SubbaRao – Hyderabad, 2008
Professionally and personally my life was going on smoothly, till the bubble burst last August.
A big hello to all the readers from SubbaRao of Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India. I am 28 years old and I will be completing one year of my CML diagnosis in September this year. 2007 – 2008 has in truth been a journey filled with a myriad experiences and mixed thoughts. I am the only son to my parents. My family suffered a major setback when I lost my mother in 2003. I started a new life when I got married in 2004 and also acquired a good job in a software company. On the 1st of September 2007, I got a fever which continued for four days. I lost nearly ten kilos. Then the fever came back and I will not forget the date. It was the day of the biggest match of them all; the India vs. Pakistan's 20 – 20 World Cup final match and once again I was burning with fever. My family doctor advised me to go for a blood test, and from that day began a series of innumerable blood tests. Finally, without disclosing anything to me my Doctor asked me consult one Dr. Prasad at Apollo Hospital. I went to the Apollo Hospital on the 26th of September with my wife and father. The Apollo Cancer wing has two entrances and we entered the place from the rear side of the department not really knowing where exactly we were supposed to be going. We had to wait for the doctor for about three hours so to pass the time we went into the gardens of Apollo to stroll and sit while we waited. It was from there that we saw the entrance of the wing which announced it as "Apollo Cancer Hospital". It came as a big shock to us. My wife started crying not knowing what the doctor would say. It was very difficult for me to control my wife and father. In trying to cope with their fear and confusion I forgot that it was I who needed to face the situation.
Dr. Prasad was very kind and patient while disclosing the diagnosis and he explained the actual cause of disease. For the first time my count (white cells) was in the region of 2.3 lakhs. So I began my journey of treatment with Hydra.
Within two weeks of registration with Max for GIPAP, I got my first dosage of Glivec from Novartis.
Initially it was a very tough journey because I got muscle cramps and fever. It took me a full month to get used to Glivec but till today I am doing great. Within a year I reached CCR. The magical Complete Cytogenetic Response. I am very grateful to Novartis and Max for the support, my Office management for their care and understanding, my family and last but not the least Sailaja (also a Friend of Max in Hyderabad). It was only because of their support that I could find the strength to fight with this disease. I believe in Vivekananda’s phrase…
“Arise awake and stop not till the goal is reached". All the best to all!!
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