CAN(cer)-ed once more!

The complications post reversal, finally ended, a couple of years later, in March 2012, with dad, having a bloated stomach, intense abdominal pain, because neither was motion nor gas passing through the anus. His stomach resembled a good quality card board box. Puns aside, it was sheer torture., because he did not know what to do to ease it. Upon admission again in the hospital, it was told that his anal passage closed, mainly due to a lesion blocking the pathway. 

This time around again, it was cancer. He successfully,underwent a second abdominal surgery to clean out the anal passage and ended up with a stoma in the 4th quadrant. The fact that he withstood a second major surgery amazed the doctors. His will to live was much stronger than anything else. And that helped dad come up trumps against all the battering his body took.

Once the stoma was back in place, dad slept. He slept like he never slept in the 2 years, he had the normal anal path and its incontinence causing disturbance. He bounced back, slowly but surely to good health.

The flipside being, he was advised another 6 rounds of chemotherapy, as there was a recurrence of Cancer. He underwent that too successfully, though towards the end of the 6th session, he collapsed.

Pointers for families/caregivers

1. While any recurrence of cancer is slotted under the terminal stage, it must be kept in mind, that emotionally it takes a lot out of the family involved alongside the patient.

2. It is best never to disclose to the patient that 'You have very less time to live' or say ' You are going to die' , or ' Do all that you want because you may not be around much longer'. It will kill their resolve to survive more than anything. These lines , began to kill dad more than the most potent dose of poison.

3. While it is difficult to maintain a normal demeanor around your loved one, once you know they are terminally ill, keep calm and be strong. It helps.

4. Keep yourself informed of the drug combination used. If a 2nd set of chemo cycles are prescribed, ENSURE that the same drug used in the 1st set of cycles are not repeated. Why? Because what did not battle the cancer in the 1st cycle will NEVER battle it this time around. So READ and stay informed.