Mumbai : 79-year-old Harishchandra Khot from Bhandup was shocked to find out that he is suffering from lung cancer when certain abnormalities were identified through an Electrocardiogram (ECG) test which was conducted for his pre-planned cataract surgery in March. Despite of knowing all the complications and threat to his life, Khot took it in his stride and posed a brave face which helped him in successfully clearing the cancer operation through a minimal invasive surgery in April at Fortis Hospital, Mulund.
Eight months down the line, Khot today is leading a normal life with his daily routine but has been put on an oral chemotherapy drugs for nearly a year. However, this was not the same case in February where he was unaware about cancerous growth in his lungs as the symptoms never showed. Further investigations revealed that there was a coin-sized tumour in the right lower lobe of Khot’s lungs, following which, he was then said to undergo treatment for lung cancer.
Reminiscing the tensed situation and pain that the family had to go through, Sachin Khot, son of the patient, said, “We were flabbergasted when we were informed that my father has lung cancer and in that moment I didn’t know how to react. My father is a strong person mentally as well as physically and this was very well shown at the time of operation. He followed all the guidelines given by the doctor and was very composed during the entire journey. Those days were the testing times for every one of us but we all passed and our now leading a happy life.”
With over 90 percent incidences of lung cancer being identified only in the advanced stages, where the options of treatment are limited and are more complicated, Khot was diagnosed at an early stage. “The chance of survival in most types of cancers depends largely on the timing of detection. Khot was lucky as his cancer was discovered in early stages and we had several options to treat him. Minimum invasion surgeries are the recent advancement in the surgical procedures that minimize the size of incision, reduce the pain of the patient, and most importantly, give a better output. Khot’s surgery was successful and he is on his way to recovery,” said Dr Anil Heroor, Consultant Onco Surgeon at Fortis Hospital, Mulund.
