Minoti Barthakur - Non Hodgkin’s Lymphoma
Struggle And Success of a Cancer Survivor
I suffered from cancer twice in my life and both the times I was diagnosed at the 4th stage of the disease, when it was all spread over to many parts of my body. However with the grace of God, treatment given to me by my doctors, the support, love and care from my family and my strong desire to live saved my life both the times.
I was married early, at the age of 19, but before I could complete only 25 years of my life, three beautiful children were born to me and all of them died of a disease known as R H Disease. During seventies, this disease had no treatment and therefore I had to suffer mentally for a long period of time. This caused a stress disorder in me known as Irritable bowel syndrome, for many years, which ultimately turned into a type of cancer known as Non Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. I was diagnosed at the Tata Memorial Hospital in April 1994, when a large number of tumours were found in my stomach, liver, pancreas, spleen and lungs. The doctors in the Tata’s discussed my case in the Lymphoma Clinic and decided that a very strong dose of eight cycles of Chemotherapy should be administered to me as in my case Radiotherapy or surgery was not possible.
Most of the doctors in the Tata Hospital, believed that I have come at a very critical stage of my life and with medicine I shall survive maximum for a year or so. Even when I asked a lady doctor about my case she replied in this way. But doctor R Gopal, who treated me, in the Tata Memorial Hospital, requested me to give a tough fight and said that he will not let me die so easily.
I took my first chemotherapy in the Tata’s, Mumbai and then came to Guwahati to take the rest under the guidance of C Bhuyan in the B Barooah Cancer Institute.
I was young, my husband too was a young man and even my parents also were only middle aged. I therefore did not want to die leaving them so sad and decided to give a tough fight. I started taking my treatment religiously, started doing breathing exercise and meditation and took great care about my food and drinks. But even then, the first 4/5 doses of chemotherapy created havoc in my life as they lead myself to violent vomiting and diarrhoea and severe weight loss. My hairs started falling making me almost bald, nails and tongue became black and my skin became yellowish. Sometimes, during the severe reaction period, I was unable to walk to go to my toilet and I had to crawl as I did not like to pass my urine or stool on my bed. Seeing me looking so ugly and suffering so much, tears flew down the cheeks of my near and dear ones causing more pain in me. During the course of the treatment I had to take blood twice as it became absolutely necessary.
But as a student and teacher of Philosophy, I believed in the words of Lord Buddha. Buddha said that, nothing remains static in this world; everything good or bad will definitely change, so there should be no cause of worry. Thus following the advice of the Buddha I started pacifying myself.
My husband, who had to travel a lot, on his official capacity, inside and outside India, did a wonderful thing for me. He selected and purchased a large number of books on cancer, for me, written by the Cancer Specialists of the world and Cancer Survivors, who survived from very crucial stage of their lives. As I started reading these books I gained more power of my mind to fight with cancer and to become a winner. From these books I also came to know that a few cancer survivors in the European and American countries work for the cause of the cancer patients. Learning about it, I also promised to the Almighty, that if by His grace I am cured of my disease, I shall dedicate my life and my money for the cause of cancer and the cancer patients. However it took as many as five and a half years for me to regain my health completely. Therefore I started giving my free service to the Dr Bhubaneswar Barooah Cancer Institute from the 1st of January 2000. During that time, I was the only cancer survivor giving free service for the cancer patients of the North Eastern Region.
As I started working in the hospital, the patients kept requesting me to write a book about cancer and how to fight with this disease. So in 2004, I wrote my first book ( later I wrote few more) on my success story in Assamese language, which was immediately sold like hot cakes and was translated to five different languages. During the period, I also started a free Counselling and Meditation Centre for the patients. Thus I started working fully for the cause of cancer.
For long seventeen years I was fine, taking the responsibility of being the Head of the Department of Philosophy of Cotton College, (then a Post Graduate Institution, now University) and also working regularly in the B Barooah Hospital. But then something happened which took me to cancer again. It was in September 2009, when my Husband, who has retired from his service by the time, fell down while going for his morning walk and broke his Pelvis Bone. He was immediately hospitalized, but all the people who worked for me, namely my cook and driver left my home as they had to work more for my bed ridden husband. Now, I had to take charge of everything at home as well as the hospital. I therefore had no time to take care of myself. I left my exercises, took no care of my diet and had to miss my sleep at night as my husband was capable of doing nothing.
After a few months, my husband started walking, but in the mean time I started suffering from a severe back pain that was diagnosed as Lymphoma in my back bone and Pelvis region. When Dr R Gopal of Mumbai confirmed that I am already in the Fourth stage of the disease, the same night, the 6th of December 2009, my husband had a massive heart attack and he collapsed within seconds.
I was left all alone to take care of me. But now, nothing mattered much, as I was ready for both ....to survive or to die. Although I wanted to work for the cancer patients, I was also ready to die because after my husband’s demise, I was lonely and being a cancer patient had a life tougher than ever before.
This time Dr R Gopal advised me to take eight cycles of strong chemotherapy and after completing this, two years of low dose chemotherapy. This time again, I took my first dose of chemo in Mumbai and the rest under the guidance of Dr C Bhuyan. In the mean time my cancer was gone but before completing the last dose of the medicine my WBC count decreased to only twelve hundred and I became seriously ill. I was suffering from several kinds of infections but doctors could not give me medicine as it might be fatal. I was released from the hospital and sent home. In this stage I started doing breathing exercise for very long time with one pointed concentration and meditation along with proper diet, which helped me to regain my health with a year.
By the grace of God at seventy-one, I am still living and working with only one mission in life, which is to work for the cause of the cancer patients and to spread awareness about cancer. In the mean time I have sold away my property and purchased a small flat for me. So that I can continue my work, as I used to...... moving from place to place, not only in the Indian continent, but beyond its borders, delivering lectures in the cancer hospitals, schools, colleges, religious places and community.