CANCER AND YOU

                               

Let it not be the answer of the ‘Yaksha Prashna’  (‘kimashcharyam’, meaning what is a surprise?) by Yudhisthir that we see every day dying somebody and still think that our turn is far away and this attitude, said the senior Pandava, is the greatest surprise. Since the real cause of this dreaded disease is yet a mystery, it can strike anybody, any sex, any time and in any part of the body. However, cancer in throat, breast and ovary are very common. I am not here to point out any medical clue because I do not belong to this discipline. Since my wife fell a victim, throwing the entire family to a very trying situation, I thought it proper to share my experience briefly how I could tide over the calamity.

Till 50 years ago, if one was tested to have a malignant tumour, the terror of this disease was so horrible that the patient generally succumbed to the shock. The treatment was available only in Tata Hospital Mumbai or in Vellore,Tamil Nadu. It was not possible for deprived sections to muster courage to try the luck. The patient thought that the only possibility left for him was to wait for the ultimate truth. Moreover, in poor and uneducated family, people generally think it to be a common disease and when intolerable, rush to an available quack who simply precipitates the end. Delaying the treatment encourages the disease to be a sure killer.

Things have changed a lot today. In almost all major hospitals of Delhi, against a single Daramshila Cancer Hospital earlier, the cancer treatment is available at present. Moreover, the treatment has become comparatively less expensive. The only precaution is to rush to a speciality hospital as quickly as possible. If it is the first stage, complete cure is assured. If it is in the second stage, still survival has a high possibility. My wife had the beginning of the second stage and she alive and kicking after eight years. Today, doctors claim that even in the third stage, they can struggle to keep the patient alive. However, the fourth is almost incurable and the relatives may be advised to take the patient back to home.

Normally, the treatment is in three stages. After preliminary tests including biopsy, the attending doctor will mark the affected area with a coloured pencil and recommend the patient for operation. The operation by a good doctor, in principle is enough to cure the patient. However, without taking any chance, the doctor will advise him to undergo chemo therapy and radio therapy. The number of sittings for both the therapies is decided by the doctor after considering several factors. Sometimes, if it is just the beginning, the doctor may ask to go straight for possibly three chemo therapy sessions. Each succeeding session falls on 21^st day.

The most trying phase is chemo therapy. In any complete treatment it has six courses. By the time of the second, the patient loses body hairs, teeth are blackish, taste for food disappears and being a delicate phase of the treatment, he has to take extra precautions to guard against infections. After this complete treatment, he has to report to the hospital for periodical monitoring. If there is no new complication, the doctors declare the patient free of the disease after five years. However, at least an annual check up is necessary to be on the safe side for the whole life.

Last but not the least, the patient requires round the clock care though he has no problem in day-today activities. At least one close relative, may be by turn will have to do this sacrifice for six months which is worth because a life is saved. Moreover, there have been several improvements in chemo and radio therapies making them cheaper, more effective and less damaging. Let us hope that the day may not be far away when like anti-cholera drugs, some similar  sure medication is available to mankind.