Will to live: A Covid-era tale of beating CNS lymphoma

The new year was just a few days old; the coronavirus was yet to get into its act of disruption, and greetings for a wonderful 2020 were still doing the rounds. People were yet to snap out of their celebratory mood even as they were trying hard to maintain their new year resolutions.

Things were quite similar for the Sharma family — before it all unravelled. Sunil Sharma, the head of the family and a superintendent at the Ujjain Central Jail, was diagnosed with cancer, and life changed for the small family from Bhopal, India.

“I began to notice my father starting to forget things in January 2020,” says Prateek Sharma, Sunil’s son.

“It was surprising because he seemed perfectly normal on the surface. However, when asked a question, he would give a totally irrelevant answer or get to a place not knowing how and why he got there. So, I decided to take him for a check-up at a hospital.”

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Diagnosing CNS lymphoma amid uncertainty

The doctors advised Prateek to take his father, who was 58 at the time, to Mumbai for treatment. After getting opinions from a couple of other hospitals, Sunil was admitted at the Kokilaben Hospital in Mumbai.

“On the night of the admission, my father’s behaviour was very unexpected,” says Prateek. “He was very restless, got up several times and moved his hands and legs frequently. He calmed down with the help of sedatives and became unconscious. That was a very difficult time for us and the morale of the family was down. After examining the MRI scan and conducting several other tests, the doctor suggested a biopsy to confirm if there was a lymphoma in the brain.”

The family then shifted him to SL Raheja Hospital (A Fortis Associate), Mumbai, where the doctors expressed confidence that Sunil would make a full recovery even though he was still unconscious at the time of admission.

“We received Sunil Sharma in an unconscious state,” says Dr Shivam Shingla, a consultant medical oncologist at SL Raheja Hospital. “We had to put him on a ventilator as he was not even able to breathe. With our diagnostic and pathology team, a quick diagnosis of CNS [central nervous system] lymphoma was made, and we started the chemotherapy even while he was on ventilator.”

Early diagnosis is key in curing CNS lymphoma.

“CNS lymphoma involves the lymphocytes that aggregate to form a tumour in the brain,” says Dr Shingla. “It’s a rare disease that is seen in three to four people per 10 lakh of the population. It is life-threatening, but with timely diagnosis and treatment, approximately 70-80% of the cases can be controlled.”

It was uncertain times for the Sharma family who braced for the worse.

“We do not have any family history of cancer,” says Prateek. “My father has not had any health issues like blood pressure, diabetes, etc. He was very fit and had a well-discipled routine. So, we did not expect him to have any health issues, least of all cancer.”

Treatment of CNS lymphoma during the Covid lockdown

Lymphoma causes swelling in the brain and affects its various functions.

“Although Sunil suffered from various symptoms like short-term memory loss, transient loss of vision, paralysis of upper and lower limbs as well as difficulty in breathing, he had the willpower to fight it all,” says Dr Shingla. “With chemotherapy and targeted therapy, his lymphoma came under control. He regained consciousness after the first chemotherapy session.”

Sunil had completed three chemotherapy sessions, when life threw another hurdle at him – the Covid-19 pandemic hit the Indian shores and the whole country went under lockdown. The doctors did their best to not discontinue the treatment. But the family had to make a rushed trip back to Bhopal. The fear of the unknown pandemic and the battle against cancer were stretching their resolve as well as resources. But Sunil was unfazed and put up a confident and brave fight.

“We took the last flight from Mumbai to Bhopal,” says Prateek. “At that time, my father was not in a condition to move, but he began to speak and started remembering a few things. The remaining chemotherapy sessions and radiation treatments were administered in Bhopal. My father recovered after completing the treatment schedule, which took seven months in total.”

Will to recover

“When we told him that he had cancer during the course of the treatment, he had the confidence that he could fight it,” adds Prateek. “In the hospital, even if he couldn’t move during the physiotherapy sessions, he would tell the therapist to assist him while he tried. It is this willpower that led him to recovery. My father is now free of lymphoma and can remember most of the things from the past. He has started working and driving again. He gets a little confused with the dates, but otherwise everything else is fine. We get an MRI done every six months as a follow-up.”

Dr Shingla adds, “We are extremely happy that even two years after completing the treatment, he lives a normal life and has rejoined work. Today, he makes a difference in a lot of people’s lives by leading a healthy and a normal life.”

Sunil’s win over lymphoma, and the way he has bounced back is inspiring. It also reiterates a truth, Sunil’s maxim: Life is worth fighting for, no matter how unprecedented the odds.

Takeaways

• CNS lymphoma is a type of cancer in which the lymphocytes aggregate to form a tumour in the brain or the spinal cord.
• This form of cancer affects the functions of the brain. It can be cured with timely diagnosis and treatment.
• It is a long and hard fight when it comes to cancer. However, a supportive family, good medical assistance and strong will can help you to overcome the odds.