07/02/2024
Everyday my work as a histopathologist and cytologist brings me across a lot of cancer patients. I have seen them break down in my office after finding out their diagnosis. I have seen the brave ones who hide their tears behind a brave facade but fail to hide the lump that forms in their throat. I have, at times, boosted their morale by giving example of the cancer survivors who are my own family and friends. I have made them sit down and explained the importance and urgency of treatment without scaring them.
Even now as I explained the diagnosis of tuberculosis to a relative of a patient I did the Fine needle aspiration cytology of, he kept asking, " Ma'am koi khatre wali baat to nahi? ( Many think of the word cancer as the one who should not be named).
Each patient who comes for FNAC comes with that one fear in their heart. Eyes filled to the brim, tears threatening to spill, they often give random history, somehow hoping in their hearts that it turns out too be benign ( non cancerous). I hope so to but a touch is sometimes all it takes for us pathologists to know what the final diagnosis would be.
The smile after a benign diagnosis, the blessings they heap upon me make me wish I could give everyone a happy send-off from my lab- a benign report. Alas! With the ever increasing grip of the deadly crab, it isn't the scenario.
Someone faking her death by cancer was the most obnoxious thing I came across a few days ago and this thought continues to worry me. I feel like shaking Ms Poonam Pandey hard to her senses. Cancer isn't a joke.
Ask a patient who has had a surgery , chemotherapy, radiotherapy and finds a metastatic node again. They say cancer kills you when you have exhausted all your means to treat it. Early diagnosis and treatment are the only answer. Do not hide your disease. Confront it.
This year 2024, the World Cancer Day theme is "Close the Care Gap," which is a continuation of the 2022 theme and will last till this year end (a 3-year campaign) with specified objectives for each year. It was expected that there would be more exposure and engagement in a multi-year campaign, as well as more opportunities to raise global awareness and have an impact.
