Fighting Cancer - Part THREE (3)

Fighting Cancer - Part THREE (3)

One day, I don't remember which day it was, but I remember it wasn't the day of chemotherapy. I was resting at home when I felt a slight discomfort in my lower abdomen. At first, I didn't take it too seriously, but after waiting for half a day, I realized that the discomfort had increased and the pain had intensified, prompting me to call the hospital. During chemotherapy, there was an emergency phone available for cancer patients 24 hours a day.

In summary, without causing any trouble, I contacted the hospital and explained my condition to the nurse over the phone. She quickly connected me to the doctor who told me to either call an ambulance or ask someone nearby to take me to the hospital. At that moment, I didn't take the matter too seriously, but I mentioned it to my aunt. She immediately turned on the car and transported me to the hospital. As soon as I arrived at the hospital, they quickly transferred me to the emergency department since I was expected.

The doctor was waiting for me in the emergency department and as soon as he examined me from behind, he told me the bad news. I, who had become accustomed to bad news these days, asked him if there was anything worse than having cancer. He smiled slightly and said, "Of course not, but unfortunately, you have an infection in your back, and I need to perform a minor procedure without anesthesia right here in the emergency department. Since I can't wait for the operating room, I have to do the procedure here." At that moment, I didn't fully grasp the situation, but I agreed with him. The doctor immediately made the call and asked a few nurses for assistance. One of them was a tall, muscular figure about 2 meters tall. At first, I didn't understand why someone like that had to be present for a procedure on my back, but as soon as the operation began, I realized that he was there to hold me down because they knew in advance that I would experience pain.

I hope you don't have a bad day. It was planned that this gentle doctor would open me up from the back without any anesthesia or unconsciousness and clean up my wounds. He gave me a cushion to hold in case I felt pain and told me not to scream too much. Still not taking the matter seriously, I didn't understand what to expect until the doctor started working on me. Then I understood the purpose of the cushion and the doctor's instructions. Eyewitnessing the pain, I practically bit the cushion, and after 40 minutes when I was completely exhausted, I told the doctor that if he touched me again, I would kill him. He didn't flinch, and he asked the sexy and attractive 2-meter-tall black nurse to hold my hands and told me I had to endure for another 5 minutes, to which I had no choice. In short, this procedure ended after 50 minutes, and I had passed out from the pain.

Unfortunately, after the surgery, I realized that my surgical wound had to remain open, and the doctor said he couldn't suture it. I had to sit in a special Seasalt bath three times a day, and that also had its own story, which I prefer not to continue.

Anyway, after the surgery, the doctor prescribed antibiotics, and for two weeks, I had to use the saltwater bath three times a day. However, during chemotherapy, the most important issue is cleanliness of the environment and oral hygiene, which plays a crucial role in the patient's health. I was comfortable in terms of environmental cleanliness and oral hygiene, but unfortunately, as Iranians, we have a bit of hairiness, and a hair on my body was giving me a hard time, trying to kill me.

To be continued.

Fighting Cancer - Part TWO (2)

 

Fighting Cancer - Part TWO (2)

I was saying that during the period of chemotherapy and afterwards, all your body's preferences change. Your cravings increase for certain things, like pregnant women, and you start to dislike things you used to enjoy. I remember the first day well, the lie. Why? Because I was a little scared, and I had heard that doctors insisted on drinking a large amount of water. Out of concern for myself, I asked someone to bring me some watermelon to the hospital. They didn't do anything wrong; they had taken a whole watermelon and extracted the water for me. Due to my fear of the chemicals being injected into my body, as I wanted them to leave my body, I consumed everything. May your eyes never witness a bad day like that. As soon as I returned home from the hospital and entered the house, I felt so terrible that I couldn't lie. That was the first time I felt the proximity of death. I had never felt such a condition in my life. Unfortunately, the excess watermelon juice had lowered my blood pressure, and the effects of chemotherapy were clearly evident. I didn't know what to do. On one hand, I didn't want to worry or upset my loved ones, so the best thing I could do was seek refuge in the bathroom. As soon as I entered the bathroom, I collapsed on the floor. It took about 15 minutes to regain my normal state, but from that day until now, as I'm writing this for you, whenever I hear the word watermelon, my body trembles, let alone consuming it.

Finally, that night passed. It wasn't an interesting night for me; it was like the first night of basic training in the military, full of uncertainty about what would happen. On one hand, you keep thinking about what tomorrow will bring. Even if it's the first day, I thought, "Woe to the days to come." But it wasn't as I had imagined. Of course, the days to come were harder, but the fear and anxiety of the first day were no longer there.

That night, I realized that my life had entered a new phase, and I understood that in order to stay and live, I had to fight. A battle that perhaps seemed impossible alone, but the help of others and my loved ones gave me strength.

I remember talking a lot about losing hair on the head and face, and they even had a class on the side effects of chemotherapy for me, mostly about hair. Fortunately, I shave my head, so I didn't have any problems with that. But well, I have a small beard that I haven't shaved in 15 years, and I had gotten used to it. I used to tell myself that I don't think I'll ever shave my beard so soon, but I was wrong. Exactly on the second day, when I returned from the hospital and went to wash my face, I saw a scene as if someone had put a razor to half of my beard. That's when I realized that these medications were serious, and I had to listen to my doctor's advice to drink water so that these drugs would be eliminated from my body.

Drinking water during chemotherapy is an important task, although it's easy to say. You might think, "Come on, drinking water isn't that difficult." But unfortunately, after chemotherapy, the taste in your mouth changes. To understand what I mean, just hit your tongue with a rusty piece of iron. Then you'll understand what I'm saying. Unfortunately, due to the wounds in my mouth and the bad taste, everything I consumed turned into venom. Drinking that plain water became like drinking iron water.

I don't know which day it was, but suddenly...

To be continued.

Fighting Cancer - Part One (1)

Hello friends, I am one of the survivors of cancer and I have decided to write about my survival story in order to help loved ones who are currently battling this illness or helping someone who is affected by it.

Fighting this disease is not an easy task but it is not impossible. Apart from medical science, it depends on the person's willpower and the support of those around them. This is a corner of my fight against this disease and its side effects, and I hope it becomes useful for you and your loved ones who are currently battling this disease.

It all started when I went to the doctor for my annual check-up and everything started from there. For a while, a small lump similar to a pimple had appeared on my body and I didn't pay much attention to it. But after a while, I asked my doctor about it during my annual check-up, at the same time that I went for the check-up.

After a small examination, the doctor asked me to have a blood test, which fortunately came back negative for everything. But just to be cautious, the doctor referred me to an Iranian internist who happened to be one of the best doctors in Northern California, Dr. Mehdi. He had previously performed surgery on me and had also removed a cancerous gland. After examining me, he said that there was nothing important, but prescribed an ultrasound for me just to be cautious. 

This is where everything started.

After the ultrasound, Dr. Mehdi called me the same day and asked to see me the next day. I had no idea what he wanted to see me for, but I went to see him the next day anyway. Apparently everything was fine until the doctor entered the room and that was when my life changed completely forever.

My Nice and ruthless doctor bluntly told me, without any introduction, "Babak, I have to speak very frankly with you. You have a 95% chance of having cancer!" The only thing I remember is spinning and running around like a caged chicken in the room. I was so shocked that I wanted to grab the doctor's collar and tell him, "Are you F*#$ kidding me?" I couldn't believe it. The doctor told me, "Of course, I am 95% suspicious, and you can have six months of drug therapy. Maybe it's not cancer." I asked for the doctor's opinion, and he said, "So, I have scheduled surgery for you tomorrow morning at 8:00." The decision had already been made in advance, and the question from me was only a ceremonial aspect. Since I had complete confidence in my doctor, I did not see any reason to question or consult with another doctor.

In short, I had the operation on the next day, which was Friday, and on Monday, my doctor asked me to see him. I knew that the news should not be good. The doctor told me that unfortunately, I had cancer, and he had more bad news for me. I was even more shocked and thought to myself, "What could be worse than cancer? Death?!" 

The doctor said that my cancer was malignant, and there was a 95% chance that it had spread throughout my body. He believed that I needed a full-body scan. Anyway, we went to the CAT scan that day, and the doctor called and said that the results were ready. They did not see anything in my body, but he was not confident in the images because they were not colored. I thought to myself that until the doctor finds something, let it go. In any case, it was the secrets of my doctor that saved my life. In short, the next day, I went to the hospital for a colored CAT scan, and I found out that my cancer had spread to both my lungs and the inside of my abdomen, close to my kidney. My doctor's guess was correct, and it was the beginning of a new life, full of bitter and sweet experiences and lessons.

From now on, I will mainly focus on my words to friends who are suffering from cancer or those who are currently undergoing chemotherapy. Of course, the content may be instructive for those loved ones who do not appreciate their health and are ungrateful. 

The chemotherapy period is one of the toughest periods of a person's life. Sometimes, I even wanted to compare it to the military training period, but I couldn't. Unfortunately, until someone undergoes chemotherapy, they cannot understand my feelings and yours. My chemotherapy period was five days a week and nine hours a day for almost four months. I'm telling you that those of you who receive chemotherapy for two or three hours a week should be hopeful and know that it can be worse. During my two months of chemotherapy, I lost about 33 pounds, or nearly 15 kilograms. I think this is the only positive thing that chemotherapy has for me. The hardest part of chemotherapy for me was at night. Of course, during the day, I only saw the sky because of the long chemotherapy period. But the effects of the medication and irrational thoughts made my nights a nightmare, especially being alone at night and sometimes having to be nauseous until morning. Another reason I hated the night was the recurring nightmares I had, and unfortunately, most of them were related to death. Another reason I hated the loneliness of the night was that I hated being alone at night, but my situation was like that, and there was no solution. In my opinion, the best time was in the morning, and I loved the morning because it gave me a fresh hope for tomorrow. It's funny that I thought about tomorrow Moring all day long.

Before I explain more about that period, let me tell you what chemotherapy is and how it works.

You may have heard of chemotherapy, but maybe you don't know what it is and how it works. Have you ever been hospitalized or poisoned, for example? Chemotherapy is exactly like a serum, but while a serum given to a poisoned patient contains food and nutrients, a chemotherapy serum contains toxins and poisons. Unfortunately, chemotherapy not only kills cancer cells but also healthy ones, and has side effects such as:

1- Weight loss

2- Loss of body hair, such as hair on the head, eyebrows, and eyelashes

3- Hearing loss

4- Mouth sores, which are one of the most important and dangerous side effects and require careful mouth hygiene

5- Constant nausea

6- Temporary memory loss in some cases

7- Loss of appetite, or complete loss of appetite

8- Constant fatigue

9- Constant stomach acidity

10- Hiccups (I once had hiccups for 11 hours straight)

11- Severe body and bone pain

12- Nighttime insomnia and boredom (although it's not worth mentioning after all the other side effects I've mentioned!)

13- Fingernails and toenails falling off

14- Skin peeling

15- The taste of iron that you feel in your mouth during chemotherapy

And... I think that's enough for now. Keep in mind that all of these side effects can occur together, depending on the person. But dear ones who are suffering from cancer, remember that the end of this story is ***sweet***. Don't worry unnecessarily.

I started chemotherapy on May 2, 2008. I will never forget the first day. I was very...

 

TO BE CONTINUING………

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