Tuesday, November 14, 2006

What would you do?

Rectal cancer is quite common in India. It is a notorious killer. The exact causes are unknown, but the disease appears to be caused by both inherited and lifestyle factors. Both men and women above 50 are at equal risk of developing rectal cancer.
Patients with rectal cancer can resume normal life, if the cancer is surgically removed and the intestine is reconstructed. But this is possible only if the cancer is detected in its early stages, when it is still operable. Unfortunately in India, more often than not, patients turn up when it's already too late. In such cases, it doesn't mean death; it means something worse. In patients with inoperable cancers, a major part of the large intestine is removed along with the rectum and the anus. This means the patient will no longer have control over passing his stools. His intestine is attached to an external Colostomy bag all the time, (as shown in the pic) which collects the faecal matter. This bag has to be changed everyday. The other option in such cases, is death, which is usually slow and painful. Needless to say, living with a bag of faecal matter on your abdomen can be mentally stressful and traumatic. Even your loved ones will start avoiding you altogether. I know this because I've seen it happen in my family. And it's also proven statistically.

So - if somebody you knew were faced with such options, what would your advise be? What would you do?

2 comments:

Siva Chidambaram said...

i didnt know about rectal cancer till i read your post... at times these damn doctors are worth the donations they pay these days... good god they study to fight these stuff... btw when is your ISB plan kicking off...

Adi Oso-Groot Finch said...

So finally, selling all those staplers and sitting through all the LARs and APRs did get to you!

So you going back to J&J or consulting after this break?

-Aditya