I was about 5or 6 years old and we used to live in Ghatkopar , a suburb in Mumbai. we were in the ground floor of bldg "L" and on the second floor lived Mr.Pandurangan. He had two daughters - Manju & banu. Manju was my classmate and Banu was about 4 years senior. Banu took ill and after some time manju told that her sister wouldn't come to school anymore as she developed a swelling inside her stomach. I didn't understand what it meant and soon the whole bldg talked about her illness and it was progressing. Repeatedly we would watch her go by the ambulance to the hospital. Invariably she would be wearing a royal blue long skirt & blouse , her head would be bend down and eyes full of tears . She would look terrified. Manju will be left with us,when her sister wen to the hospital and she would relate all that happens to her sister at home. I cannot recollect what she told me but i remember her crying when she described what happens.
My granny told me that one day her abdomen will swell so much that it will burst and she will die. Although i did not know exactly know what death meant a, i could perceive it as something terrible !
Once i learnt this , whenever i saw banu , i would look at her tummy and try to measure her abdomen visually to assess how much it was grown. this I would do even if she was covered with a bedsheet.
Soon the inevitable happened , banu had died at the hospital and they were to get the body home. All Children in the building were housed in one flat from where body cannot be seen when it is transported to the crematorium. But all of us wanted to see at any cost. We sneaked to the kitchen from where we could get a view. When we looked at the body that was carried , the only thing i wanted to see her abdomen and it was still swollen .. this disturbed me badly
Moment we were released from this temporary prison i ran home. I thought a big mistake was made and banu was wrongly declared dead. I rushed to my mom and burst out" banu 's abdomen was swollen and it didn't seem to have burst , she can't be dead. .....
She probably had a cancer ,either a teratoma or lymphoma. Fortuantely today children like banu need not die. They can get cured with good chemotherapy and surgery . But what is sad that our prception about cancer has changed little
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Dear Dr
ReplyDeletethat day you are a child, now a days children are having awarness about many things. so we have to educate the children about the cancer through schools it will reach each and every home. I thing children are the key to change our world green
The work you are doing to educate the chilren is wonderful. You also need to educate adults to let the children become aware. Cancer AIDS etc are diseases that people are scared to expose their children to. So GOOD LUCK DOC with your team of volunteers.
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Zarreen
Nicely written Doc. I am very glad medicine has progressed that no more kids have to die like little Banu. Million thanks to all you doctors and researchers in the medical field.
ReplyDeleteA very well written blog posting. Today, due to spread of awareness by VMT and others, I hope, this disease is detected early and treated.
ReplyDeleteDr,
ReplyDeletethat was very touching. there's now hope in this hopeless world. If more people get to read this, I'm sure they will understand how far we have come from that stage.there's an undeniable thirst for awareness in all; it just needs to be tapped.reality can startle them into realisation.
usha shri.
Dr,this shows the perception of a young child.But some adults still use the word cancer in their writings, speech and in films to portray anything fatal or deadly.This will change as people start to look away from the stigma attached and become truly educated and aware. Each one of us at VMT have ourselves derived more purpose and found a great platform to be part of this endeavour under your guidance.
ReplyDeleteSundari
I remember my first encounter with word cander - by seeing a movie where the Dr. pronounce the hero/heroine is having cancer (Leukemia) and he will have 2 months to live and they show all gory shots. In fact there was a great debate in magazine - why to fear people and some of the survivors voiced their concern about portraying the disease in pessimistic view. Dr. told me when I met him first "People dont come forward unless they you feel the pain" that is true. It is very much essential to take the message to youngsters to understand the causes for cancer and make them the messengers of the good health to their community. I am sure that we are going in the right direction steadily.
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