A Transformation Leader, Sportsman, Biker, Traveler and a Marathon runner for the last 15 years. To my surprise and my family and friends shock I was detected with a rare type of cancer in the right kidney one month after I ran full marathon in Mumbai in Jan 2014 and a week later after I played the first cricket match of the internal cricket tournament of my organization at the end of Feb 2014.
On Feb 27 I passed blood in urine which was an alarming situation for me (in medical terms it is called gross hematuria). The initial blood, urine and ultra sound tests conducted by doctors showed everything normal hence no one was sure as to why I was passing blood in the urine; in fact it was only blood and no urine which I was passing. The other thing was worrying the doctors was that I had absolute no pain any where. Once the CT scan was done the radiologist confirmed a large growth inside the kidney which is usually cancerous in nature and called Renal Cell Carcinoma in medical terms. The growth was of the size of a golf ball residing inside my right kidney covering more than half of it.
It was really a tough time for my family since all the doctors were suggesting a major surgery with a possibility of me loosing the right kidney; however the final call of removing the kidney would be taken only on the OT table once the doctors opened me up :). The biggest worry for me was the fear that I saw in my parents and my friends eyes of loosing me. At the end it became a motivating factor for me since I had to stand in front of them and give them an assurance that it was not a dead end and I will be fit and fine soon. After lots of preliminary tests conducted by various doctors; I was finally declared fit for the surgery.
Finally the day came when the surgery was performed and as expected the right kidney could not be saved by the surgeons and the kidney along with the ureter, lymph node, 3 arteries, 4 veins and some peripheral tissue also had to be removed. I had excessive bleeding during the surgery and had to be given with more than 2 bottles of blood. Obviously this increased the heart beat of my parents and all my well wishers waiting outside desperately to hear the news that all is well. Eventually I came out with a successful surgery.
I had a long road ahead since there were tests to be conducted and I need to be monitored for the next 5 years closely to ensure that the cancer has not spread to other parts of my body (in medical terms called metastasis). This requires CT scans of Chest, Bone and Liver which needs to be done on a frequency of 3 months for the next 5 years. A negative result may change the course of the treatment further but I am hopeful that everything will be fine.
It was even after one month of surgery that I was so less in energy that I needed rest even after climbing down 2 stairs. I really had to push myself hard even to stand on my feet for 10 minutes. That time I realized that this was taking away my mental as well as physical strength and it was time that I need to back myself and slowly start walking and regain the confidence. I was terrified with the fact that 2 months ago I was running full marathon and today its difficult to even stand for 10 minutes. I finally held myself together and now after another 3 weeks I am able to stand and walk although getting the same stamina will take its own time but the key is not to give up at any stage.
I went back to running and completed the half marathon in Nov 2014; 8 months after the surgery and then went to Mumbai to complete another full marathon in Jan 2015. The next landmark was when I hit the cricket pitch at the end of January (333 days after the surgery) to play my first corporate tournament post the surgery. I cannot forget the welcome my team gave me when I joined them and needless to say I did not disappoint my team and scored runs when my team needed the most. The feeling was so good that its really difficult to put them in words.
The purpose of sharing this story is that I found lots of cancer patients in the hospital who require help in terms of counseling. Such a disease takes a lot from you not only physically and mentally but emotionally as well. The word cancer itself is so scary that people tend to loose the battle even before it starts. I really consider myself lucky that first God gave me a warning since the bleeding happened only for 2 days and then stopped itself and secondly I had a very supportive family and friends. Needless to say my willpower when added to all this lets me become a strong person but not everybody is as lucky as me. I would like to contribute as much as I can and may be able to change someone’s attitude towards life.
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