En aquella época, el cáncer era prácticamente una sentencia de muerte en nuestra sociedad. Incluso en las películas se demostró que el diagnóstico de cáncer significaba que la persona moriría a los pocos días. Por lo tanto, la enfermedad No Hodgkin de mi marido Linfoma El diagnóstico fue un gran shock para nosotros.

Diagnóstico del linfoma no Hodgkin

My husband was in the Army, and while he was posted in Delhi around 15 years back, he had a routine health check-up. He opened up to the doctor that there was a small lump that he could feel behind his neck when he used to shave or take a bath and asked the doctor to take a closer look at it. The doctor asked for a couple of tests and asked him to wait for the reports. After the reports came, the doctor told him that there were some problems with the results, and therefore he needed to see an Oncologist. That was the first time that we were hearing the word Oncology or Oncologist. The doctor took him to the Oncology department, and he met the Head of the Department, Dr Dhar, who is now a retired Brigadier and was a Colonel then. Dr Dhar studied the reports and told him that it was a cancer called Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma. He also explained to my husband the treatment procedures for Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma and gave him confidence that it was treatable.

My husband came back home lost in his thoughts, had his lunch and hardly talked to me. Later, I asked him how was his reports. He told me that he had Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma, a type of cancer. When he told me about his cancer, I was emotionless and numb. I didn't know what to say or how to react, which can be the same for most of us because none of us are brave; the situations make us brave. He told me that the doctors said not to worry and that he would be alright, which gave me hope to fight this disease.

During that time, cancer was practically a death sentence in our society. Even in films, it was shown that being diagnosed with cancer meant that the person would die within a few days. Therefore, the Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma diagnosis came as a shock to us, but we had faith in the doctors, and God, and not even for a single second did I feel that he would not be with us. We decided to pass this test with flying colours. We took it as a challenge and decided that we would see whatever that comes on our way.

Tratamiento del linfoma no Hodgkin

Estábamos juntos la mayor parte del tiempo. Nunca fue admitido; él solía tomar Quimioterapia sessions. We made sure that everything was taken care of and kept on doing what the doctors told us to. The most important things that helped us a lot are music and positivity. My children were young, my son was doing engineering, and my daughter was in class 9th. Though they were young, they behaved very maturely. We all were living our lives as normal as we could.

Estaba bien después de seis ciclos de quimioterapia, pero después de dos años, tuvo una recaída y el linfoma no Hodgkin de bajo grado se convirtió en cáncer de alto grado, lo que se convirtió en la parte más difícil de nuestro viaje. Le aconsejaron que se sometiera a un trasplante de médula ósea. Estábamos confinados en una habitación para su trasplante de médula ósea y mis hijos estaban afuera. Mi hija tenía exámenes de la junta en ese momento. Estaba gravemente enfermo y es posible que ambos hayan tenido mucha presión sobre su salud mental durante esos 30 días. Todos tuvimos mucha paciencia y perseverancia.

Fue duro para él. Estaba muy débil y desarrolló una infección, pero luchó con todo muy valientemente. Dios estaba con nosotros, sonriéndonos, y tenía diferentes intenciones para nosotros.

Las cosas salieron bien, y él estaba bien. Los médicos siempre estuvieron con nosotros y lo apoyaron inmensamente. Todas las enfermeras y el personal del hospital se convirtieron en una familia. Celebramos Navidad, Año Nuevo, nuestro aniversario y su cumpleaños con ellos. Tuvimos el mejor equipo de médicos con nosotros.

Siempre tuvimos el apoyo de la familia, y todos estuvieron con nosotros durante todo el trayecto. Nos mantuvimos alejados de las cosas negativas.

Linfoma no Hodgkin: la tercera recaída

Después de su trasplante de médula ósea, estuvo en remisión durante cinco años y estábamos muy felices de que hubieran pasado cinco años y estuviera libre de cáncer. Los médicos le habían aconsejado que se sometiera a una PET escaneo cada seis meses, lo cual hacía regularmente.

During one such PET scan, the doctors found that the Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma had relapsed again. There were a lot of discussions on what treatment to give him. The doctors avoided chemotherapy for six months because they felt it would deteriorate his health further, but after that, it was the only option left.

He was supposed to undergo chemotherapy when our daughter was getting married, so he said that we would go for chemotherapy later and let's first focus on our daughter's marriage. Our daughter postponed her marriage after discussing it with her fiance and in-laws so that he could get proper treatment. Later, he took six cycles of Chemotherapy and took one month to recover. After his recovery, we got our daughter married.

Siempre tuvimos una mentalidad positiva y nunca permitimos que el cáncer dañara nuestro estado mental.

Nuestros aprendizajes

Los cuidadores deben cuidarse a sí mismos, especialmente cuando necesitan tratar con un paciente con cáncer. Todos comíamos lo que comía mi marido. Aprendimos muchas cosas. Ese fue el momento en el que realmente empezamos a apreciar el trabajo de otras personas porque, de lo contrario, estás tan ocupado en tu vida que no te das cuenta de todo tan profundamente.

We started enjoying all the little things in life. What we have today is the best, so just enjoy today and leave the rest to destiny. Our faith and positivity helped us to sail through all those things. God was always with us, and there was a lot of positivity with which we always moved forward.

Después de nuestro viaje por el cáncer, hice una maestría en nutrición y ahora soy nutricionista. Me gusta escuchar música y solía escuchar música cada vez que me sentía deprimida durante mi viaje como cuidadora.

Nunca me gustó obtener la simpatía de los demás. No compartí la noticia del cáncer con mucha gente porque la gente tiende a simpatizar con nosotros en lugar de tratarnos con normalidad como antes. Eliminé a las personas negativas de mi vida porque la paz mental de mi familia era más importante.

Nadie está preparado para los malos tiempos; te vuelves valiente cuando los malos tiempos llegan a tu vida. La adversidad nos hace valientes.

Mensaje de despedida

When God gives us many good days, we don't ask him why he is giving us so much happiness. Then why should we ask 'why me' when he gives us little problems? We should take whatever comes our way. Take everything as a blessing, and you will be able to deal with everything. Be positive and happy. Be busy and keep doing exercises as they are good for your mental and physical health. Smile as often as you can.

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