Boxing Day

In between all the chemotherapy sessions and weekly blood tests, the most relaxing activity for Suri and me have been visits to the neighbourhood beach. We take a slow walk to the beach and walk (push the stroller!) up and down the esplanade. The sea breeze and the local kulfi icecream are some of the most effective relaxants in the world! Suri knows most of the regular visitors to the beach – we all go there at the same time, and share life stories. It is interesting that all of us have not-so-upbeat life stories to share.

Today was different. The beach we all love, turned a wee bit red I feel. There were tears everywhere. Even fear hung in the air. What if another tsunami comes along, right now, as it did 7 years ago? There were people like us, out for a morning jog / chit-chat / fresh air when the tsunami struck this very beach. We all know where the first wave crashed; we all know to which house on the other side of the esplanade the water reached; we all know there is no running to escape the waves if it struck; yet here we are, on our daily visits, hoping that it won’t happen again. (I have charted out the path of running and the highest points of the route if at all we need to make an escape – which will all be useless if a tsunami wave actually fell on us :))

Today, my heart goes out to all those who could not escape that wave on Boxing Day, 2004. People like us, who went about their daily relaxation routine at the neighbourhood beach. And also to those who saved hundreds with their quick thinking – without you, my neighbourhood would today be a ghost town.

Ignorance and terror

Bala Murugan is a 2-year old patient at the local cancer Centre, just across the road from where I live. He has bilateral Rb, at an advanced stage, and was prescribed radiotherapy back in October, just after Diwali, after several rounds of unsuccessful chemotherapy. He had cancer close to the optic nerves, and radiotherapy was the only way out. He comes from a rural area of South India where cancer is a “demon” and radiotherapy “destroys life”.

I heard about Bala when I got in touch with the Centre in September about sponsoring their Rb patients for chemotherapy. They got back to me with the story of Bala, and how his parents, both labourers, can barely pay for hospital admissions. They were worried that they would not turn up for the radiotherapy appointment as it is unlikely they will be able to collect the needed funds. I signed up to pay for the radiotherapy expenses, almost triple of what I had earmarked for the chemo funding, and was looking forward to meeting Bala and his family.

I did not hear back from the Centre after that and got back in touch last week. What I heard back was a shock. Bala never turned up for his appointment in October – his parents went ahead with alternative therapies and another cycle of chemo at a rural hospital. Nothing worked – they were back at the Centre, but this time with a brain metastasis. The cancer, that could have been controlled with the right treatment, had spread to the brain. The Centre told me casually, yet professionally, that they were just “providing supportive care” for the patient now. My heart breaks when I think about Bala, who I never met, but who I had become so close to emotionally. I had even decided which toys to pick out for him when I did meet him. I hope I still get to meet him – and get the opportunity to shout at his parents.

Bala will be just another statistic – one of the 0.5% that succumbed to retinoblastoma. But I want to implore to every parent out there – please give your child the best treatment possible. Even if it means travelling for days, giving up your jobs or spending money that you don’t have. If you can save a life, it will all become worth it. Retinoblastoma is a mild form of cancer ONLY as far as you treat it – ignoring it is fatal and we ought to remember it always. Please don’t let anyone miss a treatment – I hope India has a database of cancer patients and they are dragged for treatments like they do in the UK – but please, please spread awareness in every community in your country, city, state, village.. so that no more cases happen due to ignorance and terror like that with Bala.