Friends of Max Patient Advocate of the Month is Jinto Jose, our City Chapter Leader from Kerala.
“My life changed; I took a re-birth after my first meeting with other Cancer Survivors”.
It is only when you go from illness to health that you notice a depth to all forms of life that you didn’t necessarily experience before.
Jinto was born and brought up in Kozhencherry Village in Calicut, a District in the State of Kerala in India. His early life was spent happily surrounded by family & friends. He went on to complete his pre-degree and finally a program from ITI.
In 2004 Jinto was diagnosed with Chronic Myeloid Leukemia. In 2014, his Physician Dr. Narayankutty Warrier put him on ‘Gilvec’ drug. He also recommended that he gets in touch with Friends of Max, where he could find other survivors to whom he could relate, and from their experiences learn to cope better with his own.
Today, nine years later, not only is Jinto able to overcome and manage his own illness with ease; but actively contributes to supporting other fellow cancer survivors. During COVID, he worked tirelessly with the City Chapter Leaders to help procure drugs for the patients on time.
“My life changed; I took a re-birth’’, he fondly recalls travelling to Mumbai for his first patient support meeting in 2014. For him, it was a life-changing experience meeting Viji, a.k.a. ‘Amma’ & other patients.
Jinto feels he is blessed to be able to lead a normal life with his wife and two angelic daughters in Kerala. He continues to work closely with Pratheeksha Organisation under the guidance of Dr. Warrier.
His advice to CML patients is:
Try to attend maximum number of Patient Support Group Meetings organized by FOM. Interact with other patients as much as you can and try to help them to get over the stigma. Always be engaged and keep yourself busy. Never complain about this disease or make it a reason for laziness.
