[AMG Power]

Dear V Narayan, sorry to hear about the ordeal. Very kind of you to share your experiences for the benefit of others. There appears to be a good recovery for most persons and I wish you are one among them. I hope your new Volvo C 40 Recharge gives you a lot of positive vibes - important at this time. Wishing you a speedy recovery and a complete return to normalcy at the earliest. Take care!

[McLaren Rulez]

May your recovery be as quick as a C40's 0-100 time!

[sukhbirST]

@V.Narayan Sir
I pray for full recovery asap. My best wishes for your future. God bless.
Am sorry to miss this due to my shifting (in May) from kakinada to Noida

[W.A.G.7]

So I saw this video on the day it was posted and I was zapped. You have been through so much stress, yet the calm and composed way in which you answered every question in the interview hardly showed anything. Each and everything that you shared about cancer was precise and to the point. Hats off to your positive attitude, strength, calmness, and perseverance. I wish you all the luck for your future and a speedy recovery from this predicament and come back to a normal way of life. God bless you!

[saket77]

So much of good advice on life, medical, finances and takeaways on being calm and composed in all conditions; we really admire you for what you are. Having seen the Big C from close quarters, I could really connect with your words.

We all wish you a solid recovery so that we can continue to enjoy the privilege of hearing your advice & opinions on all subject matters on TBHP, if not personally. Wishing you strength and recovery- my best regards,

Saket.

[PGA]

Dear Narayan Sir, your composure and ability to maintain balance in the face of a huge adversity in your life is truly extraordinary and worth emulating. I could relate to your talk at so many levels and sincerely appreciate you sharing your thoughts which Iam certain will benefit many who are going through their own tribulations. I pray and hope for your complete recovery.

Cancer is an enigma for many a layman like me. If I may request you to share your knowledge about the underlying causes which make a person more susceptible to it. While some broad reasons given are excesses of smoking, alcoholism or obesity, one sees many seemingly normal people falling to it and general talk is that numbers are growing quite rapidly.

Is it a lifestyle desease, is it something to do with the industrialised living that we have these days, is it our food that has got pretty badly adulterated, is it general pollution or stress in individuals. Were people in earlier times less impacted.

I know you are not a doctor, but your opinion and understanding matters to me and Iam certain to many on this forum as well.

[V.Narayan]

Originally Posted by PGA

Dear Narayan Sir, your composure and ability to maintain balance in the face of a huge adversity in your life is truly extraordinary and worth emulating. I could relate to your talk at so many levels and sincerely appreciate you sharing your thoughts which Iam certain will benefit many who are going through their own tribulations. I pray and hope for your complete recovery.

Thank you PGA. I was first in two minds about doing the podcast and then in two minds of letting GTO share it on this public forum. My assumption is it may help a few other cancer patients get a perspective or find balance in the turmoil this illness causes in the strongest of people.

Cancer is an enigma for many a layman like me. If I may request you to share your knowledge about the underlying causes which make a person more susceptible to it.
I know you are not a doctor, but your opinion and understanding matters to me and Iam certain to many on this forum as well.

Doctors can give far better advice to this important question you ask. My limited knowledge is that unhealthy inputs from the environment - air & water pollution, micro-plastics, traces of pesticides and insecticides in our food, ingredients of processed foods we are ingesting and where applicable alcohol, tobacco, are all contributors. Maybe internal melancholy and deep sadness or anger may also be a contributor but that is only my guess. Whom cancer attacks and when is still largely luck of the draw. I am a vegetarian, teetotaler and non-smoker but I pulled the short straw.

For those providing care to a cancer patient at home it may help to remember that the patient is almost always coping with more than is obvious, both emotionally & physically. The other factor is that it is a non-linear illness. You could recover and succumb again or you could be progressing well and then unexpectedly take a several steps backwards. And often times the side effects and after effects of the treatment are very challenging as well.

Thank you PGA for your good wishes.

[Satkaj]

Hello All,

First of all Mr. Narayan , I thank you for sharing your experience with this community. You are an inspiration for many of us here.

I take this liberty of sharing my journey with cancer.

I was detected with Multiple Myeloma exactly a year before in November 2022.I am 54 yrs of age.

Rather than writing how and when we got to know about my cancer, I would like to share my experience post diagnosis. Though sir has penned down beautifully, I will share my experience .

Please pardon me as I am certainly not a good writer as sir is.

It nearly took 15/20 days of various tests to find my exact variant whether it was Myeloma or Lymphoma.
During these 15/20 days we were misguided/guided by doctors. Yes Misguided! While the biopsy reports and blood reports were underway , as any other patients we were meeting with doctors. I was sent for radiation to get relief from my back pain, which was first wrong direction by doctor. This was by an Oncologist while I would have to
Consult an Hematologist. I was sold an package of 20 sessions by a radiologist of a renowned hospital.

While I started my Radiation sessions and took 4 of it , I started getting my reports and it was clear that the lesions in my CT scan were due to plasma disorder. Hence this was now clear that I would certainly require an Hematologist and not Oncologist.

By this time I was still awaiting my FISH report which would further clarity type of cancer I might have. With this clarity, we started taking reference and appointment of Hematologist. Please understand, this was all new for us. Till this day , me or my wife didn’t even know or had heard of Myeloma/ Lymphoma . The first doctor we met almost gave us an life expectancy as one read on Google. That shattered all our hopes. With same reports, We took another appointment of a renowned doctor at the same hospital where I was getting my Radiation. I would prefer not to post any names in open forum for obvious reasons. This particular doctor during our first consultation made 3 statements . Which were misguding. 1. Sir , I might have to treat you for both Lymphoma and Myeloma as reports are not yet clear. 2. I can connect you with xxxx doctor in London who will guide us way forward. 3. He never ever mentioned about stopping my radiation.

We met with this doctor again for my further consultation. He suggested that I should get admitted immediately for 3 week of Chemo followed by 1 week of rest . This treatment will be repeated for total 3 set of such followed by Bone Marrow Transplant(BMT). This certainly would keep me in to Hospital for almost 4 months plus a month in isolation after BMT, though he assured me that you will be cancer free after the treatment.


In the meantime, I knew higher ups at INTAS pharma and my reports were shared with them as well. we were also getting much clarity on whom to approach and started getting advise from friends and near ones. A new name came up was of Dr. M.B. Agarwal.

We met with Dr. Agarwal, with same set of reports which we had shown 2 doctors earlier and awaiting rest of the reports. He just glanced at those reports, and said if money is not an issue I would recommend an injection(Darzalex) which is targeted chemo. You should be under remission after the course. Then I would insist to go for BMT to ensure that we can delay re lapse. He seemed confident about my outcome of the reports which were yet to come which we realised much later. He drew up a line of treatment which was 16 injections followed by BMT and few regular medicines. His assurance and guidance was absolute opposite to the doctors we met till now. During our discussion when we mentioned about my radiation, he was shocked. He immediately called the radiologist (Whom he knew well) and asked him to stop my radiation immediately. Radiologist tried to convince him that he will give me milder treatment etc etc , Dr. Agarwal just said I need these cells to treat! If you burn them all I will be left nothing to treat with and he just disconnected the phone. This , as an any professional I would take as an highest level of insult.

Here , I would like to explain the radiation theory. Before the reports, I was quoted appx 2L for 20 sessions as a PACKAGE. Since so called package was already taken , even my Hematologist in that particular hospital, INSPITE OF KNOWING THE OUTCOME was seems forced to accommodate as part of treatment and monetary benefit to the hospital. Not guiding me towards the targeted Chemo which now is commonly followed by all , but to hospitalise me for almost 5 month was another scam. There were many more scams like asking for all sorts of reports irrelevant to my cancer, asking me to go for some spine specialist for getting braces for support, connecting with some London doctor for further diagnosis etc etc. Anyone now would understand that this was nothing but an ORGANISED CRIME which would have drained us mentally , financially and above all emotionally. One can imagine, only man of the house been hospitalised with the tag of so called Cancer for 5/6 months.

We got rest of our reports and again met with Dr. Agarwal. He calmly said , your Myeloma is of high risk category which means that 1. It is not curable as of now 2. Has a chance of relapse but NOTHING TO WORRY. It is not life threatening and we will maintain this like a diabetes. These words changed our life again. Any person, wife , daughter who were till dateliving with a fear of loosing life to hearing such statement from a renowned doctor just bought tears in all our eyes. My wife asked him , sir now with these reports since he has high risk Myeloma would you change his line of medicine? He just smiled and said , I had anticipated and its already taken care of. My line of treatment was like a picnic at a day care for few hours , allowing me to continue with all my day to day work , driving, holidays without any compromise. Though body did struggle a bit , but with each injection I was able to gain strength .

My take with my experience

1. Do not rush to any treatment till you are diagnosed with your exact cancer .
2. Always take atleast 3 opinion from expert of your particular cancer
3. I would strongly suggest to have 2 different private insurance policies. I am having tough time and am not covered with United India , but my Bajaj policy has almost 100% coverage.
4. Body and mind both has to be prepared to take medication and illness. I give all credit to my wife here, she just kept preparing me for my treatment with right kind of diet.
5. As you will understand,scams are part of our medical system . Please be vigilant and ensure you do not fall for it.

Sir ,wish you good luck and take care.

[NG_EV]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

The best thing I have got out of my ongoing tryst with cancer is that earlier I had 7 days in a week and 30 days in a month. Now I have 168 hours in a week and 720 hours in a month. Nothing like a reminder of mortality to suddenly widen the time available exponentially.

Thank you for reading.

Dear Sir, hope you have a complete and speedy recovery.

Originally Posted by Goandiaries

However, I would suggest you read about "cold exposure and cancer". Science suggests that deliberately exposing yourself to cold could make it harder for the cancer cells to grow.
I'm not sure if you have heard of this before, so thought it might be of some interest to you and others reading this forum as a preventive measure.

The studies linked in the post are of extremely small size and any treatment recommendation requires large size studies having thousands of participants over several years.

Originally Posted by silverado

CA 19-9 and CA 125 are two blood tests which are tumor markers and these are simple tests which can be done on yearly basis if one doesn't want to do a comprehensive Cancer checkup.

These tumor markers are not for everyone and there are recommendations for screening and vaccination for cancers (both Indian and International).

Originally Posted by AndyRo

5. Prostate cancer is mostly male hormone driven. See if radical prostatectomy can be done. This is specially useful when there is no metastasis

10. What most Doctors do it is to monitor the growth of cancer cells through PET and based upon favorable results of it and LFT (Liver Function Test) they advise medicines. What I have seen is that Doctors don't always advise optimum solution. They say 'Wait n watch'. One medicine advised may not work after 6 months. They will advise another more expensive medicine. This goes on until they exhaust all medicines. Only option left is Chemotherapy.

11. If you are undergoing radiation, make sure that it is done diligently exactly as per advise from the surgeon. Ask the Surgeon to give you a diagram of location where radiation is to be given and monitor it

Regarding points:
5. Both Radiation and surgery have indications and risk/benefit which needs to be discussed before opting for treatment.
10. In certain cancers, wait and watch is internationally accepted treatment protocol.
11. Surgeon doesn't direct the radiation treatment. Clips placement during surgery, the histopathology report and/or operative notes are sufficient for decision of the area required to be targeted by Radiation.

In addition, the treatment guidelines are just that- guidelines. They are there to guide the treatment and as each patient is different, the treatment decisions are different for different patients. There are also treatment indications for different modalities of treatment and one cannot replace the other in most cases.

[V.Narayan]

Dear Friends from Team BHP,

Thank you for the good wishes that each of you has expressed on this thread with regard to my health. I just completed my 12-month checks. Today is a year to the day when I got diagnosed for a double malignancy cancer. God has been very kind to me in that all my parameters are moving in the right direction some side effects of the treatment notwithstanding. I have another year to go.

Some old lessons relearnt by me {in no order}:-

Most of us eat too much. Two meals a day is all we need. And we don't need sugar {Confession - I haven't got that last one sorted out yet!!}

A little exercise is good. Now I can manage only a little exercise. Maybe it is making a virtue out of a limitation.

Our body's healing power is 10X what we think.

We have all been gifted with a L-O-T of time. Just that we waste a lot of it. Nothing like a tryst with our own mortality to expand the time on our hands.

If our aim in life is to grow mentally, emotionally, spiritually then cancer is like getting a double promotion. whether you want to or not cancer makes you grow up.

If any member or his/her relative is suffering from cancer then please complete the entire course of treatment and do not shirk your follow up checks that will go on for typically for 3 to 5 years before the doctor can confidently say you are cancer free. If alternate medicine is your gig try it but do not replace your core allopathic treatment. I have simply stuck with allopathy and so far it has worked beautifully.

My gratitude to each of you who wrote in on this thread.

With regards,
V.Narayan

[ralto]

Sir, I am an admirer of your posts. Yet it is now I stumbled upon this thread. I wish you a speedy recovery to your new normal and hope for a continued well being.

My father just got detected with cancer in urinary bladder a couple of months back. Your each post on this thread is pure gold and can relate to almost all though it’s not me who is being treated.

I think besides physical recovery, acceptance and change in your capacity is which hits hard the most. And I feel not just for the person himself but for the family.

Managing your finances and aligning your goals and general priorities should always be done irrespective of how you feel health wise. Cutting down home loans, cutting of bad assets, aiming to have next car purchase without loan, making my business lean and less dependent on me or any other individual. Lessons that I am learning and hoping to make best out of the situation.

[ABHI_1512]

Dear Narayan Sir, I don’t know how I missed this thread from you. But now that I have read it, everything that you have written feels personal. Having gone through the exact same feelings while I was coming to terms with my father’s cancer, I know how it can make or break a person. My father didn’t survive pancreatic cancer but the treatment or the farce of it, showed the medical world in a new light for me.

You Sir, are made of a different kind. To fight it out and then penning the whole thought process is not what everyone can do. We have been immensely enriched by your thoughts on the forum and I am glad that you continue to do so, despite the small setback. May god give you the strength to fight it out and come back a winner, which I know you will and your latest post just confirms the belief. Wishing you a complete recovery.

Regards
ABHI.

[Mystic]

May God shower his choicest blessings on Narayan Sir and also other fellow Bhpians who are also fighting cancer to get cured 100% as if nothing has happened.

I will narrate my recent encounter with cancer treatment for my mother (80+ years) and my observations. My father expired couple of years back at 85+ years. He just collapsed in perfect health after a 5 kms daily walk for 25 years after retirement at 4.30 am on Visakhapatnam beach road which has been laid by him. His last day is pretty much painless. As for my mother, she fought cancer for about 2 years. My mother is a post graduate and is very active in a local Saibaba temple which is called east Shirdi on beach road near our home in Visakhapatnam. Her day starts at 4 am like my father. She is very modern thinking lady unlike other people of her age. She is in perfect health with no medication ever taken in her life on a regular basis like my father. One day she complained about a pain in the stomach. The doctor performed routine tests like ultrasound and diagnosed stage 4 stomach cancer. I immediately flew back from abroad and asked her to fly to Bangalore from Visakhapatnam to give her the best treatment possible. I work for a company called SAP and we have a very good insurance policy in which my parents are covered. I took her to Manipal in whitefield just besides my Villa. They did PET scan and the surgeon said that it is too late for surgery and transferred the case to another Doctor for Chemo treatment. The Doctor suggested a couple of options available keeping 80+ years in consideration. One of the options does not make one loose hair. We opted for that option.
She had many cycles of chemo sessions every 3 weeks for almost 1 year with PET scan every month. In this one year, she had many side effects but kept it to herself without much complaining of the pain. The medication is pretty costly but we could source the generic form of the medication from a whole seller which is affordable. After one year of chemos, my mother took a personal decision to stop the chemos and spend time with all all the children. We moved her to Hyderabad and under supervision of another Doctor with regular PET scans every month ( each PET scan costs around Rs 30K and fortunately included in insurance). She survived spending quality time with grand children for a year without chemos before the inevitable end came.

I am surprised that in spite of taking annual executive corporate health checkup every year in a corporate hospital, her stomach cancer was not detected until it reached stage 4. I believe that this is common as far as stomach cancer is concerned. We asked Doctor if we need to take any precautions as her children if we also risk cancer as all children are 60+ and He said that there is nothing we can do from our side but go for annual health check ups regularly ( my corporate health insurance now extended with premium payment from my pocket after my volunteer retirement).

Sometimes I wonder on how some people are lucky and get cured of cancer 100% if diagnosed early like my relative who is a popular South Indian heroine now. I think the key is early diagnosis and hence we all should take annual health checkups without interruption even for one year.

[gururajrv]

Sir, I just want to say whatever good deeds you've done so far will have your back! God's there with you and I'm sure those whom you've helped, their and our prayers are with you as well!

[vinaydatla]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

If any member or his/her relative is suffering from cancer then please complete the entire course of treatment and do not shirk your follow up checks that will go on for typically for 3 to 5 years before the doctor can confidently say you are cancer free

My mother was diagnosed with Cancer for second time after 8 years and that too in Stage 4. We can never say that someone is Cancer free.

She managed to pull thru 15 years with good health and was only bed ridden for last 2 days. Even till the last day most of her reports were normal.