The diagnosis - June 2008

Dad was a very active person, you could say an antidote to laziness. Never a minute wasted , never a minute spared. He loved his work and vice versa. His passion for it grew right from the time he was in his early teens and continued to 3 months before he passed away, a whopping 4 decades of incessant passion for work!

Symptoms

How did we even there was something wrong? Here are the answers for you.

1. Owing to his active lifestyle, and lack of habits like smoking, drinking and eating non vegetarian food, and given the fact that he loved his walks and yoga everyday, the initial loss of weight, was attributed to moving towards a fit body. 

2. He bled when he passed motion, twice. While he never suffered from piles or related problems ,this one was a shocker.

Initial Run for diagnosis

When dad bled when passing motion, he consulted the family physician first, who directed him to get a colonoscopy done. The colonoscopy revealed a growth about 6 inches above the end of the rectum. 

He thereafter, consulted a gastroenterologist, who extracted a sample from the growth and sent it for biopsy, for confirmation. The biopsy confirmed the presence of cancer, as 2 out of 6 nodes tested positive for colorectal cancer.

Pointers for families/patients

1. Whenever there is something wrong with your body and you either see it physically, or feel it internally, don't ignore it or keep quiet. Get it checked and speak to your family about what you exactly feel. Oh and yes, do not delay. Time is life.

2. While genetics have a huge role to play in the incidence of contracting cancer, in today's world it is equally, if not more important to maintain a healthy lifestyle. With sedentary jobs on the rise, and your laptop/blackberry/ipad/smart phone , seeming more appealing to spend time with as compared to walking/exercising, please take sometime out to physically oil your machine :)