With general healthcare interrupted and elective surgeries postponed due to the countrywide lockdown amid the coronavirus pandemic, 21-year-old got scared that he would lose his leg to cancer of shinbone.
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His condition was deteriorating by the day. The diagnosis of cancer was enough to send the young engineering student from Raipur, Chhattisgarh, into depression -- and the lockdown only made it worse. "I was diagnosed with bone cancer of leg a few weeks ago. Initially, I couldn't believe it as there was no history of such illness in the family. I was leading an active student life. I went into depression at the possibility of losing my limb so early in life," he told IANS.
He was initially evaluated at a hospital in Raipur. "Diagnostic checkups showed he was suffering from osteosarcoma, a type of cancer that produces immature bone, in the upper part of tibia (shinbone that connects the knee with the ankle). As part of treatment, he was given chemotherapy. But he and his family got more worried when told that he might have to undergo amputation of leg to remove the cancerous bone.
Online search provided a link to a doctor in Delhi, who after studying his reports assured that his leg could be saved. But he was required to visit Delhi for the treatment. It was no big deal in normal time. But in this time of the coronavirus pandemic, the nationwide lockdown had restricted all travel across the country. "Coming to Delhi from Raipur was easier said than done. There was no public transport available to travel the long distance," he told IANS. However, with special permission from the Raipur District Magistrate, he was allowed to travel in a private vehicle to the Max Super Specialty Hospital in Vaishali, Ghaziabad, adjacent to the national capital.
"I was given a pre-planned route and with limit on travellers -- one attendant and the driver," he said and added, family members were worried about hot weather and non-availability of food and water on the way. "My mother being too anxious loaded the vehicle with food and water for the journey. It was so much that I shared some of them with people on the road," he said.
On arrival and pre-surgery protocol at the hospital, the team of doctors removed the cancerous bone along with affected muscles. He then underwent reconstruction with a tumour prosthesis. He was made to walk normally from the next day of surgery and put on chemotherapy as part of the treatment. "It's a great feeling to walk again, like everyone else," said the patient. Dr Vivek Verma, who conducted the limb-saving surgery, said in no case treatment of cancer be delayed. During the time, COVID-19 killed 3,000 people across the country, cancer could have claimed 100 times more lives, he added.
