Not an Individual Battle

The battle with cancer is not only restricted to patients. Their family members go through a lot of struggle too. Cancer survivors are seen as the heroes of their battle. But the fight is never just their own.

Cancer support art / Photograph from Pexles.com

When someone is told that they are suffering from a disease like cancer, it changes everything. The way you live, eat, everything. It is a constant battle, from the painful process of chemotherapy to how you manage your daily life throughout the treatment. 

While going through chemo, I remember times when I felt like I could not control my own body. In long chemotherapy sessions, I felt like my veins were on fire, and the days in between were a battle of their own.

Every night I slept, having no idea whether I would wake up or not. Until the PET scan report came halfway through my treatment, which confirmed the medicine was working, I was a bit unsure. 

Unsure, but not afraid. It was because of the excellent support system I have around me of family, friends and doctors. As impossible as it may seem, blood cancer is not very uncommon among children. 

According to studies done by Ram Manohar Lohia’s doctors, the highest number of blood cancer cases in India is among the pediatric age group.

Cancer does not just change things for the patient only. The people around them, their family and friends, go through a change too. Family members especially suffer a lot because of the diagnosis hitting their loved ones.  

I still remember my sister taking Monday off every other week to accompany me for my chemo sessions. I used to travel overnight from Lucknow to Delhi, receive my chemo and come back again the same night. She never complained, but I could clearly see how hectic a task it was for her. 

After returning, I would sleep the whole day while my mother kept running around, keeping tabs on my medicine and diet.

The treatment of cancer in India is very expensive. The cost is around Rs. 15 - 50 lakhs in general cases. Since most families in India come under the middle-class economic bracket or lower, paying for such treatment is a monumental task for them. 

According to Dr. PK Das of Apollo Hospital, a little over 50% of families of cancer patients deal with financial problems, and 33% of patient families spend more than their annual income on the treatment of their loved ones.

My father burnt all his savings for my treatment. But the medical bills are not the only expense during this time. The cost of daily usage essentials also goes up. The specific diet to keep up with the constant damage that the body endures and spending on daily entertainment to keep your mind as happy as possible also pushes the expenditure up.

Even though my treatment was complete in only six months, those six months were a lot of struggle for my family and me. And this is the case with every cancer survivor all over the world. They are seen as the heroes of their battle. But the struggle is never just their own. It belongs to everyone around them who supported them and stood by them, helping them go through this difficult time. 

It may take some time, but in many cases, the survivors tend to reach some normalcy in their life. But the lessons they received from the battle always remain in their memories.