In his epoch-making poem, "The Waste Land", T. S. Eliot, in a way the father of the modernist English poetry, asserted that 'April is the cruellest month'. Well, for the British royal family, January seemed to be rather a cruel month. Want to know why? Two members of that prominent family needed medical attention/consultation regarding cancer like symptoms. In fact, King Charles is apparently diagnosed with cancer.
" Sceptre and crown must tumble down/and in the dust be equal made," wrote James Shirley. He was describing death. Equally true the description would be of cancer that spares none, neither the rich nor the poor! An auto-immune disease, cancer so changes the cell structure that their very proliferation causes a problem!
Hippocrates of the famous oath knew of it, and talked of carcinoma from which comes the modern term 'cancer'. In proper medical usage, it is still called carcinoma. It is indeed highly painful.the Bollywood presentation of the disease, most Indians associate it with "Anand". One in a million would be an Anand. In a way, "Mili" or "Shwas" is closer to the truth, real lived trials and tribulations of the patient, given the utmost pain cancer causes.
In its last stage, the disease is so very unbelievably painful that palliative care allows the use of morphine! For the 'New Indian Express', I wrote a series of articles on cancer, cancer and women, cancer and children, palliative care, and so on. Thus I know a little about the facts and the misconceptions regarding cancer
The most difficult to bear would be cancer in children, and more so for the adult care-giver who has to witness the child's pain, and thus suffer it psychologically, right? For women too, cancer is tough to bear because often they suffer a threat to self image, be it the breast cancer or the uterine cancer. Well, the cervical cancer is still more problematic because it declares loud and clear to the whole world that the patient had many partners!
Yes, there is a particular gene that could be a cause of cancer. Hence, it seems to run in families. Yet it is the lifestyle that may aggravate the disease apparently. Scientists ARE eagerly 're-searching' for a panacea. Hope they will find one truly soon, given the rapid strides in the medical field. This would end the pain that cannot be penned!
Pratima@ Despite the pain, many patients survive both the dis-ease, and its relapse. Hope the medical fraternity would soon find a permanent solution to the terrible pain. Hope very soon a commemorative day dedicated to cancer would just not be needed!
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