Ganga Prem Hospice Patients

INDIA, Rishikesh, March 3rd, 2012
Aarti Needs Your Help to Live
Aarti has a loving family. Her parents, although very poor, still want to do all that they can so that their eldest daughter can live.

Twenty-four-year old Aarti was a school teacher in Rishikesh until she was diagnosed with rectum cancer. Growing up, her father made sure that his daughter received a good education even though his only source of income was selling tea in Rishikesh. Aarti made the most of her father's sacrifice and became a graduate.

Aarti and her father at the GPH clinic in February 2012

The unfolding of what looked like a promising life has now been brought to a standstill by cancer. She urgently needs treatment if her life is to be saved. Emaciated and anaemic, Aarti learned at the Ganga Prem Hospice cancer clinic in Rishikesh in February 2012 that she had cancer. She tried to be brave and hold her tears back when she found out. Her father, Jagdish Prasad, would not lift his eyes, as he could not bear to see his daughter coming face to face with reality.

Jagdish, even with his modest income, has spent all that he has on his daughter, getting her admitted to one hospital after another and purchasing ayurvedic medicines for her. Her cancer treatment is however beyond his reach and the family has returned from the cancer hospital disheartened as the diagnostic test itself cost them four thousand rupees. "I hope there is no danger to Aarti's life," says Aarti's mother. She has heard of cancer but does not fully understand what it means. There are three other children in the family to look after, Aarti being the eldest.

Ganga Prem Hospice is helping Aarti and her family to go to Delhi and have
the necessary tests including a colonoscopy. Aarti is young and needs financial help to be able to receive treatment.

Update on Aarti (March 5th, 2012)

Aarti reached Delhi with her parents on the 5th of March, 2012. She will have her first consultation for a diagnostic test at a well-established tertiary hospital, thanks to arrangements made by Dr Pallavi Purwar. Manav Ashraya, Delhi, has been kind enough to give Aarti and her family free lodging for the duration of their stay in Delhi. Manav Ashraya has also arranged for a free pick up and drop off service to and from the hospital for the patient.

Update on Aarti (March 18th, 2012)

Eleven days into her Delhi stay, Aarti's diagnostic tests are over. The cancer has made some invasions into the bone which means that Aarti will first require therapy and treatment before surgery can be performed to take out the tumour. This also means a prolonged stay in Delhi of perhaps six months. Aarti and her father and mother were counselled by Dr Pallavi Purwar who laid all the facts in front of the family to let them decide. The family decided to go ahead with the treatment immediately.

Gastro-surgeon Dr Saluja of GB Pant Hospital and general surgeon Dr Pallavi Purwar are currently deciding in which hospital Aarti should have her treatment before she is fit for surgery.

Meanwhile, Manav Ashray facility of Delhi has been exceptionally kind in allowing Aarti and her parents to stay on for the long duration of the Delhi treatment. "Manav Ashray should not become a hurdle in Aarti's treatment," said Mr Sanjeev Shankar of Manav Ashray, without whose support Aarti would have found it very difficult to get her cancer treated.

Abhilasha Srivastava, a cancer patient herself and a teacher at Allahabad University is keeping in touch with Aarti so that her spirits stay up. She will help Aarti with holistic tips that helped her through her own cancer treatment and also provide interesting reading material to Aarti who might otherwise feel bored and lonely in a city far from her home and friends.

Update on Aarti (March 20th, 2012)

Aarti's rectum cancer treatment is now taking place at a Delhi public sector hospital which specialises in cancer care. The hospital has advanced technical facilities which gives one the confidence that despite a huge rush of patients at the hospital, Aarti will get good treatment for her cancer.

On the 20th of March, Aarti went for a consultation and had additional diagnostic tests done. She then saw Ganga Prem Hospice medical director and oncologist Dr AK Dewan at the Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute to update him on on what treatment was being planned for her. GPH coordinator Pooja Dogra accompanied Aarti and her parents to both hospitals.

Ganga Prem Hospice has sent medicines and nutritional supplements to Aarti. She has also received medicines and protein supplements from another donor who lives near to where she is staying in Delhi.

A day at a cancer hospital in Delhi

A posh-looking building with swanky interiors, the hospital where Aarti is now undergoing treatment probably has the best atmosphere when it comes to public-sector hospitals in the city.

Even though the weather has taken a summer-like turn in Delhi, patients are still wearing woollens, a sign that these are patients whose immunity is severely compromised.

This hospital is not a place where the rich come-this is clear when one sees some patients laying down on the floor on worn-out rugs brought from home, and others haltingly eating home-made food.

Aarti is also one of these patients. On arrival she sat down on the floor. When a seat was vacated she reluctantly sat on it. In the consultation room, Aarti was nervous and tired. When the doctor wanted to examine her, she asked if it would hurt.

In another section of the hospital, patients wait in line for pathology tests. One youngish cancer patient speaks to another about how she leaves home at 4.30 in the morning to reach the hospital from her hometown, more than sixty kilometres away, "I have little children," she explains, implying that she cannot afford to die.

One cannot help but wonder if it is fair to treat these cancer patients the same way as other patients, to make them wait, to give them consultations which have to be mechanical due to the sheer pressure of the hordes of patients still waiting, to not put a hand on their shoulder and tell them that it is alright. Yet, the doctors are doing a good job considering that they see a mind-numbing number of patients all day, every day, and Aarti is being cared for along with all the others.

Update on Aarti (April 16th, 2012)

Aarti had her first chemotherapy session on April 16th. She was happy to find that it did not hurt but after a few days she suffered from severe side effects including vomiting, diarrhea and fainting. GPH homeopathic practioner Dr Kanshiram Rathore advised some medicine for symptom relief.

Update on Aarti (April 22nd, 2012)

GPH volunteer Priyanka Singhal visited Aarti, taking her the homeopathic medicine and some fruit. Aarti greatly enjoyed the visit and the two girls decided they would go shopping together next time. Aarti has found considerable relief from the homeopathic medicine and is looking forward to her next round of chemotherapy.

Update on Aarti (April 23rd, 2012)

Aarti was delighted today when Manav Ashriya, the dharamsala where she and her family are staying in Delhi, seeing her difficulties with the chemotherapy symptoms, kindly gave her a room on the upper floor of the building. Here, Aarti is near the bathroom and has to share it with far less people than when she was on the ground floor.

Update on Aarti (June 5th, 2012)

Aarti has been undergoing chemotherapy at a Delhi hospital. The side-effects of the treatment regime has made Aarti weak but her reports have been good and there is even chance that she may not have to go through the full six rounds of chemotherapy if her doctors so feel after evaluating her medical reports. Presently, Aarti has undergone four chemotherapy cycles. She may also undergo radiotherapy once the present treatment is over.

The Manav Ashray facility, where Aarti and her parents have been staying free of charge, has been very kind in doubling Aarti's milk portion so that she regains some strength, and in providing her transportation to the hospital even at odd hours. General Surgeon Dr Pallavi Purwar has also been supporting the patient and giving her advice over the phone. Delhi-based volunteer Priyanka visits Aarti once every week or so, to give her company and takes fruits and medicines for her.

Aarti's father has found some temporary work in Noida near Delhi, so that he can earn some income for the family.

Update on Aarti (June 28th, 2012)

Aarti was informed by the hospital that her chemotherapy regime was now over and she would have some diagnostic tests before surgery. Aarti was happy and relieved to hear that she would have no more chemotherapy now and not even radiotherapy. The patient has been eagerly awaiting surgery for her cancer.

Aarti passed away peacefully on August 31st, 2012

Despite Aarti's happiness at returning home, her emaciated body deteriorated quickly and it soon became apparent that she was not going to live long. Ganga Prem Hospice volunteer nurse Suzanne Hetherington visited Aarti every day and she was kept comfortable with analgesics and other symptom control medicines. Aarti's family cared for her with great love following all of Suzanne's instructions.

At her own insistence, Aarti was brought to the cancer clinic in the ambulance on July 29th where she expressed her gratitude for all that had been done for her. On Tuesday the 31st, she breathed her last in the presence of Suzanne and her family. Aarti was comfortable and died with a sweet smile on her face after calling out "Mummie, Mummie." Aarti's body was cremated on the same day.

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INDIA, Tehri Garhwal, February 6th, 2012
Asadi Devi: In Need of Palliative Care

Poor Asadi Devi's case came to the attention of Ganga Prem Hospice through a man from her village who happened to meet a Hospice supporter on a visit to the city of Dehradun. His phone number was given to the Rishikesh team who managed to contact the patient's husband and retrieve her medical history. A call was then made to Dr Rajinder Kaur, a volunteer oncologist who specialises in women's cancer. Asadi Devi's husband was advised to bring his wife down to Rishikesh before the clinic and have some tests done so that the visiting oncologist could see what could be done to help her.

Asadi Devi undertook the arduous nine hour bus journey from her snowbound village in Chamoli near the bank of the river Alaknanda to reach Rishikesh two days before the Ganga Prem Hospice cancer clinic on the 29th of January. With the help of Divyae, the Hospice manager, she had her tests done at a diagnostic centre giving free tests for Ganga Prem's poor cancer patients.

Asadi Devi and her husband at the January clinic

Small, under-weight and with her body afflicted with metastatic cancer, Asadi Devi had to be lifted on a make-shift palanquin to traverse the distance from her village to the main road where she could catch a bus. Asadi was diagnosed with cancer three years ago and had undergone surgery to have her uterus removed in a hospital in Pauri Garhwal, but the cancer then returned to her breasts and since then she has had no treatment.

"Ghar khaali hai," says Dalip Singh, Asadi Devi's husband, pointing to the fact that they have nothing left in their home now. When asked what he does for a living, Dalip shows his calloused palms and says that he was a daily wager but has no job now. One of the couple's two daughters is married, while their son works in Haridwar to earn a living. Asadi Devi's cancer treatment was the last thing they could afford.

There is nothing that can be done for Asadi other than give her palliative treatment at a hospital, said the Ganga Prem Hospice oncologist who saw the patient. At the clinic in Rishikesh, Asadi was very quiet and her steps were very slow owing to her body being devoid of any energy. Coming from a very impoverished economic background, perhaps it had never occurred to her that she could be any other way, that she could choose to reject something or ask for something for her own self. If she was asked to sit, she would sit down, and if she had pain, which she did, she did not tell.