This is the story of my father, who was diagnosed with terminal cancer at the age of 54 years. He had an ulcer in the intestine which converted into cancer and spread to the liver, which is called liver metastasis and ulcerative colitis. It was in the last stage when we found out, and before that he had no symptoms.

He was leading a normal life and was running a small-time business. He was diagnosed on 22nd April 2018 with cancer like developments in his body, but it was not confirmed as the tests were still to be conducted. We received the reports confirming cancer a week later and as we live in Goa we did not have enough facilities to handle the same.

I was working with Reliance in Mumbai, and as my father is an ex-Navy, we consulted some doctors in the Naval Hospital in Colaba and H.M. Hospital. We admitted him to the Naval hospital, but the process was going very slowly, so we shifted him to H.M. Hospital, where he was given Chemotherapie.

His body was consumed with cancer and organs started failing. He could not cope up with the chemotherapy, and he was soon shifted to the ICU, where after four to five days he passed away. In a journey of less than one and a half months, everything was over, and we had no time to cope up with it. As I am the only son, he wanted to see me married, so we just went to a temple and did all rituals and formalities for his happiness.

Dies ist die Reise, die für immer in meinem Herzen bleiben wird; Ein Kampf, den wir gekämpft, aber durch den Krebs verloren haben. Wir haben alles getan, um ihn mit einem Lächeln im Gesicht gehen zu sehen. Alle in der Familie und einige meiner Kollegen kämpften dafür, aber wir konnten den Krebs nicht besiegen.

Wenn Sie fragen, ob wir eine andere Methode als die Chemotherapie ausprobiert haben, würde ich nein sagen, da die Ärzte gesagt hatten, dass keine Alternative funktionieren würde, da es sich um das letzte Stadium von Krebs handelt. Der Zeitrahmen, der uns zur Verfügung stand, war sehr kurz. Sein Körper hielt nicht einmal der Chemotherapie stand, die ihm gegeben wurde. Sein Krebs hatte sich auch auf seinen Darm, seine Leber und sein Blut ausgebreitet.

We faced no problems from the doctors or the hospital as our family doctor, Dr.Tingua, had already given us a rough picture of what to expect. He also recommended doctors in Mumbai, as did my colleagues. As the condition was grave, we could not do anything. The doctors were very co-operative and good at guiding. It was a pre-death scenario, as we had no time to do anything. We went ahead with whatever was possible, but we could not do much.

Mein Vater hatte Schmerzen und ich konnte nicht viel dagegen tun. Er akzeptierte, dass er es durchziehen musste und dass wir es versuchen mussten. Er war ein harter Kämpfer, und darauf sind wir stolz.

I would just like to say that life is minimal. Give it your best fight, no matter which stage you are in. Life is something that never ends. Cancer is not a full stop, as a sentence always starts after a full stop. So find your sentence and live life.

Als ich mit meinem Vater ins Krankenhaus ging, traf ich viele Krebspatienten. Ich traf einen zweijährigen Jungen, der Krebs hatte und sich seiner siebten oder achten Chemotherapie unterzog, und er lächelte immer noch und spielte mit seinem Spielzeug. Es kommt also auf die Einstellung an, die Sie haben, und auf das Umfeld, das Sie schaffen – ein positives.

My father's journey changed many things in my life. Many new things have been incorporated into my life: regular exercise, a change in the kind of meal being eaten, lifestyle changes, the way we make decisions in life, financial planning, and many more such changes. We can only be prepared, as cancer is a lifestyle disease that cannot be predicted.