Information on Cancer and Lymphoma

It is important that you read reliable material to understand the disease, treatment and cure. Below are my recommend sites

1. http://www.macmillan.org.uk/Cancerinformation/Cancerinformation.aspx
2. http://leukaemialymphomaresearch.org.uk

Finance Vs Cancer

Apart from dealing with news of the cancer and coping with it's pain, the family needs to worry and plan about getting the treatment. The biggest challenge would be to support financially. To be frank it's very expensive and you will be running out of time to make wise choices for raising money.

Below are my suggestions and tips which could help you. This list is not exhaustive and hence recommend you to research thoroughly.

The first step is to get an estimate, which itself can be expensive as they have to run several tests to find the issue.

1. If you cannot afford at all, the government has specialized hospitals for cancer. 
1. Hosptials
1. MNJ -  http://www.mnjiorcc.in/
2. I have never been to these hospitals but I have been told that you will see myraid of patients. If you are going through stem cells transplant, you will need to worry the most about cross infections which could be difficult when the hospital is treating large number of patients
2. If you can afford a bit, try the research institutes
1. Hosptials
1. Baswa Tarakam - http://induscancer.com/
2. I have spoken to families of patients who were treated here and also with nurses/doctors and they have highly recommended. They have their own blood bank, irradiation machines, storage unit of stem cells, big pharmacy which can save you some money.
2. The research institutes receive funds for providing affordable treatment.  
3. If you can, speak to private hospitals and what they afford.
1. Private hospitals will provide you with better hygiene, better nursing staff and comfort.

Financial help:

1. Insurance - If you have health insurance, it's your best friend in these times. 
2. Pharmaceuticals companies support programme - We were lucky to receive 2 free dosages of Rituximab ( a common medicine for several chemotherapies) from Roche. Contact your doctor to see if they can help.
3. Check if you are eligible for Arogyasri - my discussion with people said that they cover good amount. Although it is limited to certain hospitals only.
4. CM and PM relief funds - See if you are eligible for CM and PM relief fund. These funds are usually provided only if you are treated at the designated list of hospitals. 
5. Seek out help to friends, family and beyond - There are websites that will help you spread the message and connect your cause with social media. Below are some that I am aware of.
1. http://www.giveforward.com/ 
2. http://www.crowdfunding.com/
3. http://www.gofundme.com/Medical-Illness-Healing/
4. http://www.ketto.org/ (works with Indian Currency)

3 Months after transplant

She has survived! Yes, yes, she has.
It was long winding road of 3 months as things did not go as planned.

Instead of 4 weeks of hospital stay, she stayed in ICU for 7 weeks. Her counts never got better in hospital and she succumbed to couple of infections which were almost life threatening. Overall she got 14 units of platelets and numerous blood units transfused.

After 3 months now, her platelets and lymphocytes are still low but they are growing. She is able to produce enough to keep going and they are improving.

I am thankful to Dr. Srinivas Bacchu, American Oncology Institute at Citizens Hospital and their nursing staff for all their support.

It is quite important that you get caring nurse and staff and we were blessed the best team! We are immensely thankful to nurses Suguna, Rani, Naga Lakshmi, Pooja, Priya, Vajra Kumari and staff Devendar, Sowbhagya, Veeresh and many more people. Special thanks to blood bank team, lab team and billing department.

The technology team at AOI is awesome, they gave us high speed wifi which helped me stay and work!

Natural medicines for Cancer in India

I found several natural medicines that are available in India. I am not sure how much they help but they could be worth considering as alternative or supplemental medicine. I have not tried any of these and hence cannot provide details on the benefits of them.

1. Sri Narsipura Subbaiah Narayana Murthy-Medicine Man in Shimoga
1. Details: http://www.cancer-forums.net/ayurvedic-medicine-in-shimoga-karnataka-t30323.html
2. Check the video
2. Dr Yeshi Dhonden
1. http://liveayurved.com/dr-yeshi-dhonden-cancer-treatment-clinic-dharamshala.shtml
2. A friend's father has recovered from his treatment at age of 71.
3. Soursop
1. http://www.ehow.com/way_5445641_soursop-cancer-cures.html
2. I was told you can get it at in Hyderabad - http://natureschemocare.com/buy-soursop.html

Also in India, you will get lot of SMS and forwarded emails about "Imitinef Mercilet" being free and is available for everyone. Please read http://www.hoax-slayer.com/free-blood-cancer-medicine.shtml before you get too excited. 

Transplant day - Day 0

We were happy that all chemo's of regimen are done and it's now time to bring back the stem cells back to home. The day was very busy. It took about 3 hours to infuse the cells. Since the cells are in -170 degrees, they need to be thawed and properly infused in very short window.

There is something wrong with stem cells preservatives, they make you sick, very sick. 

Bone Marrow Transplant - Day -2

Today's chemo is about Melephalan. Amongst the chemo's given so far (R-CHOP, Etopoiside etc), this was very toxic to the body. I wish it was easy on the gastric. One of the side effects of Melephalan is mucositis. Eating ice chips during infusion reduces the mucositis.
We made ice cubes in fridge and then crushed them using kitchen's mortar and pestle to make ice chips.

Bone Marrow Transplant - Day -5

After 6 cycles of chemos according to Nordic protocol, we are counting down towards stem cells transplant day. The stem cells were collected couple of weeks back and were stored in remote facility in Hyderabad. I was told they are stored at -ve 180 degree C.

Hygienic patient food has been a major issue. We been lucky, the hospital has allowed us to bring food from home. I also got several items from U.S. and been helpful so far

• Organic Porridge
• Grits
• Zone protein bars
• Ensure
• Gerber yogurt blends and squeezes
• Dry roasted edamame
• Honest organic juices