For a cancer patient, the fight is not only by the patient.
If not more, but equally, the fight is also of the patient family and the support group around him/her.
When we congratulate someone who has fought cancer, I personally think we ought to also congratulate his/her family members or whoever was their support.
Today I went to the Playroom after college.
One of the kids had just woken up and had come to the Playroom.
He was still rubbing his eyes, yawning and pulling up his pyjamas as he sat to play games on the Computer.
I was sitting with another kid playing a board game.
Suddenly I heard screaming and shouting from the side where the Computer was kept.
The little kid who was at the Computer had been handed over a glass of some milk to drink by his mother.
He refused.
She screamed.
He screamed back.
She slightly hit him on the head.
He cried.
She scolded again.
He wailed.
She screamed louder and threatened to slap him.
Thats when I turned and asked the mother to lower her voice. Told her not to hit her son.
The little kid was wailing and I realized he was having trouble breathing with his loud sobs.
The mother complained.
How this was a regular affair.
How she wanted to slap him for his misbehaviour.
How the kid was just doing "nyakami".
About how fed up she was.
I sighed.
Its not easy for a mother too.
Yes. The little kid is the one who is unwell.
He is the one who has absolutely no appetite.
He is the one who is fighting.
He is the one who should be pampered.
But. Then agin. Should he?
In reality, its an everyday war for the family members as well.
Its not easy standing by the bedside watching your loved one writhing in pain under the Chemotherapy drugs.
Along with the patient, the family member needs to be equally strong and positive minded.
Sometimes requiring more patience and will power than the patient.
For every time the patient fails, it is the family member who becomes the strength.
His/her words and a warm hug is what keeps the patient going.
If the family member collapses, the patient automatically collapses.
In this regard, it is the responsibility of the family member then to keep the atmosphere around the patient pleasant.
To have patience with the patient.
And from personal experience, I know this is Not easy.
I wanted to scream back at the Mother.
But I realized she was also tired. She was also having her bouts of weakness.
She too cried in the middle of the night when her son wasn't looking.
Screamed in pain from inside everytime she watched her son crying.
She too was human.
Helpless and yet carrying on the fight along with her son.
If the son was the soldier in the battle, she was his armour.
Therefore I didn't scold her.
I went up to her, took the glass of milk from her hand and tried to feed the kid myself.
I told her to take a break and go out for a walk.
The fight against Cancer is all about having patience.
If not more, but equally, the fight is also of the patient family and the support group around him/her.
When we congratulate someone who has fought cancer, I personally think we ought to also congratulate his/her family members or whoever was their support.
Today I went to the Playroom after college.
One of the kids had just woken up and had come to the Playroom.
He was still rubbing his eyes, yawning and pulling up his pyjamas as he sat to play games on the Computer.
I was sitting with another kid playing a board game.
Suddenly I heard screaming and shouting from the side where the Computer was kept.
The little kid who was at the Computer had been handed over a glass of some milk to drink by his mother.
He refused.
She screamed.
He screamed back.
She slightly hit him on the head.
He cried.
She scolded again.
He wailed.
She screamed louder and threatened to slap him.
Thats when I turned and asked the mother to lower her voice. Told her not to hit her son.
The little kid was wailing and I realized he was having trouble breathing with his loud sobs.
The mother complained.
How this was a regular affair.
How she wanted to slap him for his misbehaviour.
How the kid was just doing "nyakami".
About how fed up she was.
I sighed.
Its not easy for a mother too.
Yes. The little kid is the one who is unwell.
He is the one who has absolutely no appetite.
He is the one who is fighting.
He is the one who should be pampered.
But. Then agin. Should he?
In reality, its an everyday war for the family members as well.
Its not easy standing by the bedside watching your loved one writhing in pain under the Chemotherapy drugs.
Along with the patient, the family member needs to be equally strong and positive minded.
Sometimes requiring more patience and will power than the patient.
For every time the patient fails, it is the family member who becomes the strength.
His/her words and a warm hug is what keeps the patient going.
If the family member collapses, the patient automatically collapses.
In this regard, it is the responsibility of the family member then to keep the atmosphere around the patient pleasant.
To have patience with the patient.
And from personal experience, I know this is Not easy.
I wanted to scream back at the Mother.
But I realized she was also tired. She was also having her bouts of weakness.
She too cried in the middle of the night when her son wasn't looking.
Screamed in pain from inside everytime she watched her son crying.
She too was human.
Helpless and yet carrying on the fight along with her son.
If the son was the soldier in the battle, she was his armour.
Therefore I didn't scold her.
I went up to her, took the glass of milk from her hand and tried to feed the kid myself.
I told her to take a break and go out for a walk.
The fight against Cancer is all about having patience.
