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 کیموتھراپی.

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.

یہ وہ سفر ہے جو ہمیشہ میرے دل میں رہے گا۔ ایک ایسی جنگ جو ہم نے لڑی لیکن کینسر سے ہار گئے۔ ہم نے وہ سب کچھ کیا جو اس کے چہرے پر مسکراہٹ کے ساتھ اسے جاتے ہوئے دیکھنے کے لیے کرنا تھا۔ خاندان میں ہر کوئی اور میرے کچھ ساتھی اس کے لیے لڑ رہے تھے، لیکن ہم کینسر پر نہیں جیت سکے۔

جب آپ پوچھتے ہیں کہ کیا ہم نے کیموتھراپی کے لیے کوئی اور طریقہ آزمایا تو میں نہیں کہوں گا جیسا کہ ڈاکٹروں نے کہا تھا کہ چونکہ یہ کینسر کی آخری سٹیج ہے کوئی بھی متبادل کام نہیں کرے گا۔ ہمارے پاس جو ٹائم فریم تھا وہ بہت کم تھا۔ اس کا جسم کیمو سیشن تک نہیں لے سکتا تھا جو اسے دیا گیا تھا۔ اس کا کینسر اس کی آنت، جگر اور خون میں بھی پھیل چکا تھا۔

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.

میرے والد درد میں تھے اور میں اس کے بارے میں زیادہ کچھ نہیں کر سکتا تھا۔ اس نے قبول کیا کہ اسے اس کے ساتھ گزرنا ہے اور ہمیں اسے آزمانا ہوگا۔ وہ ایک سخت لڑاکا تھا، اور ہمیں اس پر فخر ہے۔

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.

جب میں اپنے والد کے ساتھ ہسپتال گیا تو میں کینسر کے بہت سے مریضوں سے ملا۔ میں نے ایک دو سالہ لڑکے سے ملاقات کی جسے کینسر تھا اور وہ اپنے ساتویں یا آٹھویں کیمو سیشن سے گزر رہا تھا، اور وہ ابھی تک مسکرا رہا تھا اور اپنے کھلونے سے کھیل رہا تھا۔ لہذا، یہ وہ رویہ ہے جو آپ کے پاس ہے جو اہمیت رکھتا ہے اور جو ماحول آپ اپنے ارد گرد بناتے ہیں- ایک 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.