N. K. Dashora's story

~Patient themselves speaking

​

Your name?

N. K. Dashora

Which kind of cancer do you have?

Colon and liver cancers

How and when did you find out, and what treatment are you currently having done?

First I had consulted Dr. Sanjay Jain, a gastroenterologist, for my fatty liver problem. He prescribed me 2 years of treatment. I also had chest pain at that time, so I talked to cardiologist Dr. Mukesh Sharma. He told me to have a CT-Scan done. However, the CT-Scan did not show any problems in my heart. However, when they were positioning the scanner, it was not perfectly positioned on my chest and thus scanned a small part of my abdomen. And due to that chance event, they called me back to the center and told me that my heart was okay, but a black spot had popped up in the scan around the upper area of my liver. So then I went back there are they did another scan, in which they concluded that the spot might be that of hemangioma [a type of benign cell growth], but maybe also of cancer. So then I contacted Dr. Jain and he said that the lump is benign and nothing would happen. He did not have any cancer tests done for me.

However, after 2 years of treatment my pain was still persisting -- actually, it was getting even worse day by day. So then my wife asked the doctor that I be given a CA19-9 test [a test using the CA19-9 tumor marker]. The test results were over 12 times above the normal level. So, without any wait, we went to Ahmedabad [another city] and had a biopsy done, in which it was confirmed that I had cancer.

In the biopsy, they said that I had an advanced Stage 4 cholangiocarcinoma [type of bile duct cancer], of which there is no proper treatment. So then we went to Vedanta Hospital to ask if a liver transplant would be possible, but they said that the cancer had spread too far and a liver transplant wouldn't help. This all happened in 2015.

So, after a series of chemotherapies that ended in 2017, I continued to take oral therapy in the form of a Capegard tablet. But in April of this year [2024], I began having symptoms like loss of appetite; some black spots popped up again in scans of my gallbladder, and water filled up in one of my lungs as well. But when the pulmonologist tested me for cancer, the tests were all negative, both before and after the treatment for water in the lungs.

So now I am having the same problem as before: lumps in my gallbladder whose sizes keep on increasing, and every time the tests come up negative. They suspected that it may be cancer and don't want to take any risks. Due to that, I have begun taking therapy again. As of right now, my hemoglobin and platelet levels are alright. The reports are showing up mostly normal.

My wife also is giving me Ayurvedic/herbal treatment. Overall everything is much better.