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 Chemotherapy.

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.

اهو سفر آهي جيڪو منهنجي دل ۾ هميشه رهندو. هڪ جنگ جيڪا اسان وڙهيو پر ڪينسر سان هارايو. اسان اهو سڀ ڪجهه ڪيو جيڪو هن کي پنهنجي چهري تي مسڪراهٽ سان گذرندو ڏسڻ لاءِ ڪيو. خاندان ۾ هرڪو ۽ منهنجا ڪجهه ساٿي ان لاءِ وڙهندا رهيا، پر اسان ڪينسر تي فتح حاصل نه ڪري سگهياسين.

جڏهن توهان پڇو ته ڇا اسان ڪيموٿراپي لاءِ ڪو ٻيو طريقو آزمايو ته مان نه چوندس جيئن ڊاڪٽرن چيو هو ته اها ڪينسر جي آخري اسٽيج آهي، ٻيو ڪو به متبادل ڪم نه ڪندو. اسان جو وقت تمام ننڍو هو. هن جو جسم به ڪيمو سيشن نه وٺي سگهيو جيڪو هن کي ڏنو ويو هو. سندس ڪينسر سندس آنڊن، جگر ۽ رت ۾ به پکڙجي چڪو هو.

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.

منهنجو پيءُ درد ۾ هو ۽ مان ان بابت گهڻو ڪجهه نه ڪري سگهيس. هن قبول ڪيو ته هن کي ان سان گڏ وڃڻو هو ۽ اسان کي اها ڪوشش ڪرڻي هئي. هو هڪ سخت جنگجو هو، ۽ اسان کي ان تي فخر آهي.

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.

مون کي ڪينسر جي ڪيترن ئي مريضن سان ملي جڏهن مان پنهنجي پيءُ سان گڏ اسپتال ويس. مون هڪ ٻن سالن جي ڇوڪرو سان ملاقات ڪئي جنهن کي ڪينسر هو ۽ هو ستين يا اٺين ڪيمو سيشن مان گذري رهيو هو، ۽ هو اڃا تائين مسڪرائي رهيو هو ۽ پنهنجي رانديڪن سان کيڏي رهيو هو. تنهن ڪري، اهو رويو آهي جيڪو توهان وٽ آهي اهو معاملو آهي ۽ ماحول جيڪو توهان پنهنجي چوڌاري ٺاهيندا آهيو- هڪ مثبت.

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.