this . As such it is hard to share this kind of a post but then it is advised by all physicians that emotional support is every critical for patients of this kind of illness and hence regular contact and more positive news is important. Research currently indicates that by the year 2025 almost every household of india would have one cancer patient such is the rapid progression of this disease which maybe owing to the lifestyle or pollution or genetic mutation on large scale. Hence all the more this note becomes important. . Immediately after detection , my father ( retired officer of PSU Bank) took my mother to TMH mumbai hospital known to be the best cancer treatment hospital of india . They referred 4 round of chemo theraphy and 35 days of radiation . Staying in mumbai was costly and for retired people all the more so given that daily expenses for stay alone shoots up to Rs 2000 for a hygenic room which is essential for a patient. Still after a stay of about 2 months and taking 2 doses of 21 day cycle chemotheraphy both of them returned to india. Many people dont know what 21 day chemo cycle is , for them i would say it is the duration between 2 consecutive chemos and it is a very critical time because wbc , rbc and platelet count needs to improve well during this gap because every chemo injected kills a lot of WBCs and RBCs . The effect is not limited to that there are symptoms like hair loss from head , complete tastelessness, loss of appetite, breathlessness etc. In short there is tension at all times for all kith and kin over the longevity of the patient Given language issues of stay there and given the age of my father to do all the running around , he decided to bring her home to kolkata and try to get admitted to TMH Kolkata. However , TMH kolkata had no extra bed and getting a date for chemo was not possible there as there was a huge queue of wealthier names already in the list. For the first time , i found that cancer is not a rare disease but a very common one . There were thousands and thousands of patients that flood TMH bombay everyday , TMH kolkata is jam packed , Thakupukur Cancer hospital , Chittaranjan , Calcutta medical every where there were streams of patients.My mother decided to take Chemotheraphy from DR Asish Mukherjee who sat near park street and was a decent doctor and administered it as per guidelines given by TMH bombay. In government hospitals the poorer patients form such a long queue that just getting to see the doctor becomes difficult. The condition becomes more painful for the patient who has to wait the entire day outside in the waitint room while she constantly searches for space to sleep . And then there are other patients relative who sometimes come up with such statements as " so you can eat at least...our so and so cannot even do that ...etc etc".Now cooking food is also a big concern because the food has to be without any kind of masala and mostly boiled. My father never was really a cook and he had to struggle a lot to get the job done but he tried his best to and to this day he tries his best . The side effect of chemotheraphy is also not limited to the ones mentioned about it also often lead to a condition called harpic . In this condition there is steady fever and also some kind of outward portrutions in skin some what similar to chicken pox Now this condition being created lead to delay in radiation for some days . Because usually radiation giving starts after 2-3 weeks of end of chemotheraphy. Now with herpectic stains on skin radiation giving becomes difficult and doctors advice against it .Food mostly whatever we felt we could do was to provide with juices and liquid food as she could not take any solid food .At times there were days both me and my father used to have bad dreams and lose hope but then somehow we stuck together and hoped and prayed to God that these days will come to end. During each chemo theraphy date , usually there is a blood test done where counts are checked and then blood is provided incase the count becomes less so that artificially the count can be increased. Chemo dates cannot be missed so this is the only measure . My mother had to be provided blood in 2 of

these dates. Most of our neighbours and fathers friends helped a lot and perhaps deserve a lot of credit because once while going to bombay my father forgot to take one of the most critical report and without that the analysis could not be done , now treatment was on hold which is critical for cancer , so my father called my neighbour who brought Mr pradip who took the reports to him in person via train the very day , my father called that too all the way to bombay from kolkata and then only treatments could be started. Hence for future patients and for those whose friends will be affected or are affected i would strongly suggest please go out of you way to help in the same way for you never know at your time also you may need it . When i first saw my mother after chemo I could not recognize her. She was completely bald with no hair on her head and had multiple ulcers in mouth. My mother even then pulled a brave front and told me ," come what may you should finish you studies at XLRI and then we will see. I promise to live long". On one hand i knew that expenses of these disease was huge and cost of medicine , regular check up costs on the higher side of 15 lakhs easily. In last one year alone we spent more that amount and given my loan of about 10 lakhs for education at XLRI , the situation was rather difficult and disconcerting . I did not go to convocation before the very day just to avoid extra expenses that would be incurred owing to the stay. I needed the degree to join the company so going there could not be avoided. Well the battle as such is still continuing , specially with radiation theraphy underway . I believe the biggest issue with such diseases is the mind part . The mind tends to feel weak and tries to give in . Where ever I go , the thoughts never let go .However , no matter what happens good or bad I still feel there should always be a human effort and a learned one to avoid such diseases owing to life styles . Some of my friends have lost their mother to this and some have recovered from it in due course and got an extension . To be conscious to such diseases is very important because if it is caught in the first few stages then it can be cured to a great extent. So I would suggest all those who might be neglecting their symptoms which can be as very small as tumour growth . My mothers case had metastasis which has probability to spread , so even in these cases it helps a lot in case of quick identification and operation . Some people fear operations and end up further complicating things . I think in primary stage if caught it should be immediately operated on through good medical practitioners. I on my side come what may will always try to contribute some hospitals or support to patients as and when i meet them in person to tide them over this crisis . Railway reservation counters provide free tickets to cancer patients in some trains and is available in kolkata , bombay and other metros in select places , the information can be obtained directly from TMH hospital itself . There is a railway ticket counter in TMH too. A person who goes there with the patient also gets 50% off .So please make sure u avail it if need be . This facility however is not inclusive of duronto and rajdhani express so also keep that in mind. Positive real life examples of yuvraj singh( cricketer) is there but then more than that examples people need to interact and talk about their symptoms to get them more conscious and avoid such mishaps and further complications in their disease . Thank you ! i hope through this article you find enough information to help your kith and kin too.