Please Pray For Doc! Update: pg 46 - Page 15

Dear Friends

I take this opportunity to thank all of you for your wishes and prayers for my wife, Malvika (your Doc)

The whole story began on the 12th of Dec 2012, when she noticed a small lump on her right jaw, just below the ear. First we dismissed it as a case of acute parotiditis (salivary gland inflammation) and tried to treat it with our usual antibiotics and painkillers. But the lump persisted, diminished in size but did not go away. A few days later, another lump was noticed in her armpit. I took her to a student of mine, who promptly performed a whole body CT scan and mammography. The mammography was clear but the CT scan was not. Multiple lesions were detected in the abdomen and biopsy result (armpit and jaw) was not clear. The oncologist gave the verdict of wait and watch and we happily went back to our complacent world.

Sometime around new year's eve, she noticed that swallowing was getting more and more difficult...she had to drink a glass of water to push a piece of chappatti down.ANd then we all noticed it: climbing a single staircase made her breathless. She could not sleep on the bed for long times and spent most of the night sleeping in a chair propped up on 6-8 cushions. One fine day she complained of upper abdominal bloating and I could feel a growth. I immediately approached the oncologist and he advised a round of chemo after the prelimnary evaluation. The Chemo drained her totally...her spells of breathlessness increased and she started getting agitated even while speaking a single sentence.

The abdominal cavity was opened under GA, multiple metastases was observed, spreading to the liver, pancreas and the fundus of the stomach. With that the surgeon gave up the plan to surgically remove anything...the growth on the stomach is pressing on her lungs causing her severe dyspnoea. The Oncologist has given her 3 months with the most aggressive chemo, which cannot start right now as her incision is yet to heal.

So that's the picture, my friends...we can only wait and watch now, and make her as comfortable as we can. Fortunately there is not much pain and the only discomfort is that of the gasping and breathlessness. Yesterday night was quite horrible and we had to put her on a ventilator. It was something similar to taking a couple of steps back in the recovery process. SHe continues to be stable on the ventilator.

In this whole process, I have discovered a new arena of friendship...the forum. There are people there whom she has never met, maybe talked to...but they empathize with us, feel for her. Thank you so much. At this point, let me stress to all, every prayer counts...in making her last days comfortable and peaceful.

I especially want to thank Ms Sujatha Turaga for communicating across the forum.

Dr Rajeev

Originally posted by: Malvika_rajeev

Dear Friends

-I especially want to thank Ms Sujatha Turaga for communicating across the forum.

Dr Rajeev