NEWS ARCHIVE

INDIA, Rishikesh, December 30th, 2012
Guided Meditation for Patients at a Cancer Clinic
On the 30th of December 2012, patients who visited the Ganga Prem Hospice charitable cancer clinic in Rishikesh had the option of availing of free of charge guided meditation sessions with Dr Harish Chaturvedi, associate professor at the medical college in Srinagar, Pauri Garhwal.

Patients were guided on how to watch their breath and relax in the process. Two sessions of around 30 minutes each were held for patients, and in the third and last session, the Ganga Prem Hospice team of Dr Rupali Dewan, Sarojini Murthy, Dr JP Rathi and Divyae Katiyar joined and experienced the breathing exercises and meditation for themselves.

On a cold and cloudy December day, patients and their family members participated in the meditation sessions with interest and of their own accord. A heater was installed in the room to keep the participants comfortable. As the participants, both men and women, came out of the meditation room, some said they liked the new experience while others found the session magnificent. "We would like have more of such sessions," one patient said. Dr Harish Chaturvedi started with a small introductory talk about what meditation is and how it can help patients. Soothing music was played at the beginning of each session for some time, followed by the "panch-kosh" meditation.

It is hoped that meditation and simple breathing exercises will help patients and their carers cope with anxiety and also aid in pain relief to some extent. "We can introduce other types of meditations gradually, depending on what the patients and participants accept," said Dr Harish Chaturvedi.

INDIA, Rishikesh, December 30th, 2012
December Clinic 2012
December 30th was a cold day in Rishikesh with very little sun, yet 90 patients, 40 of whom suffered from cancer, visited the Ganga Prem Hospice monthly charitable cancer clinic where surgical oncologist Dr AK Dewan led a team of six doctors, one ayurvedacharya and one nurse in giving free of charge consultations to patients.

Female cancers of the breast and cervix were by far the most common malignancies seen at the December 30th cancer clinic. Lung, thyroid, tongue, sarcomas, oral cancers, and many secondary cancers were also seen. Twenty of these cancer patients were found to be terminally ill. A larynx-oropharynx terminally ill cancer patient was already so unwell that he had to vomit in the middle of his consultation with the oncologist.

Senior gynaecologists Dr Rupali Dewan and Dr Rajesh Saxena saw female patients specifically, whereas general surgeon Dr Pallavi Purwar worked alongside Dr Dewan. Palliative care expert Dr Aditi Chaturvedi spent a lot of time speaking with the patients about their symptoms. A meditation and regulated breathing programme was launched at the December Ganga Prem Hospice cancer clinic, where Dr Harish Chaturvedi helped patients learn simple meditation and breathing techniques to allay anxiety and bring about relaxation.

While a majority of the patients were from Rishikesh, Dehradun and Haridwar, patients also came all the way from parts of Uttar Pradesh, from Neelkanth, Pauri Garhwal, Tehri Garhwal, and Bijnor.

INDIA, Rishikesh, November 25th, 2012
November Clinic 2012
Twenty-four different types of cancers were seen by the Ganga Prem Hospice surgical oncologist at the charitable cancer clinic held on November 25th, 2012. For several of the patients, their cancer had gone untreated for too long for them to be cured now.

The Ganga Prem Hospice November 2012 charitable cancer clinic in Rishikesh was marked by a high turnout of patients who either had cancer or exhibited cancer symptoms; 59% of the 75 patients who attended fell into this category.

Surgical oncologist Dr AK Dewan was among the first people to reach the clinic venue at the Sardarni Nanki Devi Punjab Sindh Kshetra Hospital on the morning of November 25th. He wanted to start seeing patients early on this day due to the fact that many regular key volunteers would not be able to attend and participate in the running of the clinic.

Some patients who came with suspicious symptoms were advised to undergo diagnostic tests by Dr Dewan and unfortunately for all of them, their cancers were later confirmed by the tests. A very poor 70-year old man suspected of having cancer of the liver was brought to the Ganga Prem Hospice clinic by his son and nephew. His upper abdomen was swollen and he was having fever on and off. The patient was advised to undergo a blood test and an FNAC, which confirmed hepatocellular carcinoma. Since the patient's family is under-privileged and below the poverty line, Ganga Prem Hospice may sponsor the cost of palliative treatment for him.

With seven patients suffering from breast cancer, it was the single most common cancer seen at the clinic on November 25th. Cervix cancer was the next most common cancer seen with three cases. The other cancers seen were acute lymphoblastic leukemia, ano-rectum, bladder, buccal mucosa, brain, endometrium, epiglottis, hypopharynx, kidney, laryngo-pharynx, lung, melanoma, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, pelvic sarcoma, prostate, rectum, liver, soft tissue sarcoma, thymus and tongue. There was one patient for whom the primary cancer remained unknown.

Terminally-ill cancer patients were identified by the oncologist, who also indicated the frequency of home care visits by the Hospice nurse they required.

Rishikesh-based doctors, gynaecologist Dr Rajesh Saxena, ayurvedacharya Dr JP Rathi and physician Dr Amit Aggarwal, helped Dr Dewan with the consultations. Apart from the regular volunteers, an elderly lady offered to devote her time to the Ganga Prem Hospice patient care work. A Rishikesh-resident, she wanted to give back to the needy the care that she had received from somebody during her time of grave illness.

Ganga Prem Hospice personnel Divyae Katiyar, administrative assistant Yogeshwar Prasad, nurse Sicily Sebastion, driver Sebastion Thomas, and co-ordinator Pooja Dogra worked hard at the clinic to offset the absence of the usual volunteers. Volunteer Steven Lopresti scanned all the prescriptions for record-keeping while other volunteers, Shashi Rana, Seema Sareen and Vanita Khurana helped in a general manner for some of the time.

INDIA, Pauri Garhwal, November 5th, 2012
A Palliative Care Initiative in Pauri Garhwal
The introduction of palliative care and support for patients is slowly taking root in India, not just in the metro cities but also in other parts of the country, which are not always in the limelight.

At Srikot, in the moutainous region of Pauri Garhwal, the Vir Chandra Singh Garhwali Government Institute of Medical Science & Research organised a sensitization programme on palliative care on November 5th for the faculty, doctors and nurses. Dr Gayatri Palat, consultant in pallative care at the MNJ Regional Cancer Centre, Hyderabad and Dr Abhishek Singh, assistant professor in radiotherapy at the institute in Srikot were the resource persons for the programme.

Participants asked the resource persons about the common fear that morphine may be addictive for patients, and made the point that palliative care was needed not just for cancer patients but for patients of other diseases also.

Ganga Prem Hospice nurse Sicily Sebation also participated in the sensitization talk and spoke about psychological support which is so important to terminally ill patients. She spoke from her experience with terminally ill patients of Ganga Prem Hospice in the last two years and how patients wanted to speak to her even when they knew that she could not give them much relief from their sufferings.

The Medical Institute in Srikot, Pauri Garhwal, tentatively plans to start a palliative care intiative in the area in early 2013.

INDIA, Rishikesh, October 28th, 2012
October Clinic 2012
The Ganga Prem Hospice October 2012 cancer clinic had two distinct features: one, the many different kinds of services that volunteers provided at the clinic, and two, on the medical statistics side, the fact that 20 different kinds of cancers were seen among the 39 cancer patients who attended the clinic.

If we categorise cancer according to type, then head and neck cancers were the most common, exhibiting themselves in 14 patients from a total of 85 who came for consultation. Female cancers put together (breast, cervix, ovary) were the second most commonplace malignancies seen.

The doctors worked towards providing treatment options to cancer patients in addition to giving them consultation. Surgical oncologist Dr Dewan offered to perform an endoscopy free of charge in Delhi for a patient who had signs which pointed towards cancer. To an ovary cancer patient from Uttarkashi, Dr Dewan offered to put the family in touch with the surgeon of their choice at the Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute in Delhi and help them get a quick admission. General surgeon Dr Pallavi Purwar offered to get free of charge treatment at her Delhi hospital for a papillary thyroid cancer patient.

There were patients who had cancer but had only managed to get some diagnostic tests done at local hospitals so far. They needed to begin with cancer treatment immediately, and counsellor Sarojini Murthy advised them on what they could do to get financial assistance from the government.

Children of the Sri Ram Ashram orphanage in Haridwar, with some members of their staff, visited the Ganga Prem Hospice clinic to see how the patient care programme was operated. The children had already chosen Ganga Prem Hospice to be the beneficiary of a fundraising initiative that they are about to launch. The children had studied the profiles of a number of local NGOs before deciding to support Ganga Prem Hospice.

Some patients were also given physiotherapy and simple breathing technique advice by Dr Aditi Chaturvedi, who specialises in pain and supportive care. Three new volunteers helped at the clinic for the first time, two of them being residents of Rishikesh. These new volunteers supported the existing team in providing multifaceted support to the patients.

INDIA, Rishikesh, October 25th, 2012
Inner Wheel Club Felicitates GPH Nurse
The Inner Wheel Club of Muni-ki-Reti, Rishikesh, held a felicitation ceremony in Rishikesh on 25th October, 2012, to honour women who are involved in serving the community and doing exemplary work in their own small ways.

One of these five women was Sicily Sebastion, the palliative care nurse of Ganga Prem Hospice. Chosen alongside her was a police sub-inspector, a member of the legislative council, a post office worker who encourages poor women to put aside some of their money in savings, and a beautician who has learnt her profession without any education and supports her siblings on her own. The idea behind the appreciation award was to focus not on women who were celebrities, but on those who are making a difference in society while working in relative oblivion.

INDIA, Rishikesh, September 30th, 2012
September Clinic 2012
The Ganga Prem Hospice charitable cancer clinic in Rishikesh on September 30th had five doctors, including two oncologists, giving consultation to the 83 patients who attended, reducing their waiting time down to barely a few minutes each.

Patients had come from Rishikesh, Dehradun and Haridwar, as also from far away places like Muzaffarnagar, Dhampur, Tehri Garhwal, Narendra Nagar and even Gangotri.

Some of the Ganga Prem Hospice home care patients visited the clinic for oncological consultations, including little 13-year old Suraj who was writhing in pain. His worried parents sat beside him and his mother rubbed his back. Palliative care expert Dr Aditi Chaturvedi attended to Suraj with great attention.

Masseuse Jamuna and volunteer Diane Long from the USA, gave foot massages to four patients. Counsellor Sarojini Murthy gave detailed information to cancer patients about what they could do for their treatment and financial support. Volunteers Panchanan Pandey, Bhagwati Kala and nurse Sarla Dabral, along with other volunteers, helped with the clinic operations.

INDIA, Haridwar, September 29th, 2012
A Cancer Clinic to Serve Patients in Haridwar
There were seven advanced cancer patients seen at the cancer clinic in Haridwar, which was organised by the Rotary Club to serve patients of the city.

The Rotary Club of Ranipur organised a cancer clinic in association with Ganga Prem Hospice on the 29th of September, 2012, at the Mela Hospital in Haridwar. The two doctors, surgical oncologist Dr Rajinder Kaur and laproscopic surgeon Dr Sukhvinder Singh Saggu from Delhi were kept busy as 25 of the 60 patients registered either had cancer or were suspected of having cancer. Although the Haridwar patients benefitted the most as surgeons had come to to them to give free of charge consultations, some patients also came from Dehradun, Roorkee and Muzaffarnagar.

Head and neck cancers were more common than some of the other cancers seen, which were breast, cervix, endometrium, lung, sarcomas and prostate.

While the Rotary Club volunteers registered the patients, the Ganga Prem Hospice team guided the patients to the doctors' consultation rooms, assisted the doctors and dispensed medicines (sponsored by the Rotary Club). The GPH team was comprised of the two doctors, Divyae Katiyar, Yogeshwar Prasad Barathwal, Sicily Sebastion, Sebastion Thomas and Steven Lopresti.

Patients found to be terminally ill will be given home care by Ganga Prem Hospice, including a poor sarcoma patient who had a bleeding wound on his neck which was covered with just a piece of cloth. The patient's wound was properly dressed at the clinic venue.

INDIA, Rishikesh, August 26th, 2012
August Clinic 2012
Ganga Prem Hospice monthly cancer clinics are seeing more and more terminally ill cancer patients come to the clinic, establishing the clinic's credentials as one providing supportive care to advanced cancer patients.

The Ganga Prem Hospice cancer clinic of July 2012 in Rishikesh was a palliative care clinic in all senses as terminally ill patients were given on-the-spot care and counselled about how to maintain their mobility and how to do mild physical therapy on their own at home. Patients with open tumours had their wounds dressed and were also given advice on how to do the same at home. This was done with the help of a young palliative care doctor from Srinagar, Pauri, who joined the Ganga Prem Hospice medical team as a volunteer.

On a day when it was mostly difficult for patients to commute to Rishikesh from other towns owing to the continual rains, there were still 88 patients who came from Rishikesh, Dehradun, Haridwar, Muzaffarnagar, Tehri and Narendra Nagar. One patient's son had come all the way from Chamoli, two hundred kilometers away, to fetch analgesics for his father.

There were 30 cancer patients among the 88 patients who came for consultations and 17 of the 30 were terminally ill. The trend in the number of terminally ill patients being larger than that of cancer patients in other stages of the disease has become noticeable recently.

Surgical oncologist Dr AK Dewan was assisted by general physician Dr GS Vats, general surgeon Dr Pallavi Purwar and ayurvedacharya Dr JP Rathi. Dr Aditi Chaturvedi from the medical college in Srinagar, Pauri, had travelled a hundred kilometers to volunteer at the Ganga Prem Hospice clinic.

The cancers seen at the clinic were buccal mucosa, breast, papillary thyroid carcinoma, Wilm's tumour, tongue, cervix, malignant ascites, liver secondaries, pelvic sarcoma, soft tissue sarcoma, prostate, gall bladder, thymic, hypopharynx, osteosarcoma, oesophagus, stomach, and tongue.

Out of the terminally ill cancer patients at the clinic, there was a ninety-year old as well as a thirteen- and eighteen-year. The thirteen-year old patient's family was given food supplies and fruits donated by two different people.

As well as the new volunteers who joined in at the July 2012 cancer clinic, Ganga Prem Hospice's regular volunteers such as counsellor Sarojini Murthy, Anil Gupta, Panchanan Pandey, Bhagwati Kala and others continued to provide crucial support in the running of the clinic.

The Rajasthani Mishthaan Bhandaar, Ganga Prem Hospice's immediate neighbour, continues to serve the clinic patients by offering tea and snacks as their charitable contribution to the clinic.

INDIA, Rishikesh, July 29th, 2012
July Clinic 2012
The Ganga Prem Hospice July 29th, 2012 charitable cancer clinic in Rishikesh saw 84 patients, 51% of whom were cancer patients. The number of terminally ill cancer patients was also particularly high at 21, with eight advanced stage cancer patients coming to the clinic for the first time.

With fewer doctors than there are generally at a Ganga Prem Hospice clinic, the doctors had to attend to a rush of patients. A thyroid cancer patient who had come from Chamoli, 200 kilometres away, was given a supply of medicines for a month for his pain and other symptoms.

Counsellor Sarojini Murthy spoke to the patients and their families, listening patiently and discussing with them how and where they could get further treatment, and what financial help sources they could tap. Another long time breast cancer patient from Dehradun who Ganga Prem Hospice has been supporting with food supplies is still not well and asked the counsellor if she could continue to receive that support.

A Ganga Prem Hospice home care patient, 24-year old Aarti, who has been given very good home care by visiting hospice nurse Suzanne Hetherington, was brought to the clinic at her request in the Ganga Prem Hospice vehicle. Her father, mother and sister came along with her. Aarti was beside herself with pain yet she managed to retain some clarity of mind. Her father fanned her to ward off the flies. Dr Rupali Dewan and Suzanne saw the patient in the ambulance itself as she was too weak to be brought into the clinic. The patient passed away two days later.

INDIA, Rishikesh, June 24th, 2012
June Clinic 2012
A large number of advanced cancer patients at the June 24, 2012 clinic of Ganga Prem Hospice in Rishikesh meant that the its operations went on for a long time, even though four doctors were at work throughout. Every second patient seen at the cancer clinic was a cancer patient.

Two patients were given an intravenous drip, dressings were applied for tumours and other wounds, a port was changed for one cancer patient by the surgical oncologist, a pap smear was done by the gynaecologist to screen for cancer, and patients were given practical advice on where to go for discounted diagnostic tests, how to apply for financial aid from the government, and how to reach government-run hospitals in Delhi where they could avail of free of charge treatment, with the help of the Ganga Prem Hospice visiting doctors.

At the height of the Indian summer, patients, particularly cancer patients, came in early to the clinic on the Sunday morning. Surgical oncologist Dr AK Dewan, gynaecologist Dr Rupali Dewan, general physician Dr GS Vats and general surgeon Dr Pallavi Purwar started to see patients at 8.30 am in the morning. They were later joined by Rishikesh based gynaecologist Dr Rajesh Saxena and ayurvedacharya Dr JP Rathi.

Terminally ill home care patients came for consultations, as also new patients who had advanced cancer and had never visited the Ganga Prem Hospice clinic before. There was an exceptional situation where a mother and her adult son both had cancer and the son was now terminally ill. A stomach cancer patient had come all the way from Uttarkashi and another stomach cancer patient from Chamoli.

Among the 22 terminally ill cancer patients at the clinic, some of them were coming to know of their cancer's advanced stage for the first time. The oncologist had to break the news to the families gently. The cervix cancer patients were seen by the oncologist as also by the gynaecologist.

Some cancer patients were given the option of coming to Delhi hospitals where general surgeon Dr Pallavi would arrange for free of charge treatment for them. One patient was also put it contact with another patient who was in Delhi, with the same cancer and the same line of treatment, for guidance.

Counsellor Sarojini Murthy assessed the patient's needs. Hospice nurse Suzanne Hetherington from the US joined the Ganga Prem team in Rishikesh for the first time. Volunteers Anil Gupta and Panshula called the patients in while Divyae Katiyar handled the registration and Pooja Dogra the coordination of the clinic.

INDIA, Rishikesh, May 27th, 2012
May Clinic 2012
The Ganga Prem Hospice May 27th clinic lacked the services of an oncologist for the first time in 5 years, yet 68 patients, including 24 cancer patients, attended the monthly charitable facility which saw five doctors, one nurse, and several volunteers hard at work on the warm summer day.

In order to ensure that cancer patients did not travel to the clinic unnecessarily, 76 cancer patients known to Ganga Prem Hospice were informed two days beforehand that the clinic would not have an oncologist. Distribution of the usual pamphlets advertising the cancer clinic was avoided for the same reason.

The clinic provided not only the customary consultations but in addition, three patients received some extra attention. Two were given an intravenous saline drip while a hypopharynx cancer patient's tracheostomy tube, which serves as his lifeline, was changed with a new one by the Ganga Prem Hospice visiting surgeon, as the tube was causing him pain and pus was oozing out of his airway. The patient's young wife winced as she tried not to watch the procedure and later sobbed uncontrollably as Sarojini Murthy, the Ganga Prem Hospice counsellor, spoke to her at length, giving her emotional support.

The number of patients who need medical treatment as well as financial and social support has been on the rise. Even though Ganga Prem Hospice donates monthly food supplies to ten family members of two under privileged cancer patients, the need is far greater. Ganga Prem Hospice came across two more such patients whose lives were going towards penury as they were exhausting all their income and resources on cancer treatment.

In the absence of oncologist Dr AK Dewan, who had to cancel his travel to Rishikesh at the last minute due to a professional commitment, ENT-surgeon Dr Jai Gopal Sharma, a team member of the preventive oncology department of the Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute in Delhi, took the lead in examining cancer patients. He was ably supported by general surgeon Dr Pallavi Purwar. Dr Amit Aggarwal of Nirmal Ashram Hospital in Rishikesh also provided consultations to patients at the May 27th charitable clinic.

Rishikesh based gynaecologist Dr Rajesh Saxena and ayurvedacharya Dr JP Rathi were kept busy as many pilgrims passing through Rishikesh came with general complaints. These people are chiefly economically poor and the summer heat brings them a host of ailments. An 18-month old baby with diarrhoea was carried to the clinic by his young mother who innocently said that while she would have to go hungry for a day, she would surely buy the needed medicines for her child. Ganga Prem Hospice purchased the prescribed medicines for the baby and gave the mother bottled water so that the infant could have clean water to drink.

Volunteers and donors continued to give, and in a sweet gesture the neighbouring Rajasthani Mishthaan Bhandaar shop, which otherwise provides snacks and tea to patients, this time also donated a box of apples. The Ganga Prem Hospice team distributed the apples to under privileged patients.

New volunteers joined in, including two women from Rishikesh, one of whom is a cancer survivor and wants to give some of her time towards helping Ganga Prem's patients.

Even though the number of patients attending the clinic was comparatively less than the usual trend, it was still a busy day as the type of services offered by Ganga Prem Hospice to patients is gradually expanding.

INDIA, Rishikesh, April 29th, 2012
April Clinic 2012
April 2012 saw the highest number of patients ever at a Ganga Prem Hospice cancer clinic in Rishikesh since the clinics were started in September 2007.

The summer Sunday of April 29th was not too hot and had patients coming to the clinic in large numbers as early as 8 am.

Of the 42 cancer patients seen, 14 (33%) were terminally ill. These included a 15-year old boy with advanced renal cancer. Another child, eight-year old brain cancer patient Sujal, who has been under Ganga Prem Hospice's watchful eye, was advised a periodic CT scan and a visit to the cancer hospital.

Patients with general ailments were seen by general physician Dr GS Vats, who took pressure off of Dr Dewan, allowing the oncologist to give more time to the cancer patients. Patients with gynaecological problems were seen by local gynaecologist Dr Rajesh Saxena, who also assisted Dr Dewan in seeing female cancer patients.

While it is never a very optimistic scene at a cancer clinic, there was some good news when a post-surgery oral cancer patient came to see Dr Dewan with positive signs of recovery. The patient had been sponsored by Ganga Prem Hospice so that his treatment and surgery could be done free of charge at a state-run tertiary-sector hospital in Delhi with the help of general surgeon Dr Pallavi Purwar. Treatment and surgery that would have cost the patient lakhs of rupees and which he could not afford were done for free at the hospital. Travel and lodging were arranged by the Hospice.

A long-time giant cell tumour patient who is recovering after surgery was brought to the Ganga Prem Hospice clinic in the ambulance, while another prostate cancer patient who usually required an ambulance ride walked to the clinic on his own.

There were cancer patients who needed much persuasion and counselling so that they could be motivated enough to begin their treatment. Fear of cancer and financial constraints were keeping them away from seeking the medical attention they needed.

Volunteers managed the very tiring operations of the long clinic, calling in patients, counselling them, helping them around, dispensing medicines and providing the patients with refreshments. Two volunteers donated medicines and dressing materials, while two regular supporters donated refreshments and snacks for the patients and the medical team. One other donor made arrangements for canopies at the clinic, bringing much relief to patients waiting outside in the summer weather.

Even after six hours of continuous work, surgical oncologist Dr Dewan acceded to a patient's kin's request for a home visit as the patient was too ill to come to the clinic. Anil Gupta accompanied Dr Dewan on the visit.