| Friday, January 25, 2008 |
| Ketan's Writings on Cancer |
Hi All,
Pasted are series of articles on cancer and people dealing with them that I have written and were published in Times Of India
Regards
Ketan
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HOPE FLOATS
When They Say You’re Going To Die
What goes on inside the minds of people with terminal illnesses. Ketan Tanna goes that side
On Thursdays, 37-year-old Ankita Anil Gurav used to wake up at five in the morning. She had to be ahead in the queue for tokens issued by the outpatient department of the Tata Memorial Hospital in central Mumbai. The token enabled her only son, 12-year-old Aniket to get his dose of chemotherapy. Only 20 tokens were given every day and they were exhausted by 7:30 am, minutes after the counter opens.
Life had been tough for Ankita but some choices are easy to make. The Gurav family sold almost all its possessions for the treatment of the boy and were ready to sell the oneroom home if necessary. But they did not curse their fate. “We don’t feel angry with god. We know that our son has an uncertain span of life. God has given us life. He has his plans for us,” said Aniket’s father, Anil Gurav who gave up his job as a diamond polisher to spend more time with his ailing son.
A few weeks ago, the family had gathered at the Make A Wish Foundation to celebrate a simple moment of joy. The Foundation had gifted Aniket a 5-in-1 music system. The boy, with a cloth tied over his mouth to avoid infection, tinkered with his new gift, forgetting the intense pain that had impaired his sense of sight and speech. “I want to be a pilot once I grow up,” he said feebly. On January 2, Aniket died.
Death terrifies us all. But there are many who live with it as an immediate prospect. How do they deal with it? How do children, especially, deal with it?
Children are aware of the concept of death but somehow they isolate themselves from the fate and very often make deep future plans. That’s why, with great effort, seven-year-old Arjun Jalandhar Naik folds his fingers to make an imaginary pistol. Because of surgeries, Arjun can barely speak. “I want to be an inspector,” he mumbles. It has been four months since Arjun and his father have been uprooted from their home in Vasco, Goa to the sterile rooms of the Tata Memorial Hospital. “I can’t dictate terms to god. What he has planned for us has to have a meaning. It is important that we go through what he has planned,” says the boy’s father Jalandhar Naik. Arjun’s grandmother calls from Vasco and the kid asks his grandmother how she is in Konkani and reassures her that he is fine. His father begins to cry.
In the palliative care department of the hospital, scores of cancer patients await their turn with crumbled bits of paper and files. Vasant Kadam, who says he is 50, though his file says he is 45, can barely speak. He has throat cancer and every time he tries to speak, there is wheezing sound. A pipe is attached to a hole made in his throat. Kadam has to press a small button on the tube so that he can speak properly. “I know that I am very ill. But I am not blaming god. I am just asking him to give me some time so that I can see my daughters settled.”
The left eye of 62-year old Kabir was burnt during radiation and what is left of it is one deep hollow socket. The right eye just about functions. Endless rounds of treatment since 1995, when his eyeballs started getting enlarged, saw him down painkillers on a regular basis only to discover that the medicines were causing more damage. Radiation and chemotherapy followed. Kabir says he is not disheartened. “I try to live a normal life. The more you think of your difficulties, the more you are bound to feel miserable. All I can say to those who do not have illnessse or have been given disease free bodies is please don’t complicate your lives over trivial issues,” he says, smiling.
The head of Tata Palliative Care department Dr M A Muckaden says that the common thread that runs through most of the patients is their ability to meet life head on despite having a limited lifespan. “I’m amazed at how they cope with their life when I see other human beings crumble at small problems,” she says. TNN
THE PILOT WHO FLEW AWAY: Twelve-year-old Aniket, who had dreamt of flying, passed away on January 2
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Outstation cancer patients can put up here for free
Ketan class Tanna meets the man who has put his spare flat to good use.
Mumbai: Cancer is a cruel and expensive disease. It drains you physically and exhausts you financially. And for the thousands of families who travel to Mumbai for treatment, one of the most challenging hurdles is to find a cheap and safe place to stay while the patient is being treated. Which is why a threebedroom flat in Kandivli is like an answer to a prayer.
A few years ago, businessman Suresh Agarwal, 47, realised that accommodation for outstation families was a crying need. For the last two years, his spare flat in Kandivli’s Lokhandwala area has been hosting cancer patients and their relatives who have not been able to get accommodation at Tata Memorial Hospital or Hinduja Hospital.
On an average, four patients are allowed to stay in the flat for up to three months. The flat is furnished and has a proper kitchen where the patients or their family members can cook as well.The lodging is free, and all that is needed is a letter from the doctor treating the patient. So far, 45 patients have used this generous facility.
It’s not just free boarding that Agarwal provides. Last week, he organised a musical show called Amit Kumar Night that raised Rs 35 lakh for Hinduja Hospital. Around two years ago, another musical event called the Vinod Rathod Night had raised Rs 15 lakh for the hospital.
Agarwal, who runs a plastic factory in Daman, knows too well the havoc cancer can cause to family life. His younger brother Sushil, now 45, was diagnosed with lung cancer in 1987. His brother-in-law, too, developed lung cancer in 1992 and later the wife of his brother-in-law was diagnosed with ovarian cancer.
What followed were almost daily visits to Hinduja where he became friends with the doctors and the management of the hospital. Even after his brother and relatives recovered, Agarwal continued to visit the hospital. On one such round, he noticed a frail person sobbing in the waiting area. He found out that the man’s treatment had been stopped midway as he was unable to pay.
It was then that Agarwal decided that he had to do something. After consulting the management, Agarwal decided to create a corpus so that each time there was a needy patient, the corpus could be used. It has helped many patients.
The Agarwal family has its roots in Assam. Soon after Sushil was treated successfully, they started getting requests for help from cancer patients from that state. “An empty flat near my home spurred me into offering it free to needy cancer patients,’’ says Agarwal.
Dr Asha Kapadia, head of the oncology department at Hinduja Hospital, says, “I wish we had more people like him.’’ Suresh Agarwal can be contacted on 98200 65184.
ketan.tanna@timesgroup.com
WARM WELCOME: More than 40 patients have so far used the accommodation facility offered by Suresh Agarwal
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She helps them keep pain at bay
Ketan Tanna I TNN
Life is what one makes of it. Knocked by life’s hard lessons, some turn cynical and others simply crumble. Bandra resident Usha Nagpal, 68, had a good life with a caring husband, three children and four grand children. She assisted her financier husband till 2000, when he had a heart attack and decided to wind up the firm. After nursing her husband back to life, Usha found herself with plenty of time on her hands. Her children were grown and leading their own lives.
An opportunity to do something useful presented itself in 2004, when a friend told her that the Tata Memorial Hospital was looking for people to train as volunteers for palliative care, which is pain treatment administered to patients in the terminal stages whose cancer is no longer responsive to curative treatment. Usha enrolled.
But life had more complicated plans for her. Two days into the course in what seemed like an ironic stroke of fate, her husband Narain Nagpal was diagnosed with malignant prostrate cancer. Despite the worrying news, Usha persevered with the course, encouraged at every step by her children and husband. But since her husband needed her time and attention, she decided not to immediately join the hospital as a volunteer.
In the new year, Mohan Nagpal was better. Usha called up the hospital to ask if she was still wanted. Of course, was the answer. Ever since January 2005, Usha has been working with the palliative department, counselling patients and encouraging them to improve the quality of their lives. She talks to them about yoga, meditation, music therapy, group sharing and Reiki, all of which are available at the OPD on different days of the week. She also helps train family members in wound care and other symptom management.
Initially, Usha found the paediatric unit daunting. “It was heartbreaking to work there, more so because one had to deal with the parents of the children. What does one say to children who have not even seen life but have so many hopes and aspirations which in all probability will remain unfulfilled? What does one say to the parents whose children may never grow up?’’ she asks.
One case really hit her hard. A lower middle class mother who was in her late twenties was sent to the palliative care department. She knew she was dying. Her husband knew she was dying. But all she could think of was her two little children. In the last stages of her life, the young mother was forced to separate her children
and send them to two different families since her daily wage-earning husband would not be able to care for them on his own. “She sobbed bitterly while sending away her children but we knew and she knew that there was no other option,’’ recalls Usha. “It was a particularly difficult case and I can never forget the pain of that mother.’’ A few days after giving her children way, the woman died.
Such tragic cases only strengthen Usha’s resolve to continue working as a volunteer, and she continues to go to the hospital at least twice a week. “I will never leave the hospital,’’ she says quietly. “I want to keep at it as long as I am wanted.’’
(Usha Nagpal can be contacted on 9819588567)
AGAINST ALL ODDS: Usha Nagpal is a volunteer at Tata Memorial Hospital with patients in the terminal stages of
ketan.tanna@timesgroup.com
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Fruits, vegetables and a war against cancer
Ketan Tanna | TNN
Life was good for Shaila Bhagwat. Married to a senior executive, this teacher’s life was closely tied to her husband’s transferable job that took her to different corners of the country. But days after arriving in Mumbai in 1999, her husband was diagnosed with lymph node cancer.
During her husband’s treatment at Hinduja Hospital—which meant spending five hours there, five days a week, she came in touch with other cancer patients. What stood out was the fact that most of them, struggling as they were with radiation and chemotherapy, barely gave any importance to their diet. Eating right was the least of the worries among cancer patients, especially those who belonged to the poor and the middle classes. Moved by the suffering of those around her during her daily visit to Hinduja, Shaila decided that she wanted to do more with her life. She decided to help cancer patients with the aspect they ignored the most—diet.
“I had a standing job offer from a prestigious Mumbai school, but I did not want to be constrained by time. I was welloff. My two grownup daughters were also able to take care of themselves. My husband had recovered and I had plenty of time. That is how my journey began,” she says.
For the last eight years, Shaila, now 57, has been a familiar face at the radiation oncology department of Hinduja Hospital. Twice every week, she can be found in the waiting area, talking to patients, asking about their problems and guiding them. Her emphasis is on advising the patients on what they need to eat and how to make food an ally in fighting cancer.
Radiation and chemotherapy, not to mention a heavy dose of drugs, rob the patients of their energy, says Shaila. The desire to eat also vanishes. The body becomes weak and it takes a lot of effort to go through the drudgery of everyday life, she adds.
A postgraduate in microbiology, Shaila decided to fortify her knowledge in nutrition and enrolled herself in a course conducted by SNDT University. This was enhanced by voracious reading on the internet and extensive interaction with doctors and friends.
Though there is a general diet in place for cancer patients, Shaila often prepares more specific food charts. There are times when poor patients cannot afford to eat the recommended fruits or medicines. For such patients, an alternative is given.
In case of oral cancer, patients are advised on the right combination of daily liquid diet. There have been times when well-off patients overhear Shaila counselling the poor and they anonymously pay for the drugs and fruits needed by those who cannot afford them. Besides drugs and diet, daily exercises and yoga can heal the body faster, says Shaila.
Suman Jadhav, a 60-yearold who was recently diagnosed with cervical cancer, found hope in Shaila in the corridors of the hospital. Her daughter Lalita says the first few days were tough. “But Shailatai gave us time, guided us on what to eat, how to do yoga and how to cope with the disease. (Contact Shaila Bhagwat on 022 26058214)
ketan.tanna@timesgroup.com
A FRUITFUL LIFE: Shaila Bhagwat’s efforts give hope to many
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Ketan Tanna
Special Correspondent,
The Times Of India,
Mumbai.
Phone: 91-22-22735240
Mobile:91-9821034500
Email:ketan.tanna@timesgroup.com
or ketan@ketan.net
-------------------
Websites
Work: www.thetimesofindia.com
Personal: www.ketan.net
Send your doing's to aware.cancer@gmail.comLabels: Articles, Cancer, Ketan Tanna, TimesofIndia |
posted by Cancer Awareness @ 4:37 PM   |
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| Friday, January 11, 2008 |
| ACS Report on Global Cancer Death Rate |
Dear Friends,
I am transmitting it just in case it has not come to your attention. Below is the link to the Report:
http://www.cancer.org/docroot/NWS/content/NWS_1_1x_ACS_Report_Puts_Global_Cancer_Death_Rate_at_76_Million.asp
I consider that it has immense utility to effectively implement the advocacy of cancer control in your respective regions.
Also, please do consider its utility as a telecast brief or a press note in the local media to heighten the public awareness and to seek its support to your initiatives.
Your feedback regarding its coverage through the local media to the Society shall be much appreciated.
You are welcome to seek any clarification.
With best regards,
Dr. Rakesh
-------------------------------------------
Dr. Rakesh Gupta, MS, FAIS,
Consultant (India),
Cancer Control Strategies- Workplaces,
American Cancer Society,
B- 113, 10 B Scheme, Gopalpura Byepass,
Jaipur. Pin 302 018. India.
T & F). 91-141-2763135;
Mobile- 91-93516 24313
skype) dr.Rakeshgupta
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Andrew Becker
American Cancer Society
Phone: 212-237-3899
Email: andrew.becker@cancer.org
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FOR RELEASE 12:01 AM ET
December 17, 2007
New American Cancer Society Report Predicts
Increase in Global Cancer Cases and Deaths
“Global Cancer Facts & Figures” Cites Increasing Tobacco Use, Adoption of Western Diets in Developing Countries Among Causes
ATLANTA, December 17, 2007—A new American Cancer Society report estimates that there will be more than 12 million new cancer cases and 7.6 million cancer deaths (about 20,000 cancer deaths per day) worldwide in 2007. The estimate comes from the inaugural edition of Global Cancer Facts & Figures, the latest addition to the American Cancer Society’s family of Facts & Figures publications. The report estimates that 5.4 million cancer cases and 2.9 million deaths (53%) will occur in economically developed countries, while 6.7 million cases and 4.7 million deaths (70%) will occur in economically developing countries. These projections were calculated by applying the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) Globocan 2002 cancer incidence and mortality estimates to population demographic trends reported by the United Nations.
In economically developed countries, the three most commonly diagnosed cancers in men are prostate, lung, and colorectal cancer. Among women, they are breast, colorectal, and lung cancer. In contrast, the three most commonly diagnosed cancers in economically developing countries are cancers of the lung, stomach, and liver in men, and cancers of the breast, cervix uteri, and stomach in women. In both economically developed and developing countries, the three most common cancers are also the three leading causes of cancer death.
In developing countries, two of the three leading cancers in men (stomach and liver) and in women (cervix and stomach) are related to infection. Approximately 15 percent of all cancer cases worldwide are infection-related, with the percentage of cancers related to infection about three times higher in developing than in developed countries.
“The burden of cancer is increasing in developed countries as deaths from infectious diseases and childhood mortality decline and more people live to older ages when cancer most frequently occurs,” said Ahmedin Jemal, PhD, American Cancer Society epidemiologist and co-author of the report. “Developing countries are facing a ‘double burden’ as cancers due to infectious agents remain a problem while people are also increasingly adopting ‘western’ sedentary lifestyles with higher consumption of tobacco, saturated fat and calorie-dense foods, reduced physical activity, and changing reproductive patterns.”
The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) estimates that in 2002 there were approximately 24.6 million people (2.46 crores) worldwide who had been diagnosed with cancer in the past five years. Survival rates for many cancers are lower in economically developing countries than in developed countries largely due to the unavailability or inaccessibility of early detection and treatment services. For example, the five-year breast cancer survival rate in the U.S. is approximately 81 percent but in Sub-Saharan Africa, it is only 32 percent.
Special Section: The Tobacco Pandemic
The publication includes a special section on tobacco, the leading preventable cause of death worldwide. An estimated five million people worldwide died from tobacco use in the year 2000. Of these deaths, about 30 percent (1.42 million) were due to cancer, with 850,000 lung cancer deaths (~60%) alone. Globally, tobacco was responsible for about 100 million deaths (10 crores) during the 20th century, and it is projected to kill more than 1 billion (100 crores) people in the 21st century, with the great majority of these deaths occurring in developing countries. The report notes that halting the rapid spread of tobacco consumption in developing countries is an urgent global health priority.
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that approximately 84 percent of the smokers in the world live in countries with a developing or transitional economy. In China alone, there are 350 million smokers, more than the entire population of the U.S.
If current smoking prevalence patterns continue, there will be two billion smokers worldwide by the year 2030, half of whom will die of smoking-related diseases.
The American Cancer Society is dedicated to eliminating cancer as a major health problem by saving lives, diminishing suffering and preventing cancer through research, education, advocacy and service. Founded in 1913 and with national headquarters in Atlanta, the Society has 13 regional Divisions and local offices in 3,400 communities, involving millions of volunteers across the United States. For more information anytime, call toll free 1-800-ACS-2345 or visit www.cancer.org.
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Send your doing's to aware.cancer@gmail.comLabels: ACS, Cancer, DEATH |
| posted by Bhavya @ 4:30 PM |
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