Continuing with my last post where I ended with a wish/pray that ARR wins an OSCAR for India - On the day when OSCARs were announced, I was up early in the morning not just to see the event but attending a CT Scan for my dad !! I was going through a mixed feeling - on one hand, my wish for my icon got fulfilled while on the other hand, my dad was diagnosed to be suffering from Cancer!
Cancer - the term is scary, for sure. It is often said that "Cancer can be cured when diagnosed early" and having observed the diagnosis and the treatment for my dad, I intend to put my experiences with an aim to spread the awareness on Cancer.
What is Cancer - putting it simply it is a disease where some cells in our body start multiplying exponentially resulting in bulges/tumors on the body.
How do you diagnose it ? - This is infact a tough question.How many times did you feel your whole body to observe any lump/bulge that is not painful ? I am sure the answer is "zero". Generally, we tend to ignore a swelling/lump/bulge in our body that is not causing pain and there's the culprit.
A swelling that is painful is less dangerous than the one that is not painful.
In my dad's case, we observed a swelling near the left jaw and we ignored it ('coz we were busy with my engagement and marriage events and on the other hand, the swelling is not causing any pain !). We went to a local doctor who concluded that it is a general infection, while it is not.My dad started experiencing pinching pain near the abdomen and that's when we consulted a specialist who diagnosed the disease to be Cancer. (thanks to the doctor - Dr.G.V.Prakash).
Dr.Prakash helped us by explaining the purpose of each test, the results and the next steps. After having gone through a set of tests that ensured that all the vital organs in the body are in tact, he referred us to a Radiation Oncologist (Dr.Nalini) who took up the case and started the treatment.
The treatment comprises two major procedures - Radio therapy and Chemo therapy.
Radio therapy - the patient is subjected to controlled radio active rays at the area where Cancer is identified.
Chemo therapy - a particular combination of injections/chemicals are injected into the body which identifies the culprit cells and kills them. The chemicals are so powerful that they affect the normal cells too and as a result the patient suffers from various side-effects like loss of hair, sore throat, mouth ulcers, vomiting sensation, dehydration, fever, etc..
Believe me, Cancer is a disease where the disease doesn't cause the pain but the treatment is painful. I thank God for my dad is able to bear the pain and I pray Him to give my dad all the strength to tolerate the side-effects and come out of it healthy.
During the course of the treatment, I had collected some material guiding the patients as to how they have to maitain diet during the treatment and here is the link to that document.
For Cancer, more than the medicine, it's the diet/food and a positive attitude that helps one fight it.
I hope I have contributed a bit towards fighting Cancer by spreading awareness and I will be more than happy if the information here helps you in some way.
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