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 Kemoterapi.

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.

Detta är resan som kommer att finnas kvar i mitt hjärta för alltid; en kamp som vi utkämpade men förlorade med cancer. Vi gjorde allt som behövdes göras för att se honom gå vidare med ett leende på läpparna. Alla i familjen och några av mina kollegor kämpade för det, men vi kunde inte vinna över cancern.

När du frågar om vi provat någon annan metod för kemoterapi, skulle jag säga nej eftersom läkarna hade sagt att eftersom det är det sista stadiet av cancer skulle inget alternativ fungera. Tidsramen vi hade var väldigt kort. Hans kropp klarade inte ens cellgiftssessionen som han fick. Hans cancer hade spridit sig till hans tarm, lever och blod också.

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.

Min pappa hade smärta och jag kunde inte göra så mycket åt det. Han accepterade att han var tvungen att gå igenom det och att vi var tvungna att prova. Han var en tuff fighter, och det är vi stolta över.

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.

Jag träffade många cancerpatienter när jag åkte till sjukhuset med min pappa. Jag träffade en tvåårig pojke som hade cancer och genomgick sin sjunde eller åttonde kemo-session, och han log fortfarande och lekte med sin leksak. Så det är attityden du har som betyder något och miljön du skapar runt - en positiv sådan.

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.