Alternative Treatment - Cancer

When papa was diagnosed with cancer, I was sure that he would emerge as a winner. I was confident, chemotherapy would do the necessary justice- but as time passed and nothing seem to work, I became desperate-more desperate. At that point of time, I was ready to try any treatment that would give some relief to papa.

Since I was a part of lot of forums and would read extensively, I found a few alternative treatments- that may or may not be helpful. But, I feel they are worth sharing, may be it heps someone.

 Most of these treatment have no proof and generally play no role in curing cancer, but they do provide some relief in dealing with the signs and symptoms as a result of cancer and the treatment.

Honestly speaking my father din't  or couldn't try these treatmets becasue of the weakness and his lack of desire to work on something which would not bring results( he was diagnosed on the advanced stage)

But one thing, that I felt really helped was music. Secondly, Lavender oil  helped him relax and sleep a bit( otherwise because of the pain, he could not sleep).

Most of these treatments- It is better to take help from professionals to begin- in order to mantain a balance between the traditional treament and the alternative treament.

Alternative treatment, which I personally feel are quite helpful ( some of them which as a caretaker- helped me to relieve my anxiety and stress)

Meditation:  The safest form of alternative treament. The patient can practice himself for 2-4minutes twice a day without any help from anyone.

Music Therapy:  The best I found. It helped in relieving pain and controlling nausea and  vomitting.  Music can be of any kind. Nowadays many hospital have trained staff to help the patients.

Massage(s):  Massages are found to be especially helpful in relieving pain, stress.  It helps you to relieve anxiety, fatigue and induces relaxation. 

People with cancer in bones have to be careful, while applying pressure.  

People with low blood counts should avoid any kind of massages. 

People with tumors, radiation treatments and  with scars should be extra careful while taking massages

Excercise : Through excercise, many signs and symptoms can be managed during the course of treatment. Regular excercise can help reduce stress and relieve fatigue and to an extent control insomnia.

Acupuncture: Basically a technique in which the trained specialist will insert tiny needles at particular sites on the body. This technique is extremely helpful in controlling pain and nausea as a result of cancer ( or treatment).

Patients who have low blood count or who are taking blood thinners should  consult the doctor before starting any such treatment.

Aromatherapy: Use of  different kinds of oils to relax the mind and the body. People with breast cancer should consult the doctor before using any kind of oil.

Yoga:  Includes stretching excercise with deep breathing. There many kinds of yoga. Yoga may provide some relief in stress for people with cancer. People who practise yoga regularly have shown sign of improved sleep pattern and reduction in fatigue.

Relaxation Techniques: Are said to help the patient by helping them by focus their attention on calming the mind and relaxing the muscles. These techniques help in reducing the anxiety and sleep better.

These tecniques are absolutely safe. With little gudence from the therapist - the patient will be able to do the techniques by himself in few days. 

All through my blog, I have repeatedly said that believe in your doctor. Nothing can replace the doctor. While most of the techniques mentioned above can be easily practised at home-but still I am saying before starting any of the above, meet the specialist- he will guide you through.  After all you are fighting CANCER- and we dont want to take risk. Your life is precious- value it, Love it!

I love you, Papa

Happy Fathers Day !!

Cancer Awareness - Months at a glance!

Cancer Awareness -Calendar

Love you, Papa

Gallbladder Cancer - Blood Tests

• Liver Function Test( LFT)
• Complete blood count (CBC)
• CEA and CA 19-9

Complete blood count (CBC): measures the amount of different types of blood cells present in your blood (given sample). Blood cancers may be detected by using this test-  presence of  abnormal cells in the blood

CEA and CA 19-9: CEA (Carcinoembryonic antigen) and Ca 19-9 (Carbohydrate antigen 19-9)

are  the  two blood tests mainly used to follow patients with known cancer.

Liver Function Test( LFT): The oncologist (or treating doctor) will ask you to get the blood tests to ascertain the functioning of liver.

• Liver function tests (LFTs) measure various chemicals in the blood made by the liver. 
• Any abnormal result, may indicate a problem with liver. Also this test may help in finding the root cause.
• As a routine precaution, to know whether  the chemotherapy medicines are causing any side effects.

My father, had to undergo these tests every time he visited the hospital. Any abnormal variation in the result meant- no chemotherapy. Sometimes he needed blood transfusions and at times blood platelets .

I love you, Papa!

Gall bladder and problems

Today, while I was sitting in a cafe...I was thinking about " the comfort zone " factor. Being in one's comfort makes you idle and you are less then inspired to do anything.  Writing is my forte..I always knew but I only realized its importance after papa left. I was too lazy to understand earlier. 

For me the BIG C, was just another disease until it took my father. I never really bothered but now i am determined to tell people, even if they don't want to. They will have to listen to me...This is my humble request...don't ignore...because for any kind of CANCER...only AWARENESS is the CURE!

Once CANCER cells attack your body..even after successfully surviving does not guarantee that CANCER will not return....I  know someone, where CANCER started with breast ...over a period of time has now become blood cancer.

I, understand it is not something which everyone wants to listen or talk about but that will not change the fact that CANCER is a deadly disease. My father was a teetotaler.   He always always started his day with an apple. He was very disciplined regarding his health. Still CANCER happened...and it took him away.

If you are reading this please spend 5 minutes...to know what is gall bladder, and its functions...and various problems that affect GALL BLADDER ( Click on the link).

Gall bladder and Problems

Love u, Papa!

Chapter 5 - Metastasis and stages of cancer

The day, we came to know about papa’s cancer it was already stage iV B - the last stage. He din’t have time! 

Om my very first visit to the hospital, the oncologist said - "Your father has got 9 months or may be less to live. No treatment will work on him . All we can try is to lessen his pain". That is it! and nothing.  Tears rolled down my cheeks. A senior doctor of a high profile CANCER hospital in Delhi was saying this. I felt suffocated. I wanted to say, tell me something that i don’t know but chose to remain quite.  I wiped my tears, got up from the chair and rushed towards the door to get some fresh air, that i desperately needed. 

In my entire life, i never felt so weak and miserable as i felt in those 15minutes  I so hated myself, for not noticing papa's degression. The body was giving hints continuously, but I was never able to pick. Why wasn’t I aware of something like CANCER? Why is there so less awareness about GALL BLADDER CANCER. Why did i have to loose my father to know about cancer?  

I lost my father, but i don’t want any one else to suffer like papa…like me..like my family. In the hope and with the conviction that my efforts will save somebody, if not papa. May be i will attain some peace. I will start  by the ways which cancer spread in the body.

Since papa,  was a GALL BLADDER (Metastatsis) case, therefore all my findings and  research are related to the metastatic stage of cancer

How does CANCER spreads in the body?

Generally, there are 3 ways in which cancer spreads in the body

Tissues : By growing into the  nearby areas

Lymph System : Travels through the lymph vessels to other parts of the body. 

Blood : Travels through the blood vessels to other parts of the body.

And when cancer spreads from its point of origin to other parts of the body, it is known as metastasis.The cancer cells break away from the original (primary) site and travel to the other parts of the body through lymphs and blood.

The metastatic tumor is the same type of cancer as the original  tumor. In papa’s case the primary site ( or the  point of origin) was gallbladder which spread to the liver , pancreas, lungs and finally to the bones. The cancer cells in the liver were  actually the gallbladder cancer cells travelled to liver and to other sites . Therefore it is metastatic gallbladder cancer, and not liver cancer, lung or bone cancer.

It is said that , if detected early. Cancer is curable. I don’t know how true it is. But if it is, one should the know the stages to be aware.

Different Stages of Gall Bladder Metastasis Cancer

Stage 0 (Carcinoma in Situ) : In stage 0, abnormal cells are found in the inner (mucosal) layer of the gallbladder. These abnormal cells may become cancer and spread into nearby normal tissue. Stage 0 is also called carcinoma in situ. 

Stage I : In stage I, cancer has formed and has spread beyond the inner (mucosal) layer to a layer of tissue withblood vessels or to the muscle layer. 

Stage II : In stage II, cancer has spread beyond the muscle layer to the connective tissue around the muscle. 

Stage IIIA : In stage IIIA, cancer has spread through the thin layers of tissue that cover the gallbladder and/or to theliver and/or to one nearby organ (such as the stomach, small intestine, colon, pancreas, or bile ductsoutside the liver). 

Stage IIIB : In stage IIIB, cancer has spread to nearby lymph nodes and:beyond the inner layer of the gallbladder to a layer of tissue with blood vessels or to the muscle layer; or beyond the muscle layer to the connective tissue around the muscle; or through the thin layers of tissue that cover the gallbladder and/or to the liver and/or to one nearbyorgan (such as the stomach, small intestine, colon, pancreas, or bile ducts outside the liver). 

Stage IVA:  In stage IVA, cancer has spread to a main blood vessel of the liver or to 2 or more nearby organs or areas other than the liver. Cancer may have spread to nearby lymph nodes. 

Stage IVB : In stage IVB, cancer has spread to either: lymph nodes along large arteries in the abdomen and/or near the lower part of the backbone; or to organs or areas far away from the gallbladder

Papa, in particular showed NO signs of cancer except for that he had lost considerable weight in the past few months. But we thought it was old-age and papa was very particular about of NOT putting on weight. Papa was a very health conscious person and never compromised on his health . Ironically, for years i saw him starting his day with an apple ( What is that famous saying...An apple a day keep the the doctor away). 

A couple of years ago, papa had an operation for enlarged prostate gland. So  papa was regularly visiting this doctor  besides,  papa also had history of urine infection. But look at doctor’s in India- this man  never diagnosed properly…all he gave medicines  for urine infection….that too because papa said so….my question to this doctor is…papa was visiting him for more then a year…when pain was not subsiding...why din’t he suggest to get an ultrasound…X-ray.?

Why din’t he refer papa to some bigger hospital?

I wonder is he actually a doctor?. …Look at the plight of india’s medical system…later..when papa on his own got an X-ray…the X-ray said nothing..everything perfect!

But owing to the continuous pain, and our insistence papa got an colored X-ray…done…it said papa had stones in the gall bladder. Such is our medical case…. LANCE ARMSTRONG, the famous american racing cyclist…in 1996 was given 2 % chances of surviving….cancer had spread to  abdomen, brain and lungs. But he not only survived the cancer, but also went on to to win the Tour de France over and over again….thanks to treatment and the treating doctors.

If only papa would have met the right doctor, got the right treatment timely…he would have been here with me and my  world would have been perfect.

Love you papa!