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Ganga Prem Hospice Patients

INDIA, Haridwar, April 21st, 2013
Ganga Ram Finds Ganga Prem
Two-year old Ganga Ram clings to his mother and looks lethargic, his eyes shot with infection due to progressive parotid cancer. His parents, even though extremely poor, are doing all they can to save his life.

A protruding tumour can be seen in the child's right ear
Ganga Ram is a little two-year old who has spent half of his life battling cancer. This child who is native to Haridwar and bears the name of the perennial river near which he was born has cancer of the right parotid gland. His parents first noticed something was wrong when a growth resembling a mole appeared in his ear. Although they are the poorest of the poor and completely uneducated, they took him to doctors and hospitals for medical advice.

The child was diagnosed with cancer and was treated at the HIHT hospital in Jolly Grant, Dehradun. The treatment initially did him some good in March 2013, but now the baby has relapsed into a lethargic state with the cancer showing prominently in his right ear.

Ganga Ram visited the Ganga Prem Hospice charitable cancer clinic in Haridwar on the 21st of April, 2013, and was examined by surgical oncologist Dr Vivek Gupta. The child needs follow up palliative treatment as the cancer is progressing. His parents however are in a dire situation financially, as the child's father is a labourer and the family lives in an ashram for lepers in Haridwar. Their first child is a daughter who is a little older than her two-year old brother.
Ganga Ram was brought to the Haridwar clinic in April

All of the child's treatment till now was made possible with money collected by local donors in Haridwar. Now that money has run out and his treatment needs to continue.

A Haridwar newspaper has been carrying news of the child in a an attempt to raise funds for his treatment. Ganga Prem Hospice plans to arrange for Ganga Ram's palliative treatment and care.

Little Ganga Ram died on May 12th, 2013.

Despite the efforts of Ganga Prem Hospice and other well-wishers from Haridwar, little Ganga Ram's life could not be saved and he passed away at 2 o'clock on the morning of the 12th of May.

 
 
 

INDIA, Uttarkashi, April 4th, 2013
Child Patient Follow-Up from Uttarkashi Clinic
Prakash is a 12-year old boy who comes from a Nepalese family but has been living in Uttarkashi, India, for some time. He was brought by his father in order to seek medical attention for his recurrent fever. Prakash's father works as a labourer and has spent his meager savings on the boy's treatment.

Ganga Prem Hospice nurse Sicily Sebastion with Prakash and his father in Rishikesh
At the Ganga Prem Hospice charitable cancer screening camp in Uttarkashi on March 8th and 9th, 2013, Prakash and his father came to oncologist Dr Ashish Goel for medical advice. The boy had enlarged lymph nodes and ruling out cancer was important. The Rotary Club of Uttarkashi offered to fund the boy's treatment for up to Rs. 5,000 and Ganga Prem Hospice offered to sponsor the accommodation and food of the patient if he came to Rishikesh.

Some days later Prakash and his father were taken to the cancer centre in Dehradun by the Ganga Prem Hospice nurse, where an FNAC test was done. Since the test was not fully conclusive in ruling out cancer, Ganga Prem Hospice medical director Dr AK Dewan offered to have the patient seen by oncologists at the Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute in Delhi. The doctors saw that Prakash's dental health was in a very poor condition and that he needed dental treatment immediately, after which a biopsy may be done if it is still needed. Back in Rishikesh, the patient was taken by the Ganga Prem Hospice manager to the Seema Dental College & Hospital, where preliminary investigation showed that the boy's teeth were decaying. Blood tests were done to detect any other abnormality. Prakash's treatment is expected to continue in Rishikesh, and he is currently on a semi-soild diet.

Update on Prakash Joshi (April 12th, 2013)

Prakash has returned to Uttarkashi with his father after having two teeth extracted and scaling done on his teeth. The fact that his new teeth had grown over his milk teeth causing serious infection, and the fact that there has been no oral hygiene whatsoever in the past, may be the cause of his recurring fevers and swollen lymph nodes. The need for a biopsy has still not been completely ruled out.

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INDIA, Uttarkashi, March 11th, 2013
Debt and Colon Cancer Mar the Life of Leela Devi
Leela Devi is a slightly-built Garhwali woman who comes from a remote high-altitude village, Pilang, situated some miles off from the main road to Gangotri, in Uttarakhand. The 38-year old has three boys, two of whom are in their teens and one who is younger.

Coming from a poverty-stricken family, Leela Devi's husband has a small farm on which only amaranth grows. Even that meagre source of income is now depleted as Leela is stricken with colon cancer.

Whatever little income and savings the family had have all been consumed by the colon cancer surgery and treatment. Financial aid from the state government, which the patient received for her treatment, was barely enough to cover her surgery cost at the only cancer hospital of Uttarakhand in Dehradun. Leela Devi and her husband Bachan Singh had to borrow fifty thousand rupees from creditors to afford the rest of her treatment. That debt still looms heavily in their lives.
Colon cancer patient Leela Devi and her husband, Bachan Singh

Leela Devi was slated for further follow up treatment in March, but the couple does not have enough money to even afford a trip to the Dehradun hospital, let alone be able to pay the treatment expense.

The Uttarkashi Rotary Club and some other people have been helping the children to stay in school and have been supporting the family in other small ways, but cancer treatment still remains elusive for Leela Devi. The patient feels too weak to be able to do household work, so Bachan Singh stays at home and manages the daily chores. Leela sometimes has to run to the toilet and on other occasions her colon makes strange noises.

The couple visited the busy Uttarkashi camp in March

The little-educated couple was hard-pressed to explain their problems when they came to the Ganga Prem Hospice cancer screening camp in Uttarkashi on the 8th of March, 2013. They had walked several kilometres to reach the road to the Uttarkashi town, and would have had to travel back in the same manner.

They were given medicines and nutritional supplements at the camp.

Sadly, little else could be done immediately for Leela Devi, as the cost of her follow-up treatment is high and casts a serious question mark on her survival.

Update on Leela Devi (March 26th, 2013)

On the 26th of March, news was conveyed to the Uttarkashi Rotary Club via an emissary from the village of Pilang that Leela Devi was in acute pain. Her appointment date at the cancer hospital near Dehradun has been overdue by a month. Leela Devi desperately needs money to make her trip from Uttarkashi to Dehradun and at least start with some part of her treatment.

Rs. 10,000 have now been received and will be put towards the cost of her travel from Uttarkashi to Delhi and her stay there, including food.

Leela Devi of Pilang, Uttarkashi, died on April 22nd, 2013 at 1 am.

Even while arrangements were being made for Leela Devi's free treatment in Delhi, back in her remote village she left her body at 1 am on April 22nd.

 
 
 
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PATIENT'S STORIES
Cancer patients and their loved ones are invited to write to us about their views, thoughts and feelings. We will include as many letters, articles and stories as is possible in these web pages.

Please send your article to Nani Ma at nanima@gangapremhospice.org.

 
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